Chapter 1 - The Letter Behind Clara’s PortraitThree months after Victoria’s arrest, the Vance estate had finally begun to feel like a home again.
For the first time in years, there were no whispered arguments behind closed doors, no footsteps stopping whenever Lily entered a room, and no atmosphere of suspicion hanging over the dining table.
Lily was sitting on the living-room carpet with a stack of colored pencils when Sarah noticed something strange.
A corner of the frame around Clara’s portrait had separated slightly from the wall.
Sarah reached up carefully.
“Mr. Vance?”
Mark looked over from his laptop.
“What is it?”
“I think something is behind the picture.”
Mark immediately stood.
Together, they removed Clara’s photograph from the wall.
Behind it was a narrow envelope sealed with dark red wax.
Mark stared at it.
His face changed.
“That handwriting…”
Sarah looked at him.
“You recognize it?”
Mark swallowed.
“It’s Clara’s.”
His hands trembled slightly as he opened the envelope.
Inside was a single handwritten page.
Mark,
If you are reading this, something has happened that I was afraid to tell you about.
Do not trust anyone who tells you my death was natural.
There is someone inside the company who knows exactly what happened to me.
And Victoria is not the only person you need to fear.
Mark stopped reading.
Lily looked up.
“Daddy?”
Mark folded the letter.
“Go upstairs with Sarah, sweetheart.”
“Why?”
“Because I need to make a phone call.”
Sarah watched him carefully.
“What did Clara write?”
Mark looked toward the closed curtains.
May you like
Then he whispered:
“She knew she was going to die.”
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