Chapter 2: The Envelope Left Behind
I stopped with my hand on the front door.
Julian rushed toward me.
“What did you send them?”
My attorney’s voice came through the phone.
“The board has frozen the Vance accounts and called an emergency meeting.
Julian has been suspended, effective immediately.”
Victoria shot to her feet.
“That is impossible!”
Malcolm’s newspaper slipped from his hands.
Julian grabbed my wrist.
“Call them back.
Tell them this is a misunderstanding.”
I pulled free.
“You created the misunderstanding when you mistook my silence for weakness.”
Then my attorney spoke again.
“Elena, there’s something else.
We received another file ten minutes ago—one you didn’t send.”
My anger gave way to unease.
“What file?”
“A recording from inside this house.
It contains Malcolm’s voice, Julian’s signature—and details about your father.”
I froze.
“My father has been gone for twelve years.”
Across the room, Malcolm looked at Victoria.
For the first time, neither appeared arrogant.
They looked terrified.
Then the housekeeper stepped into the doorway holding a sealed envelope.
“I think this belongs to Elena,” she whispered.
“Her father told me to give it to her if a Vance man ever raised his hand to her.”
Julian stared at the envelope.
And Malcolm said the one thing I never expected.
“Don’t open it, Elena.
Your father wasn’t who you think he was.”
May you like
What secret connected Elena’s father to the Vance family—and why were they terrified of that envelope?
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