Chapter 5 - THE NAME ENGRAVED ON THE BACK
“Why is my mother's name on that watch?”
Callum's voice was quiet.
Marian Tierney closed her fingers around the silver timepiece.
“Because Henry wanted me to remember where the trouble started.”
Thea stared at her mother.
For as long as she could remember, Marian had been careful.
Careful with money.
Careful with promises.
Careful about trusting people.
Now, standing inside an abandoned accounting office, Thea understood that caution had a history.
“Mom, tell me what's happening.”
Marian looked at her daughter's swollen cheek.
Her expression changed immediately.
“Who hurt you?”
Thea touched her face.
“It's nothing.”
“That's not nothing.”
“A bride slapped me.”
Marian went very still.
“Why?”
“I stopped a wheelchair from going down the stairs.”
“Whose wheelchair?”
“Rowena Larkmore's.”
Marian's mouth opened slightly.
“Rowena?”
“She remembers you.”
Marian gripped the desk.
For a moment, Thea feared her mother might collapse.
Callum brought her a chair.
Marian sat carefully.
“Rowena thinks I died,” she whispered.
“Clara told her,” Thea answered.
Marian closed her eyes.
“I was afraid of that.”
Callum crouched in front of her.
“Mrs. Tierney, please. My grandfather's name is involved. My grandmother was nearly killed. We need to know what happened.”
Marian looked at him.
“Twenty-two years ago, I found payments being made to a construction company called Westbridge Development.”
Callum frowned.
“I know that name.”
“Everyone at the hotel knew it then. Westbridge was supposed to build a second hotel across the river.”
“That project never happened.”
“Exactly.”
Marian turned the watch in her hands.
“Henry discovered that invoices were being paid for work nobody had done. Four million dollars disappeared into accounts connected to Westbridge.”
“Who authorized them?” Thea asked.
Marian hesitated.
“Clara signed several transfers.”
Callum shook his head.
“My mother wasn't an executive.”
“She had temporary authority while Henry was ill.”
“But she couldn't move that much money without somebody else approving it.”
“You're right.”
Marian looked at him steadily.
“That's what I was trying to prove.”
Thea felt the mystery tightening.
“Then why did you leave?”
“Because someone altered the records to make it look as though I approved the transfers.”
“Who?”
“I never found out.”
Marian paused.
“Henry promised to help. He said we'd meet after the trustees reviewed the accounts.”
She looked down at the watch.
“He gave me this the night before.”
“Why?”
“Because he believed the original ledger was still somewhere in the building.”
Callum touched the watch.
“Why scratch Clara's name on it?”
Marian swallowed.
“Henry didn't scratch it.”
“Who did?”
“I did.”
Thea stared.
Marian continued.
“I wanted a reminder of the person who told me to keep quiet.”
Callum stood.
“My mother threatened you?”
“She said if I made the accusations public, the hotel would collapse, hundreds of employees would lose their jobs, and my little girl would grow up with the reputation of a thief's daughter.”
Thea felt a deep, old anger rise.
“You never told me.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“By letting me believe we were poor because you weren't good enough?”
Marian's face crumpled.
“I never wanted you to believe that.”
“But I did.”
Silence settled over the room.
Callum quietly moved away, giving them space.
Thea remembered her mother's hands.
The cracked skin.
The swollen joints.
The nights Marian fell asleep at the kitchen table after cleaning offices.
“You had a good job,” Thea whispered. “You had a career.”
“Yes.”
“And someone took it from you.”
Marian nodded.
“Then told everyone I'd stolen money.”
Thea knelt beside her.
“Mom.”
Marian took her hand.
“I could survive people thinking badly of me. I couldn't survive losing you.”
Thea embraced her.
For the first time in years, Marian allowed herself to cry.
After a moment, Callum returned.
“We need to tell Grandma.”
Marian stiffened.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Clara still has something I need.”
Thea pulled back.
“What?”
Marian looked toward the abandoned desk.
“A letter.”
“From Henry?”
“Yes. He wrote it after he discovered the original invoices. It named the people who benefited from the transfers.”
“Who has it?”
“Clara.”
Callum frowned.
“Then why would she invite you here tonight?”
Marian looked at Thea.
“She didn't invite me.”
Thea froze.
“The note had my name and the suite number.”
“Someone sent me a message through the hotel, saying the letter would be returned if I came alone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Callum's expression darkened.
“What happened in suite 614?”
Marian slowly opened her handbag.
Inside was a torn corner of blue stationery.
“The room was empty when I arrived. There was an envelope on the table.”
“What did it say?”
Marian unfolded the paper.
Henry left you more than a watch. Look beneath the place where his portrait hangs.
Callum inhaled sharply.
“The library.”
“Yes,” Marian answered. “I realized whoever arranged the meeting wanted me away from the room.”
Thea looked confused.
“But why overturn the chair?”
“Because I heard someone coming. I tried to hide behind the curtain. I knocked it over.”
“Who came in?”
“Merrick Sloan.”
Callum turned.
“Merrick?”
“He looked surprised to see me. Then angry.”
“What did he say?”
“He asked whether I'd found the ledger.”
Thea's heart pounded.
“Did you?”
“No.”
Marian took a breath.
“He tried to take my handbag. I ran through the adjoining service door.”
Callum stepped toward the hallway.
“We need security.”
Marian caught his arm.
“Not until you know something else.”
“What?”
“Merrick wasn't employed here twenty-two years ago.”
Callum frowned.
“No. He joined about seven years back.”
“Then someone told him about the ledger.”
Thea looked at the letter fragment.
“Clara?”
“Possibly.”
Marian shook her head.
“But there's another person who knew.”
“Who?”
Marian's gaze went to the silver watch.
“Your grandfather's business partner.”
Callum stiffened.
“Edmund Price?”
“Yes.”
“Edmund is our chief financial officer.”
“He was Henry's accountant before that.”
Callum stared at her.
“Edmund told me Grandpa's records were destroyed after his death.”
“Then Edmund lied.”
A heavy silence followed.
Thea felt the consequences growing beyond one family and one wedding.
If Marian was right, someone still working at the hotel had covered up millions in missing money.
And that person might have had access to Rowena's wheelchair.
Callum looked toward the library wing.
“We need to find the original ledger before anyone else does.”
Marian rose.
“There is something under Henry's portrait. I'm sure of it.”
They returned through the quiet hallway.
But when they reached the library, they heard raised voices.
Rowena was arguing with someone.
“Don't tell me what my husband wanted!”
Thea pushed open the door.
Edmund Price stood beside the fireplace.
He was a neatly dressed man in his late sixties, with silver hair and a dark green tie.
Rowena sat opposite him, holding the old photograph.
Edmund turned when the door opened.
His gaze landed on Marian.
The color left his face.
“Marian?”
She stopped.
“Hello, Edmund.”
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then Rowena stood with Callum's help.
“You knew she was alive?”
Edmund swallowed.
“I thought—”
Rowena raised her voice.
“Did you know?”
Edmund looked at Clara, who stood near the window.
Clara whispered, “Don't.”
Thea watched Edmund reach into his coat.
He removed an old folded letter.
The same pale blue stationery Marian had described.
“I have carried this for nineteen years,” he said.
Rowena extended her hand.
“Give it to me.”
Edmund hesitated.
Then slowly unfolded the letter.
At the bottom was Henry Larkmore's unmistakable signature.
But above it, in the final paragraph, was a sentence that changed everything.
If the missing funds are ever recovered, the person responsible for authorizing their transfer must be identified before Callum learns the truth about his father.
Callum stared at the page.
“My father?”
May you like
Edmund closed his eyes.
And Clara whispered, “Henry knew.”
