Chapter 6 - The West Bookcase
We did not go alone.
Lena obtained a warrant connected to the assault investigation because the statement, trust documents, and potential evidence all originated from the Vale residence.
Vivienne met us at the door.
She wore black trousers and a cream sweater.
No makeup.
No silver gown.
No public smile.
“You are turning grief into spectacle.”
I stepped past her.
“No.”
“I’m finally opening the doors you kept closed.”
Henry’s study smelled exactly as I remembered.
Leather.
Old paper.
Cedar.
The west bookcase stood behind his desk.
Julian knew the mechanism.
A brass horse on the third shelf turned sideways.
The bookcase clicked.
Behind it was a narrow safe.
The combination was Nora’s birth date.
That detail nearly broke me.
Inside were company files.
Bank transfers.
Medical notes.
And photographs of my injuries.
I stared at them.
Some were from years earlier.
Adrian had bruised my arm during an argument at the family lake house.
I covered it with makeup.
Henry had noticed.
He photographed it after I fell asleep on the sofa.
Another showed a mark near my shoulder.
Another.
My wrist.
I looked at Julian.
“He knew.”
Julian’s face was pale.
“He suspected.”
Vivienne spoke behind us.
“He was obsessed with Adrian.”
I turned.
“Your husband photographed my injuries.”
“He misunderstood.”
I stared at her.
“Did everyone in this family misunderstand bruises?”
She looked away.
Lena opened another folder.
Inside were handwritten notes.
Dates.
Arguments Henry witnessed.
Threats Adrian made.
One line was underlined twice.
A. told Claire if she ever leaves, he will make sure no court gives her the child.
Lena looked at me.
“When was this?”
I remembered.
“Nine months before Nora was born.”
Vivienne said.
“Henry had no context.”
I finally lost patience.
“What context makes that sentence acceptable?”
She said nothing.
Then Julian found the financial folder.
Transfers from Vale Holdings to a company called Meridian Child & Family Consultants.
Rachel recognized the name.
“They prepared the psychiatric statement.”
Lena checked the dates.
Payments began before Nora was born.
Adrian had been planning my incapacity claim for nearly a year.
Then we found the signature authorizing the payments.
May you like
Not Adrian’s.
Vivienne’s.
