Chapter 13 - THE FAMILY BUSINESS
Claire's mother had been dead for ten years.
That should have made the ledger useless.
It didn't.
Her account had received money for more than a decade.
Long before Emily met Claire.
This wasn't a new scheme.
It was a family business.
Claire had inherited the network.
Victor had maintained it.
The police supervisor had protected it.
My father had tried to shut it down.
Emily had tried to expose it.
And I had been the perfect scapegoat.
Harris prepared arrests.
But Claire wasn't finished.
She leaked a story claiming I had fabricated the evidence.
Then she released private photographs of Emily from the year before her death.
The internet turned cruel.
People accused me of obsessing over the dead.
Some said I was using Sophie to gain sympathy.
For three days, I didn't leave the house.
Then Sophie came downstairs holding a drawing.
She handed it to me.
It showed the old jewelry box.
Inside it was a bright yellow sun.
“Mommy said the truth was like this,” she said.
“Like what?”
“Even if you close the box, it still shines.”
I cried.
She climbed into my lap.
“Are you sad?”
“Yes.”
“About Mommy?”
“Yes.”
“Then be sad.”
It was the simplest thing anyone had told me in three years.
Be sad.
Not strong.
Not calm.
Not strategic.
Just sad.
The next morning, I returned to the courthouse.
I testified.
Daniel testified.
Elise testified.
Owen testified.
Victor testified.
And then the final witness entered.
The retired police supervisor's widow.
She carried a box of her husband's journals.
“I found these after his death,” she said.
One entry named Claire.
Another named Emily.
The final entry was written on the day of Emily's death.
She knows where the ledger is. If Ethan finds it, everything ends.
Claire had spent three years trying to stop one event.
Me finding the ledger.
Now I had it.
Harris looked at me before the hearing began.
“You ready?”
I nodded.
“No.”
He smiled.
“Good answer.”
Because I wasn't ready.
May you like
I was just done being afraid.
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