Chương 8
The letter had one final section.
And that was the part that made my stomach turn.
My father had written about a previous attempt to acquire the land.
A company had tried years ago.
He stopped them.
But he warned that they would return.
People who want land rarely forget it.
They simply wait for a better opportunity.
I folded the letter.
"Sarah knew about this."
Gabriel looked at me.
"What makes you say that?"
"She was helping Dad organize files before she died."
I remembered something.
A conversation I had forgotten because of everything that happened afterward.
Sarah standing in this office.
Holding a folder.
Looking worried.
She had asked me if I trusted Veronica.
I had laughed.
I had said, "She's my sister."
At the time, I thought that was an answer.
Now I wondered if it had been an excuse.
I looked toward the window.
Outside, Oakridge continued like nothing had changed.
People drove to work.
Children walked to school.
Someone was mowing a lawn two houses away.
A normal town.
A town sitting on top of a fight nobody knew existed.
Gabriel closed the box.
"There is something else."
I looked at him.
"What?"
He pulled out another document.
A signature.
A date.
A name.
Veronica Sterling.
My sister had not just been negotiating with Richard Vale.
She had already signed away part of her future.
And she had done it three days after Hannah was moved to the barn.
The signature sat in front of me like evidence from a crime I had not yet understood.
Three days after Hannah was moved to the barn.
Three days after my daughter stopped sleeping in a bedroom.
Three days after someone decided a child was an inconvenience instead of a person.
I looked at the document again.
"Is this real?"
Gabriel nodded.
"I verified the signature."
"She agreed to sell."
"She agreed to an option."
I looked at him.
"That sounds like a legal way of saying sell."
"Not exactly."
He took the paper and pointed to a section near the bottom.
"An option gives them the right to purchase if certain conditions are met."
"What conditions?"
Gabriel hesitated.
"The estate becoming financially unstable."
I stared at the page.
"So they needed the property to look like it was failing."
"Yes."
"And Veronica helped create that appearance."
"Possibly."
The word bothered me.
Not because it was uncertain.
Because it was careful.
Gabriel had spent his career around people who could destroy others with one careless sentence.
"She was desperate," he said.
I looked at him.
"Desperate people still make choices."
"I know."
"She chose money over Hannah."
Gabriel didn't argue.
Because he knew there was no defense for that.
I took the document and walked to the window.
Outside, the old fields stretched toward the edge of town.
When I was a kid, my father used to tell me that land remembered people.
I thought it was one of those things adults said when they wanted children to appreciate something.
Now I wondered if he meant something else.
People left traces.
Promises.
Mistakes.
Damage.
Everything stayed somewhere.
"Where is Veronica now?"
Gabriel checked his phone.
"At the estate."
"Alone?"
"No."
My attention moved back to him.
"Who is there?"
"Richard Vale."
I grabbed my jacket.
"Thomas."
I stopped.
Gabriel's voice changed.
Not louder.
More serious.
"Do not go there looking for a fight."
"I am not."
"Yes, you are."
I looked at him.
He didn't look away.
"You're angry because you found out your sister made a terrible choice."
"She put my daughter in a barn."
"Yes."
"And she helped someone take this town."
"Maybe."
I frowned.
"Maybe?"
"Because we still don't know if she understood the entire plan."
I hated that he was right.
A part of me wanted everything to be simple.
Veronica was guilty.
Richard was the enemy.
I was the person who came back to fix it.
But real life rarely gave people roles that clean.
I drove to the estate anyway.
Not to fight.
Not exactly.
I wanted answers.
Veronica and Richard were inside the office when I arrived.
The door was open.
Neither of them looked surprised to see me.
That bothered me.
"You expected me," I said.
Richard stood beside the desk.
"Your return has been difficult to ignore."
Veronica remained seated.
She looked exhausted.
Not defeated.
Just tired.
"I know about the agreement," I said.
Her eyes closed briefly.
Then opened.
"I figured you would."
"You signed it after Hannah was moved."
Richard looked at Veronica.
A small movement.
Almost invisible.
But I saw it.
"You told him?"
Veronica stood.
"Not everything is about you."
"Interesting."
"Don't do that."
"Do what?"
"Act like you understand."
I laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I was tired.
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
"Then explain it."
She looked at Richard.
"Leave."
His expression changed.
"I don't think that's wise."
"I said leave."
For the first time, I saw Richard lose control.
Only for a second.
But it was there.
A flash of irritation.
Then he smiled.
He walked past me.
As he reached the door, he stopped.
"Mr. Sterling."
I looked at him.
"Be careful who you believe."
Then he left.
The silence afterward felt heavier.
"How much did you borrow?" I asked.
Veronica sat down.
"Enough."
"That isn't an answer."
"It is the only one I have right now."
"Why?"
She rubbed her forehead.
"I had surgery."
I waited.
She looked at the floor.
"I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want to become another problem."
The sentence surprised me.
Because it sounded like something Hannah might say.
Not Veronica.
"I had complications," she continued.
"I couldn't work the way I used to."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She gave a small smile.
"Because you were in another country trying to save everyone."
The words were sharp.
But the sadness underneath them was sharper.
"I didn't know."
"I know."
"No, Veronica."
May you like
My voice lowered.
"I really didn't know."
