Chapter 18 - Claire's Second Copy
They felt like doors that could never fully open.
But Lily solved Claire's final one before any adult did.
"Mommy liked backups," she said when Ethan told her about the second copy.
"She used to say one treasure is easy to steal."
"Did she ever hide another treasure with you?"
Lily thought.
Then she jumped down from her chair.
"My music box."
It had sat in Lily's room untouched for years.
Ethan carried it to the table.
Nothing under the velvet lining.
Nothing inside the drawer.
Lily frowned.
"Mommy fixed the song once."
Ethan turned the box over.
Four screws held the music mechanism in place.
Behind it was a microSD card taped beneath the brass plate.
Maya stared at Lily.
"Your mom was good."
Lily smiled sadly. "She was sneaky good."
The card contained a full export of Grant's hidden accounts and a video Claire recorded the morning she died.
Claire sat in Ethan's office, eyes red from lack of sleep.
"Ethan, I don't know who I can trust inside the company anymore. Grant is stealing. Nora is helping him. I confronted both of them. If you're watching this, please believe I tried to get to you."
She paused.
Then she held up a printed service receipt.
"Travis Keene accessed my car without authorization. I photographed everything. I'm going to the police now."
The video ended.
Ethan bowed his head.
Lily slipped her hand into his.
"Daddy?"
"I'm okay."
"You don't have to say that when you're not."
He laughed once through tears.
Claire had taught her that.
The card gave prosecutors enough to connect the old fraud, Claire's death, Ethan's poisoning, and Lily's kidnapping into one conspiracy.
But one file surprised Maya.
A draft trust document.
Claire had prepared it secretly.
If anything happened to both parents, control of Lily's inheritance would not pass to Grant.
It would pass to Maya.
Ethan looked at his friend.
Maya stared back.
"Claire knew," she whispered.
"Before any of us did."
Then Lily pointed at the screen.
"What's that?"
At the bottom of Claire's document was a handwritten note.
DO NOT LET GRANT NEAR THE FOUNDATION ACCOUNT.
May you like
Maya's face changed.
"Ethan... nobody checked the foundation yet."
