Chapter 2 - Amelia’s Room
Victor stood inches from the message.
He reached out but did not touch it.
Lily could hear Ethan breathing against his father’s shoulder.
“Who wrote that?” she asked.
Victor’s answer came slowly.
“I don’t know.”
But his face said something else.
He had a suspicion.
Lily moved closer.
The letters had not been professionally engraved.
They were scratched by hand.
Uneven.
Desperate.
Victor set Ethan down carefully.
“Stay beside Lily.”
Ethan immediately reached for her fingers.
Victor examined the keypad.
Six numbers.
No screen.
No visible power source.
He tried Amelia’s birthday.
Nothing.
Their wedding date.
Nothing.
Ethan’s birthday.
A red light flashed.
Lily noticed something on the nightstand.
A jewelry box.
One compartment had been pulled slightly open.
“Mr. Hale.”
Victor opened it.
Inside were earrings, rings, and a folded photograph.
The photograph showed Amelia standing beside another woman.
The second woman had dark hair.
Victor stared at her.
“Who is she?” Lily asked.
“Dr. Mara Ellison.”
“Amelia’s friend?”
“Her attorney.”
Victor turned the photograph over.
A six-digit number had been written on the back.
41719.
Victor entered it.
The steel panel unlocked.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside sat a black flash drive, a leather notebook, and an envelope addressed to Victor.
His hands trembled as he opened it.
Victor,
If you are reading this, then either I finally found the courage to tell you everything, or someone made sure I never could.
Victor stopped.
Lily watched the color disappear from his face.
He continued.
Do not trust Serena Vale.
Do not trust anyone who tells you my death was an accident.
And whatever happens, do not let them gain control of Ethan before his fifth birthday.
Victor looked at his son.
Ethan would turn five in nine days.
Lily whispered.
“The trust.”
Victor nodded.
He kept reading.
Your father created more than a family trust.
He created a safeguard.
If Ethan reaches five years old alive and legally under your custody, control of Hale Biomedical’s voting shares transfers permanently to him through you.
If Ethan dies before then, the shares pass into the secondary beneficiary structure.
Victor lowered the letter.
“Secondary beneficiary.”
Lily already knew the question.
“Who?”
Victor searched the page.
His eyes stopped.
He whispered one name.
“Serena.”
The room went silent.
Then a sound came from inside the wall.
A soft mechanical click.
Lily turned.
The hidden compartment contained a second panel.
May you like
It had just unlocked.
And from somewhere behind the wall came the faint sound of a woman crying.
