Chapter 10 - The Ex-Girlfriend Who Knew My Mother’s Name
Brier denied being at the estate.
She did it through a lawyer.
By the time we returned to Manhattan, she had also released a statement claiming I was abusing trust authority because of “personal jealousy related to an old romantic friendship.”
Old romantic friendship.
Apparently spending my wedding night with my husband qualified as friendship now.
The story exploded online.
Photographs from our wedding appeared beside pictures of Brier crying outside her apartment.
I was described as vindictive.
Controlling.
Emotionally unstable.
A wealthy heiress punishing her husband for helping an ex.
Celeste’s public relations team moved quickly.
What they did not know was that Elena moved faster.
We said nothing.
Not yet.
Instead, we studied the blue ledger.
At 1:00 a.m., Elena found a reference to a storage facility in Queens.
At 2:30, Graham obtained access.
At 4:00, we entered a climate-controlled storage unit registered under a company my mother had owned.
There were twelve boxes.
Inside were copies of Whitmore financial statements.
Contracts.
Private letters.
And three cassette recordings my mother had apparently made during meetings with Everett.
The final box contained a sealed envelope addressed to me.
My hands shook as I opened it.
Sarah,
If you are reading this, then something has gone wrong.
I stopped.
Elena stood beside me but did not speak.
I continued.
The Whitmores are not all dangerous, but some of them have forgotten the difference between family and ownership.
Everett believes Celeste has been using trust companies to move money outside the family structure.
I found evidence involving Charles and Martin.
There is also a young woman working for Celeste whose surname is Logan.
My breath caught.
Logan.
Brier Logan.
The letter had been written seven years earlier.
Brier would have been twenty-four.
I read faster.
She has been present at several meetings despite holding no official position.
I do not know her role.
I only know that Celeste trusts her with things she should not.
I looked at Declan.
He had followed us to the storage unit but remained near the doorway.
His face was white.
“Brier knew my mother.”
He shook his head.
“She never told me.”
“Of course she didn’t.”
Then Elena lifted a folder from the box.
Inside was a photograph.
Brier stood beside Celeste at a charity gala seven years earlier.
Behind them was my mother.
Declan whispered, “That’s impossible.”
“No.”
I turned the picture around.
May you like
Written on the back in my mother’s handwriting were five words.
Brier is watching my daughter.
