Chapter 8 - The Fire at the Mill
Elena Alvarez, Hannah's mother, lived twenty minutes away in a narrow house full of books, basil plants, and photographs of her daughter.
She opened the door and read Hannah's note without speaking.
"I hoped we'd never need to have this conversation," she said.
Twenty years earlier Miles Vaughn had attempted to buy the mill from its previous owners. When they refused, a suspicious electrical fire cleared half the building. Investigators couldn't prove who caused it. Miles then offered to purchase the damaged property at a discount.
Hannah's family had pooled their savings and bought it first.
"He hated her for that," Elena said. "When Hannah later put it in Oliver's trust, he lost his last path to it."
"How did Celeste know about the trust?"
Elena looked toward the kitchen window.
"Because Patrick leaked our financial reports. Hannah suspected him before she got sick, but couldn't prove it."
She reached into a cabinet and brought out a shoebox containing a small flash drive and Hannah's notebook.
"She asked me to keep these until Oliver was old enough. I should have told you years ago."
The notebook contained dates, payments, and sketches of ownership arrangements.
I realized my grief had allowed me to hand nearly all financial responsibilities to people Hannah had quietly been investigating.
"You weren't wrong to trust people," Elena said. "But you have to stop trusting them now."
As I stood to leave, her phone rang.
She answered, went pale, and passed it to me.
May you like
A man on the line said he was calling from Mercer Build's warehouse.
"Mr. Mercer, your finance director is here with a moving truck. He's removing the records room."
