Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED
They returned to Bellgrave Palace before dawn.
Vale stayed with Emma under police protection.
Vanessa sat alone in the library.
Mrs. Bellgrave had refused to sleep.
Leah sat at the long table with a laptop open in front of her.
Alexander stood near the window.
Rain streaked the glass.
No one spoke for several minutes.
Finally, Leah said,
“Twenty years.”
Alexander turned.
She pointed to the screen.
“Twenty years of payments.”
“Every month.”
“Yes.”
“From where?”
“An account owned by Bellgrave Consulting Holdings.”
Alexander frowned.
“That company was dissolved before my father died.”
Mrs. Bellgrave looked up.
“No.”
Alexander turned toward her.
“What?”
“It wasn’t dissolved.”
He stared.
“I signed the papers.”
“You signed what your father gave you.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“What are you saying?”
His mother folded her hands.
“Your father had companies you never knew existed.”
Vanessa laughed softly.
“Apparently rich people can hide entire corporations from their children.”
Mrs. Bellgrave looked at her.
“Apparently.”
Leah leaned forward.
“Did your husband know my mother?”
Mrs. Bellgrave’s eyes moved to Leah.
“Yes.”
Leah’s stomach dropped.
“How?”
“She worked for him.”
“Doing what?”
“Internal investigations.”
Alexander turned toward his mother.
“You never told me this.”
“You were twenty-three.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
Mrs. Bellgrave sighed.
“Your father discovered money was disappearing from a construction project.”
“And he hired Eleanor?”
“Yes.”
“Outside the company?”
“Yes.”
Leah’s voice shook.
“My mother was an investigator?”
Mrs. Bellgrave nodded.
“A very good one.”
Leah looked down.
Everything she believed about her childhood was collapsing.
“My father said she was an accountant.”
“She was.”
Mrs. Bellgrave paused.
“That was her cover.”
Leah looked up sharply.
Vanessa whispered.
“Well, that explains a lot.”
Alexander ignored her.
“What did Eleanor find?”
Mrs. Bellgrave looked toward the dark windows.
“She found a network.”
“The same one Mercer showed us?”
“I believe so.”
“How far back?”
“At least twenty-five years.”
Alexander’s face tightened.
“Before I became CEO.”
“Yes.”
“Before Mercer became CFO.”
“Yes.”
Leah understood.
“Then Mercer inherited it.”
Mrs. Bellgrave nodded.
“Or was recruited into it.”
Alexander sat down.
For the first time since Leah met him, he looked shaken.
“My father knew?”
Mrs. Bellgrave didn’t answer.
Alexander looked at her.
“Mother.”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Vanessa stopped smiling.
Alexander’s voice dropped.
“My father knew.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
“Did he steal?”
“No.”
“Did he protect the people who did?”
Mrs. Bellgrave hesitated.
Alexander stood.
“That means yes.”
“He was afraid.”
“So he protected criminals.”
“He was trying to protect you.”
Alexander laughed once.
“That excuse is becoming popular tonight.”
Mrs. Bellgrave looked wounded.
“He believed if he exposed them, they would destroy the family.”
“Instead they used our company for twenty-five years.”
“Yes.”
“And people died.”
Mrs. Bellgrave’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Leah looked at her.
“My father.”
Mrs. Bellgrave lowered her head.
“Yes.”
Leah’s anger rose.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“You knew my father was killed because of this.”
“I suspected.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I had no proof.”
“You had enough to keep his key for six years.”
Mrs. Bellgrave’s face tightened.
Leah stood.
“You let me believe he died in an accident.”
“I didn’t know you.”
“You knew my name.”
“Yes.”
“Then you could have found me.”
Mrs. Bellgrave whispered.
“I was afraid bringing you into this would get you killed too.”
Leah looked away.
Alexander said nothing.
Because there was nothing to say.
Vanessa suddenly stood.
“I need to show you something.”
Everyone looked at her.
She pulled out her phone.
“I thought it was useless.”
Alexander’s expression hardened.
“Tonight has taught us that your definition of useless is unreliable.”
Vanessa ignored the insult.
She opened a photograph.
It showed Daniel Mercer standing outside a restaurant.
Beside him was an older man.
Silver-haired.
Distinguished.
Leah didn’t recognize him.
Alexander did.
His face changed instantly.
“No.”
Mrs. Bellgrave whispered.
“Oh, God.”
Leah looked between them.
“Who is that?”
Alexander stared at the photograph.
“My uncle.”
“Your father’s brother?”
“Yes.”
“Name?”
“Edmund Bellgrave.”
Vanessa nodded.
“He met Mercer six weeks ago.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Why were you photographing them?”
“I thought Mercer was sleeping with someone.”
Vanessa paused.
“I was gathering ammunition.”
Mrs. Bellgrave stared at her.
“You really are exhausting.”
Vanessa shrugged.
“It proved useful.”
Alexander looked closer.
“My uncle hasn’t worked for Bellgrave in nineteen years.”
Leah asked,
“Why did he leave?”
Mrs. Bellgrave answered.
“Because your grandfather chose Alexander’s father to run the company.”
Alexander continued.
“Edmund believed the company belonged to him.”
Leah’s eyes narrowed.
“And what happened?”
“He sued.”
“Lost.”
“Then?”
“He disappeared from public life.”
Mrs. Bellgrave whispered.
“He never disappeared.”
Alexander looked toward her.
His mother’s face had become pale.
“He remained connected to your father.”
“How?”
“Through private trusts.”
Alexander slammed his hand on the table.
“You knew?”
“I knew they spoke.”
“How often?”
“I don’t know.”
Leah pointed toward the photograph.
“If Edmund has been directing Mercer, then he’s been using Bellgrave against Bellgrave.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Which would make the revenge elegant.”
Alexander looked at her.
“Don’t admire it.”
“I’m not.”
Vanessa paused.
“Much.”
Leah ignored her.
“What does Edmund want?”
Alexander stared at the photograph.
“The company.”
Mrs. Bellgrave shook her head.
“No.”
Everyone looked toward her.
She whispered,
“He wants the name destroyed.”
Alexander frowned.
“Why?”
“Because your father took something from him.”
“What?”
Mrs. Bellgrave closed her eyes.
“A woman.”
The room went silent.
Vanessa whispered.
“Oh, this family is unbearable.”
Alexander stared at his mother.
“What woman?”
Mrs. Bellgrave opened her eyes.
May you like
“Eleanor Morgan.”
Leah stopped breathing.
