“Liam left something in his office safe. It has your name on it.”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“What kind of something?”
“I don’t think I should explain this over the phone.”
By the time I reached Liam’s workplace, my hands were shaking so badly I could barely turn off the car.
Mark looked pale when he met me at the front door.
He didn’t make small talk. He led me upstairs, unlocked Liam’s office, then opened the safe behind his desk.
Inside was a thick envelope.
My name was written across the front in Liam’s handwriting.
No.
Not my name.
Three words.
Give to Emily.
I looked at Mark. “Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
His jaw tightened.
“Liam asked me to wait until after the funeral,” he said. “But I should’ve called sooner. Then Grace came by asking if Liam had left anything in the safe.”
My stomach dropped.
“Grace?”
Mark nodded.
“And that’s when I knew I’d waited too long.”
I tore open the envelope right there.
Inside were bank records, printed photos, copies of old estate documents, and a handwritten note.
The first line almost stopped my heart.
Em, if you’re reading this, then they finally got to me. Please don’t trust Grace.
For a second, I could not breathe.
Then I read the next line.
Grace has been stealing from money meant for the kids, and Ryan knows I found out.
I read it once.
Then again.
Then a third time, because my mind refused to connect those words to my sister.
Grace had handled most of our mother’s estate after Mom died. She always said she was better with forms and numbers, and I had believed her.
According to Liam’s notes, she had been skimming money from my share before it was moved into the education fund we had created for Ava and Ben.
He found it while helping me with taxes.
He had written:
I didn’t tell you until I had proof. I knew what accusing your sister would do to you.
There were photos too.
Grace meeting a man behind Liam’s office.
Ryan.
Grace’s ex-husband.
The man she claimed had been out of her life for years.
Liam’s notes said that was a lie.
