Chương 6
“Yes.”
Estelle laughed bitterly.
“How noble.”
“I didn’t say it was noble.”
“You decided what we were allowed to know.”
“Yes.”
“You decided what my son could handle.”
“Yes.”
“You decided what I could survive.”
Maribel’s eyes lifted again.
“Yes.”
Estelle’s anger faltered.
Not because the act hurt less.
Because she recognized the shape of it.
Leandro recognized it too.
He looked at his mother.
Then at Maribel.
The two women seemed suddenly less like enemies and more like people who had spent years committing different versions of the same sin.
He hated that thought enough to turn away.
Celia spoke quietly.
“The letter still exists.”
Leandro turned back.
“Where?”
Maribel answered.
“In my safe.”
Estelle stared at her.
“You kept it.”
“I couldn’t destroy it.”
“Why?”
Maribel’s mouth tightened.
“I don’t know.”
Celia looked at her.
“You do.”
Maribel’s eyes flashed.
“Stay out of it.”
“You kept it because you knew he would eventually need it.”
Maribel stepped toward her.
“You have spent years assigning motives to me that make you feel better.”
“And you have spent years pretending cruelty is discipline.”
Leandro raised one hand.
“Enough.”
Both women stopped.
He looked at Maribel.
“Did you access the reserve account yesterday?”
“No.”
“Do you know who did?”
Maribel hesitated.
That hesitation was more damaging than a lie.
Leandro saw it.
“So you do.”
“I have a suspicion.”
“Who?”
Maribel looked at Celia.
Celia’s face changed.
“No.”
Maribel nodded.
“Yes.”
Celia’s voice sharpened.
“Don’t drag her into this.”
Leandro looked between them.
“Who?”
Maribel folded her arms.
“Alina.”
Estelle’s breath caught.
Celia shook her head.
“She wouldn’t.”
Maribel looked at her.
“You don’t know that.”
“I know her.”
“You know the version of her that calls on Sundays.”
Celia’s expression hardened.
“And you know the version that resents being excluded.”
Maribel went still.
Leandro noticed.
“What aren’t you saying?”
Celia looked at him.
“Alina learned about the reserve account three months ago.”
“How?”
Celia did not answer immediately.
Maribel did.
“Because I told her.”
Leandro stared.
“You told her about an account Dad specifically warned against touching.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Maribel’s composure finally cracked at the edges.
“Because she asked what he left her.”
Celia closed her eyes.
Leandro’s voice went flat.
“And what did he leave her?”
Maribel looked at Estelle.
“A promise.”
Estelle’s expression hardened.
“What kind of promise?”
“The kind he never put into the trust.”
Arthur stepped forward for the first time.
“That matters.”
Leandro looked at him.
“How much?”
Arthur shook his head.
“If there is no executed document, we need to be careful about assuming anything.”
Maribel laughed bitterly.
“There he is.”
Arthur frowned.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means everyone becomes very precise when the dead man’s intentions become inconvenient.”
Celia said, “There was a document.”
Arthur looked at her.
“What document?”
“A letter of direction.”
He frowned.
“That isn’t necessarily binding.”
“I didn’t say it was.”
“Where is it?”
Celia’s gaze moved to Maribel.
Maribel went pale again.
Leandro noticed.
“Maribel.”
She looked at him.
“The original is gone.”
Arthur’s expression changed immediately.
“Gone from where?”
“My safe.”
Leandro stepped closer.
“When did you last see it?”
“Two weeks ago.”
“And when did you notice it missing?”
“This morning.”
Estelle stared at her.
“You knew this before the party.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
Maribel turned on her.
“Because I was trying to find out whether you took it.”
Estelle recoiled.
“You thought I broke into your safe?”
“You hired someone to follow me.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
Maribel’s eyes were bright now.
“It’s cleaner.”
Leandro stepped between them again.
“Stop.”
This time both women obeyed.
He looked at Celia.
“If Alina accessed the account and the letter is missing, what does that mean?”
Celia tightened her grip on her coat.
“It means either she believes the money belongs to her, or someone wants it to look that way.”
Leandro glanced at Maribel.
“Could you access it?”
Maribel’s mouth tightened.
“Yes.”
Estelle stared at her.
“You said you didn’t.”
“I didn’t.”
“But you could.”
“Yes.”
Celia added, “So could I.”
Leandro looked at her.
Arthur spoke quietly.
“And depending on how the old authorization was structured, possibly Estelle.”
Everyone turned toward her.
Estelle blinked.
“What?”
Arthur looked uncomfortable.
“Your husband retained broad administrative language in several older instruments.”
“I never accessed anything.”
“I believe you.”
Maribel said, “Belief is becoming very cheap tonight.”
Leandro ignored her.
He looked at the folder again.
“What triggered the alert exactly?”
Celia stepped closer.
“A transfer request.”
“How much?”
She hesitated.
“Six hundred thousand dollars.”
Estelle sat down again.
Daphne whispered something under her breath.
Arthur’s face hardened.
Leandro looked at Maribel.
Her defiance had vanished.
For the first time, she looked frightened in a way that had nothing to do with losing a chair.
“Where was it going?”
Celia looked at the papers in Leandro’s hands.
“To an escrow account in Oregon.”
Leandro’s eyes narrowed.
“For what?”
Celia took a slow breath.
“A house.”
Maribel said, “Not just any house.”
Leandro looked at her.
She swallowed.
“It’s the house your father promised Alina twenty years ago.”
Leandro looked at Maribel as if she had spoken in another language.
“What house?”
Maribel’s eyes moved toward Celia.
Celia answered.
“A small place outside Portland.”
Leandro laughed once, without humor.
“My father promised a woman I’ve never met a house I’ve never heard of, and somehow six hundred thousand dollars is moving through a family account to buy it now.”
“No one said the transfer completed,” Arthur said.
Leandro turned on him.
“Did it?”
Arthur looked at Celia.
She shook her head.
“It was flagged before release.”
“How?”
“The destination account didn’t match the historical beneficiary information.”
Leandro rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Historical beneficiary.”
Celia nodded.
“Your father created a private designation years ago, but the account was never actually distributed.”
Estelle stared at the papers in Leandro’s hands.
“Because he changed his mind?”
Celia’s expression tightened.
May you like
“Because he kept delaying.”
Maribel looked at her.
