Chapter 4 - THE ROSARY
David arrived at Kain Industries carrying the rosary in his bare hand.
Alexander had objected.
Sophia had overruled him.
"If David knows something, I'm hearing it from him."
Alexander's expression remained hard.
"This building isn't neutral ground."
"Neither was my wedding."
That ended the argument.
David entered the conference room without his jacket or tie.
He looked nothing like the groom from the photographs published that morning.
He looked tired.
And scared.
His eyes found Sophia.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then he held out the rosary.
"I thought it was yours."
Sophia didn't take it.
"You grew up with Caroline. How could you not recognize it?"
David looked down.
"Because I hadn't seen it in six years."
"Where did you find it?"
"Outside my father's study."
"Today?"
"After you ran."
Alexander leaned against the far wall.
"Convenient."
David looked at him.
"If I wanted to manufacture evidence, Kaine, I could do better than a rosary."
Sophia stepped between the hostility before it grew.
"Why would Caroline's rosary be outside your father's study?"
David swallowed.
"I don't know."
"Who has access?"
"My parents. Household staff. Marcus today. Half the wedding coordinators."
Sophia finally took the rosary.
The blue stone was chipped.
She remembered Caroline only faintly.
They had met twice at charity events before Caroline died.
Bright laugh.
Bare feet under a formal gown.
A woman who had seemed allergic to pretending.
Sophia turned the beads over.
Something was engraved on the back of the cross.
D.K.
She looked at Alexander.
"Daniel?"
He nodded slowly.
David stared.
"I never knew Daniel gave her that."
Alexander did.
"They were together."
The revelation landed heavily.
David sat down.
"No."
"For almost a year."
"My sister would have told me."
"Would she?"
David looked wounded.
Alexander immediately regretted the cruelty.
"She wanted to. Daniel kept asking her to wait until they understood who was behind Meridian."
Sophia thought of the photograph.
Caroline.
Daniel.
Marcus.
Alexander.
Not enemies.
Connected.
"Where was that lakeside restaurant?"
Alexander answered.
"Lake Mercer."
David looked up.
"That's where Caroline died."
Silence.
Priya entered carrying a laptop.
"I pulled archived records for the medical foundation."
David stood.
"How do you have access to those?"
"I don't. Public tax filings are surprisingly informative."
She opened a spreadsheet.
The foundation had received substantial donations after Caroline's death.
Most were legitimate.
But one annual donor appeared under an abbreviated entity.
M.R. Family Holdings.
Sophia stared.
"My father."
"He's donated every year since Caroline died," Priya said.
David looked genuinely shocked.
"Marcus never told us."
"How much?"
"Two hundred fifty thousand dollars annually."
Six years.
One and a half million.
Sophia's mind raced.
"Why would my father secretly give money to Caroline's foundation?"
Nobody answered.
Then David did something Sophia didn't expect.
He reached into his pocket and placed his phone on the table.
"I lied earlier."
Alexander straightened.
Sophia's chest tightened.
"About what?"
"I knew there was a problem with the trust account."
Her face changed.
David continued quickly.
"I didn't know your name was being used. I found unexplained transfers two weeks ago."
"And you said nothing."
"I confronted my father."
"Your father?"
"Richard told me the transfers were temporary bridge financing for the merger and would be reversed after closing."
"You believed him?"
"I wanted to."
Sophia's voice dropped.
"You were going to marry me knowing something was wrong."
"Yes."
The honesty was ugly.
But it was honesty.
"I thought I could fix it without destroying us."
"You mean without giving me the choice."
David's eyes filled.
"Yes."
Sophia looked away.
That was the betrayal.
Not that David had necessarily stolen her identity.
That he'd discovered smoke and decided she didn't deserve to know the house might be burning.
David pushed his phone toward Priya.
"There's more."
A photograph showed a handwritten ledger.
Dates.
Amounts.
Initials.
"Where did you get this?"
"My father's study. Ten minutes after Sophia ran."
Priya enlarged it.
Eleven entries matched the transfers.
Beside each was a letter.
C.
Except the final transfer.
That one read:
M.
"Caroline?" Sophia asked.
David shook his head.
"She died six years ago."
Alexander stared at the numbers.
"Maybe C isn't a person."
Priya examined the ledger.
"Could mean conversion. Clearing. Charity."
Sophia touched the rosary.
The cross shifted strangely.
She frowned.
"Wait."
The silver backing moved.
A tiny compartment opened.
Inside was a narrow strip of paper, folded several times.
David stared.
"My sister carried that for months."
Sophia unfolded it carefully.
There were no names.
Only numbers.
An account reference.
And one handwritten sentence.
Marcus knows where the original ledger is.
Sophia felt something inside her harden.
"I'm done guessing."
She called her father.
Marcus answered immediately.
"Sophia."
"Where are you?"
"Home."
"I'm coming."
"No."
The urgency startled her.
"Why?"
Marcus lowered his voice.
"Because Richard Ashford just left here."
Sophia looked at David.
"What did he want?"
"The same thing you do."
"The ledger?"
Silence.
Then Marcus said, "Sophia, listen carefully. Caroline didn't die because she discovered the money."
Alexander moved closer to the phone.
Marcus continued.
"She died because she discovered where it came from."
Sophia gripped the table.
"What does that mean?"
Her father breathed once.
"The original ledger isn't paper."
"What is it?"
"A watch."
Sophia frowned.
Marcus's voice became quieter.
"The gold watch I gave David this morning."
Across the table, David slowly looked at his bare wrist.
Sophia stared at him.
"Where is it?"
David's face changed.
"I left it at the estate."
Marcus whispered two words.
May you like
"Get it first."
---
