Chapter 6 — Emily's Hidden Past
Chapter 6 — Emily's Hidden Past
Emily couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
The baby in her mother's arms looked impossibly small.
Fragile.
Protected.
And beneath the photograph was the name she had spent her entire life believing belonged to someone else.
Emily Rose Harrington.
She touched the edge of the picture with trembling fingers.
“That isn't me.”
Margaret said nothing.
Daniel looked at his grandmother.
“You said Emily was Thomas Carter's daughter.”
“She was raised by Thomas.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Your grandfather made sure the truth disappeared.”
Emily looked up.
“Why?”
Margaret's answer came quietly.
“Because the truth would have destroyed this family.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“This family destroyed my father.”
Margaret flinched.
Daniel stepped between them.
“You've lied to her for twenty years.”
“I protected her.”
“You let her believe her father was a thief.”
“I had no choice.”
Emily stood.
“You always have a choice.”
Margaret looked at her.
“You don't know what your father did.”
Emily's voice hardened.
“You mean Thomas?”
“Yes.”
“My father.”
Margaret hesitated.
Then corrected herself.
“The man who raised you.”
Emily stared at her.
“Then tell me who my real father was.”
Margaret didn't answer.
Daniel looked at the photograph again.
“Grandfather knew.”
“Yes.”
“Mom knew.”
“Yes.”
“Thomas knew.”
“Yes.”
“Rebecca knew.”
“Yes.”
“And Vanessa?”
Margaret's silence answered him.
Emily felt sick.
“Everyone knew except me.”
Margaret looked away.
“That was the point.”
Emily left the study.
Daniel followed.
She walked quickly through the hallway, down the servants' staircase, and into the small room where she had lived for four years.
She shut the door.
Daniel knocked.
“Emily.”
No answer.
“Please.”
Still nothing.
Finally:
“Go away.”
“I won't.”
Silence.
Then the door opened.
Emily's eyes were red.
“I need to know something.”
“What?”
“Why did your father help me?”
Daniel frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“You said my father was connected to your family.”
“Yes.”
“But that's not what I mean.”
Emily sat on the edge of the bed.
“When I was nine, a man paid my school fees.”
Daniel stared.
“Who?”
“I didn't know his name.”
“What did he look like?”
“Tall.”
“Anything else?”
“Gray hair.”
Daniel's heart skipped.
“My father.”
Emily nodded.
“I think so.”
“What happened?”
Emily looked down.
“My mother was sick. We couldn't afford school anymore.”
Daniel sat opposite her.
“And?”
“A man came to our apartment.”
“Your father?”
“No.”
“Who?”
“He said he was working for your father.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What did he say?”
“That my education had already been paid for.”
“By my father?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Eight years.”
Daniel stared.
“My father paid for your entire education?”
Emily nodded.
“School. Books. Medical bills.”
“Why?”
“I didn't know.”
“Did Thomas know?”
Emily looked away.
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“He told me never to ask.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“Why?”
“Because your father didn't want me to know who he was.”
Emily opened an old drawer.
Inside were several envelopes.
She placed them on the bed.
Daniel looked at the dates.
The first was twenty years old.
The last was from three years ago.
“What are these?”
“Payments.”
“From my father?”
“Some.”
“Who sent the others?”
Emily hesitated.
“Your grandfather.”
Daniel picked up one envelope.
Inside was a receipt.
Tuition.
Medical expenses.
Housing.
All paid anonymously.
He looked at Emily.
“You weren't just a servant.”
“No.”
“Then why did you work here?”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I wanted to know why they had helped me.”
Daniel was silent.
“How long have you known?”
“That something was wrong?”
“Yes.”
“Since I was sixteen.”
The same year her father died.
Daniel remembered.
“What happened?”
Emily stared at the floor.
“My father gave me a box.”
“The wooden box?”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
“A key.”
“To the archive?”
“No.”
“To something else.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel frowned.
“You've had a key all these years and never used it?”
Emily shook her head.
“He told me never to use it unless someone tried to frame me.”
Daniel's blood ran cold.
“And yesterday…”
“Yes.”
“You used it.”
Emily nodded.
“That was how I entered the hidden room.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What else did you find?”
Emily hesitated.
“A file.”
“About your father?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“That Thomas wasn't working for your grandfather.”
Daniel frowned.
“He was working with him.”
“What difference does that make?”
“A lot.”
Emily pulled out a folded document.
She handed it to Daniel.
He read the heading.
CARTER INVESTIGATION — CONFIDENTIAL.
The first paragraph explained that Thomas had been hired to investigate irregular transfers from the Harrington estate.
But the second page was worse.
The money wasn't being stolen from the Harrington family.
It was being stolen from clients.
Hundreds of them.
Companies.
Charities.
Private trusts.
People who had trusted Daniel's grandfather.
Daniel stared at the numbers.
“Where did the money go?”
Emily pointed to another page.
“Here.”
A series of accounts.
Then a name.
Margaret Harrington.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“My grandmother.”
Emily nodded.
“She wasn't just hiding money.”
“She was taking it.”
“Yes.”
Daniel turned another page.
Then his face changed.
There was another name.
Vanessa Vale.
“Vanessa helped her.”
Emily nodded.
“That's what my father discovered.”
“And Rebecca?”
“She discovered it too.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then why was Thomas blamed?”
“Because someone needed a scapegoat.”
“Who?”
Emily looked at him.
“Margaret.”
The room fell silent.
Daniel stood.
“I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“How much did you know before you came here?”
Emily didn't answer.
“Emily.”
She closed her eyes.
“I knew Vanessa was dangerous.”
“How?”
“My father told me.”
“Did you know she was involved with Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know about the ledger?”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared.
“How long?”
“Years.”
“You knew where it was?”
“No.”
“Did you know about the necklaces?”
Emily hesitated.
“Yes.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“The first necklace?”
“I knew it was going to be used.”
“To frame you?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know who I could trust.”
“You could have trusted me.”
Emily looked at him.
“Could I?”
Daniel didn't answer.
She continued.
“You are Margaret's grandson.”
“My family doesn't define me.”
“You're still part of it.”
“And you're not?”
Emily looked at the photograph.
“Apparently I am.”
Daniel sat beside her.
“I should have told you.”
“Told me what?”
“My father once told me there was someone he had to protect.”
Emily looked at him.
“I never knew who.”
“When I was young, he would disappear for days.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Did he ever mention Thomas?”
“Yes.”
Emily's expression changed.
“What did he say?”
“He said Thomas was the bravest man he'd ever known.”
Tears filled Emily's eyes.
“He said that?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked down.
“I think my father knew what was happening.”
“But he couldn't stop it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he was afraid of Margaret.”
Emily shook her head.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does if you understand how much control she had.”
Daniel stood and walked to the window.
“What did your father tell you before he died?”
Emily was silent for several seconds.
Then:
“He said one thing.”
“What?”
“‘If they ever find you, tell Daniel the truth.’”
Daniel turned.
“My father said that?”
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“Thomas did.”
Daniel felt something shift inside him.
“What truth?”
Emily looked directly at him.
“He said your father didn't die naturally.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“Your father was murdered.”
“My father died of a heart attack.”
“That is what everyone believed.”
“What did Thomas know?”
“He said your father was poisoned.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Do you have proof?”
“No.”
“Then why believe it?”
“Because Thomas was there.”
“When?”
“The night your father died.”
Daniel's face went pale.
“My father was alone.”
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“He wasn't.”
Daniel couldn't breathe.
“Who was there?”
“Thomas.”
“Who else?”
“Margaret.”
“Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“And Rebecca.”
Daniel stared.
“All four?”
Emily nodded.
“Why?”
“They were arguing.”
“About what?”
“The ledger.”
“What did my father want?”
“He wanted to expose Margaret.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“And what happened?”
“Your father collapsed.”
“Did Thomas see Margaret poison him?”
“I don't know.”
“Then how does he know?”
“Because your father told him.”
“Told him what?”
Emily's voice dropped.
“He said, ‘Margaret did it.’”
Daniel closed his eyes.
His entire childhood had been built around a lie.
His father had died peacefully.
His grandmother had grieved.
The family had continued.
And somewhere beneath all of it was a murder nobody had wanted investigated.
A knock came at the door.
Both of them froze.
Daniel reached for the handle.
“Who?”
Mrs. Bell's voice answered.
“It's me.”
Daniel opened the door.
Mrs. Bell looked frightened.
“There are police downstairs.”
“Why?”
“They found something in the garden.”
“What?”
She swallowed.
“A body.”
Emily stood.
“What?”
Mrs. Bell looked at her.
“Thomas.”
They ran downstairs.
The garden was surrounded by police.
A body had been discovered beneath the old rose bushes.
The face was badly damaged.
But the clothing was familiar.
Daniel looked at Emily.
She shook her head.
“No.”
An officer approached.
“We believe it's Thomas Carter.”
Emily covered her mouth.
“But he was alive.”
Daniel stared at the body.
“He spoke to us yesterday.”
The officer looked confused.
“Yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“That can't be.”
“Why?”
The officer held up a photograph.
“Because the body appears to have been buried at least three days ago.”
Daniel felt the world tilt.
Emily whispered:
“Then who did I speak to?”
Daniel's phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
THOMAS CARTER IS DEAD.
Another.
THE MAN YOU MET WAS NOT THOMAS.
Then:
ASK EMILY WHO SHE REALLY MET.
Daniel slowly looked at her.
Emily's face had gone white.
“I don't know.”
“You spoke to someone.”
“Yes.”
“You thought it was Thomas.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He knew things only my father knew.”
Daniel stared at the phone.
Then another message appeared.
THE GIRL KNOWS MORE THAN SHE REMEMBERS.
Emily stepped backward.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Because something had just occurred to him.
Emily had said her father gave her a key.
She had said he paid for her education.
She had said he told her to trust Daniel.
But if Thomas had died three days ago...
who had been protecting Emily all these years?
And why had someone gone to such extraordinary lengths to make her believe she was merely a poor housekeeper?
Daniel looked at the photograph of the dead man.
Then at Emily.
“You weren't working here because you needed the money.”
Emily slowly shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why?”
She swallowed.
“Because I was looking for the ledger.”
Daniel stared.
“Did you find it?”
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
“No.”
“Then what were you looking for?”
She reached inside her uniform and pulled out a small silver key.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
It was different from the brass key.
“What's that?”
Emily looked at him.
“The key my father gave me.”
Daniel's heart pounded.
“What does it open?”
Emily whispered:
“I don't know.”
Then she looked toward Margaret.
“But I think she does.”
Across the garden, Margaret was standing perfectly still.
Her eyes were fixed on the key.
May you like
And for the first time since Daniel had known her...
his grandmother looked genuinely terrified.
