Chapter 8 - THE FIFTY-THOUSAND-DOLLAR SECRET|
I found Grace in Noah's bedroom.
She was helping him arrange toy cars in a line.
When she saw my face, her smile disappeared.
"What's wrong?"
I placed the bank statement on the dresser.
"Explain this."
Grace looked down.
Her hands began trembling.
"Where did you get that?"
"Does it belong to you?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
"Did my mother pay you?"
Grace closed her eyes.
"Yes."
I stepped back.
"How much?"
"Fifty thousand dollars."
The answer felt like a bullet.
"Why?"
She looked toward Noah.
"Can we talk somewhere else?"
I asked my house manager to watch Noah and followed Grace downstairs.
She led me into the small garden room.
Then she began speaking.
"After Claire died, I tried to report what I had heard. Nobody wanted to listen. Your mother's attorney contacted me."
"What did he offer?"
"Money to leave Miami and never discuss the hospital."
"You accepted?"
"I was twenty-seven. I had lost my job, my reputation, and my savings. I was terrified."
"You took the money."
"Yes."
"Then you came here and accepted a position in my house?"
Grace began crying.
"I didn't know you were Claire's husband when I applied."
"That doesn't explain why you stayed."
"Because Noah needed me."
"Or because you wanted access to the family?"
She flinched.
I immediately regretted saying it.
But I couldn't stop.
"Did you ever intend to tell me?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"I don't know."
I looked away.
She continued.
"The money is still in my account. I never spent it."
"Why?"
"Because it never belonged to me."
She reached into her pocket and removed a folded envelope.
"I kept this too."
Inside was a letter from Margaret's attorney.
It stated that Grace was receiving the money in exchange for signing a confidentiality agreement.
But there was something else.
A handwritten note appeared at the bottom.
The family requires your silence regarding the second medication order.
I stared at the words.
"Second medication order?"
Grace nodded.
"That's what I heard them discussing."
Before I could ask more, the garden room door opened.
Margaret stood there.
Her eyes went directly to the letter.
"You were told to destroy that."
Grace stepped backward.
I turned toward my mother.
"How many secrets have you kept from me?"
Margaret's face hardened.
"Enough to protect this family."
I raised the letter.
"Did you change Claire's medication?"
She said nothing.
Then she looked at Grace.
"Get out of my house."
I moved between them.
"Nobody is going anywhere."
Margaret's expression became strangely calm.
"Then you should know something, Luca."
She looked at the letter.
"Claire wasn't the only person who signed that agreement."
My stomach tightened.
"Who else?"
May you like
My mother answered with four words.
"Your father was involved."
