Chapter 7 - THE SAFE AT THE TRAIN STATION
Thomas did not get far.
His car was found at South Station.
Inside the trunk: two suitcases and a smashed phone.
No Thomas.
Marcus recovered a locker key from the glove compartment.
The locker contained the trust book.
And a letter.
Addressed to me.
Eleanor,
If you are reading this, Julian finally pushed too hard.
I stared at the handwriting.
Thomas admitted he helped Julian hide Maya's shares.
But he claimed he did it because Gideon planned to seize Vance Group and destroy my marriage.
My father read that line without blinking.
Thomas wrote that Julian approached him three years earlier with evidence Gideon had secretly funded a competitor that drove one of Vance's divisions into bankruptcy.
"Did you?" I asked.
Gideon took too long.
"Father."
"I funded the competitor. I did not cause the bankruptcy."
I felt anger rise.
"You were interfering."
"I was protecting leverage."
"That is exactly the sentence men like Julian use."
Silence.
For the first time since returning, I saw my father not as rescuer, but as another powerful man who had decided he knew what was best for me.
Thomas's letter continued.
He realized too late that Julian was not only protecting Vance Group.
He was draining it.
Fake consulting contracts.
Related-party loans.
Payments to Ross Capital.
And one account labeled M-5.
Rachel traced it.
M-5 had paid Dr. Reeve.
The surveillance team.
A family-court consultant.
And someone listed only as G.R.
Genevieve Ross.
Then Marcus opened the last envelope from the locker.
A still frame from the Vance estate hallway camera.
Genevieve's hand raised.
Maya against the wall.
Timestamped three months earlier.
Below it, Thomas had written:
THIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME.
My vision blurred.
I had left my daughter in that house while I told myself I was keeping the family together.
Then Rachel's phone buzzed.
Emergency hearing granted.
Tomorrow, 9:00 a.m.
Julian was asking for sole custody.
May you like
And he had a new witness.
Our former nanny, Claire Benson.
