Chapter 3: The Letter She Never Wrote
Rachel Ward stared at the silver-haired woman in the doorway.
“Helen?”
David’s mother stopped in front of her and held out the faded envelope.
“You remember me, then.”
“Of course I remember you.” Rachel looked behind Helen.
“Is David here?”
“No.
He asked me to bring this.”
Rachel took the envelope, but Helen did not release it.
“My son read what was inside ten years ago.
He believed every word.”
“What are you talking about?”
Helen let go.
Rachel opened the envelope and unfolded a typed letter.
David,
I took the money because I deserved something for wasting three years on your foolish dream.
My father has already found a buyer for your hotel software.
Don’t try to contact me.
I’m leaving you for someone who can give me a real life.
Rachel
Rachel read it twice.
Her fingers began to shake.
“I never wrote this.”
Helen’s mouth tightened.
“It has your signature.”
“It looks like my signature, but those aren’t my words.”
“You disappeared the same night.”
“My father told me David had emptied our account and run away.”
Helen stepped closer.
“David had forty-two dollars when he came home.
He slept on my sofa for six months.”
Rachel pressed the letter against her chest.
“My father said David took forty thousand dollars from us.”
“There was no forty thousand dollars.”
The hotel manager moved toward them.
“Mrs.
Bennett, perhaps this conversation should continue inside.”
Rachel caught his sleeve.
“You knew about this, Graham?”
“I knew Mr.
Bennett had questions about your application.
I didn’t know what was in the envelope.”
Rachel looked back at Helen.
“Why did David keep it?”
“Because it was the last thing he thought you gave him.”
Rachel’s eyes filled, but Helen did not soften.
“And after what you said to him outside, why should he believe you now?”
“I was angry.”
“You were cruel.”
Rachel lowered her head.
“You’re right.”
A slow clap came from behind them.
Victor Ward walked through the hotel doors in a dark suit, his smile fixed firmly in place.
“Very touching,” he said.
“But Rachel came here for an interview, not a trial.”
Rachel turned sharply.
“Dad, did you know about this letter?”
Victor glanced at the paper.
“That old thing?”
Helen stepped between them.
“You recognize it.”
“I recognize a desperate young woman’s attempt to escape a penniless boyfriend.”
Rachel held the letter beneath her father’s face.
“I did not write this.”
Victor’s smile vanished for half a second.
“Be careful, Rachel.
You’re confused because Bennett embarrassed you.”
“You told me David took our money.”
“He did.”
“Helen says the money never existed.”
Victor looked at Graham.
“Why is hotel staff allowing this scene?”
Graham folded his hands.
“Because Bennett International owns the hotel now.”
Victor leaned toward Rachel and lowered his voice.
“Put that letter away.
Attend your interview, and say nothing else.”
Rachel did not move.
“Why?”
Victor reached for the envelope.
Rachel pulled it away.
“Answer me.”
May you like
His eyes moved from Rachel to Helen, then back to the letter.
“Because,” Victor said quietly, “I wrote it.”
