Chapter 7 - The Letter From a Dead Man
Daniel placed the watch on the table.
“Your father gave it to me.”
“My father died twelve years ago.”
“I know.”
Roman stared at him. “Why have I never seen it?”
“Because Elias asked me to keep something from you until the Calder trust was attacked from inside the family.”
Daniel opened his briefcase and removed a yellowed envelope.
Roman recognized his father’s handwriting.
FOR ROMAN — ONLY IF HELENA MAKES HER MOVE.
Helena lunged for it.
Brooks stopped her.
Roman tore it open.
The first lines read:
Roman, if you are reading this, Helena has finally tried to take what she believes belongs to her. Nora deserves the truth before she ever trusts that woman with the Calder estate.
Nora whispered, “What truth?”
Roman kept reading.
Helena Ward had once worked for Calder Shipping under another name: Helena Velez. She had been fired after an internal audit found altered invoices.
Nora looked at Marco’s empty chair.
“Velez?”
Daniel nodded. “Marco is Helena’s brother.”
Nora turned to her mother. “You told me he was a family friend.”
Helena looked away.
The letter continued. Elias had chosen not to prosecute Helena because she was pregnant and desperate. Years later, he learned she and Marco had resumed moving money through fake vendors.
Then Roman reached the sentence that made Nora sit down.
I do not know the identity of Nora’s biological father, because Helena lied to everyone about him.
Nora’s voice trembled. “You lied about my father too?”
Helena said nothing.
Daniel opened the flash drive again. “There’s one more directory.”
He entered a password from Elias’s letter.
A photograph appeared.
Nora stared at it.
A man she had been told died when she was six was standing beside Judge Pike.
May you like
The photo was six months old.
“My father is alive.”
