Chapter 6 - THE SIGNATURE THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE EXISTED
“I never collected those records.”
Nathan spoke through clenched teeth.
Thomas Reed studied the receipt.
“I believe you, sir.”
“Then explain why my name is here.”
Thomas hesitated.
“Someone may have used your authorization.”
Nathan stared at him.
“Who?”
Thomas looked toward the old cabinet.
“There were several people who had access to your business credentials after Mrs. Blackwood died.”
Nathan folded the receipt.
“Names.”
“Edward Ashford. Your former accountant. Two senior executives.”
“And Victoria?”
Thomas paused.
“She had limited access through her father's office.”
Lily watched the exchange.
She could hear some of their words through the temporary hearing device, but Nathan's voice had become too low for her to follow comfortably.
She touched his arm.
He turned toward her.
“Please face me,” she said gently.
Nathan immediately corrected himself.
“I'm sorry.”
He explained the receipt slowly.
Lily's expression tightened.
“So someone used your name to move the files.”
“Yes.”
“Does that mean they're still somewhere?”
“Possibly.”
She looked at the ledger.
“My mother wanted those children helped. Not just the money returned.”
Nathan nodded.
“I understand.”
But he wasn't certain he did.
Not yet.
He had spent much of his adult life measuring consequences in money, influence, and loyalty.
Grace had measured them differently.
She cared about the children whose names appeared in the ledger.
The children who had waited for equipment.
The parents who had trusted the foundation.
The families who had been promised something better.
Nathan looked down at Lily's name.
Eighteen thousand four hundred dollars.
A fabricated payment.
A forged signature.
And a young woman who had spent two years saving for a hearing aid that should have been funded long before.
His anger was no longer about Victoria's cruelty at dinner.
It was about a much larger betrayal.
“We're taking copies of everything,” he said.
Thomas nodded.
“I'll arrange secure preservation.”
Nathan looked at him sharply.
“No disappearing records. No private settlements. I want an independent forensic accountant and someone outside my organization to review this.”
Thomas seemed surprised.
Nathan understood why.
The Blackwood family had not always solved problems through respectable channels.
But this involved children.
And Grace's legacy.
He would not allow it to become another secret buried beneath family influence.
They photographed the documents and recorded the cabinet's contents before arranging secure storage.
Lily kept the original photograph of her mother.
On the drive back, Nathan noticed her staring through the window.
“What's troubling you?”
She looked at him.
“My mother died believing nobody would listen.”
Nathan didn't know what to say.
Lily continued.
“She tried telling people. She wrote letters. She went to meetings.”
Her voice trembled.
“Everyone told her she was misunderstanding the numbers.”
Nathan felt a weight settle across his chest.
“What happened to her?”
Lily hesitated.
“She had a stroke.”
Nathan looked at her.
“She was forty-six.”
Lily swallowed.
“She was under so much stress that year. After she died, I kept wondering whether she would've lived longer if she'd stopped fighting.”
Nathan shook his head.
“You can't know that.”
“I know.”
She looked down.
“But I still wonder.”
Nathan didn't offer an easy answer.
Some grief couldn't be fixed with comforting words.
They returned to the mansion shortly before evening.
Olivia was waiting in the entrance hall.
She ran toward Lily.
“Did you find the box?”
Lily smiled.
“We did.”
“Was Mommy right?”
Nathan knelt.
“Your mother was trying to help some children.”
Olivia considered that.
“Like Lily?”
“Yes.”
She smiled proudly.
“I knew Mommy was nice.”
Nathan hugged her.
But the moment didn't last.
Mrs. Bennett appeared at the foot of the staircase.
“Mr. Blackwood, Miss Ashford has been here.”
Nathan stiffened.
“When?”
“An hour ago.”
“Why was she allowed inside?”
Mrs. Bennett looked uncomfortable.
“She still has her access code.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
He had ordered a security review that morning.
He hadn't yet revoked Victoria's access.
A simple oversight.
But an important one.
“Where did she go?”
“Upstairs.”
Nathan rose immediately.
“Olivia, stay with Mrs. Bennett.”
The little girl looked worried.
“Did Victoria take something?”
Nathan didn't answer.
He hurried upstairs.
Lily followed.
Olivia's bedroom door stood open.
Inside, everything appeared orderly.
The stuffed animals.
The books.
The blue curtains.
But the small wooden jewelry box was missing from the nightstand.
Nathan checked the dresser.
The closet.
The bookshelf.
Nothing.
Lily stood beside him.
“She took it.”
Nathan's jaw tightened.
He called the security office.
Within minutes, Thomas confirmed that Victoria had entered through the east gate using her personal access code.
She had stayed nineteen minutes.
Then departed carrying a small shopping bag.
Nathan ordered the code deactivated.
He also ordered a full review of household access privileges.
But something bothered him.
Victoria had known about the jewelry box for weeks.
Why steal it now?
Then Lily noticed a small square of paper beneath Olivia's pillow.
She lifted it.
Nathan recognized Victoria's handwriting.
Olivia, I borrowed your mother's box because it contains some things that belong to adults. I'll explain when you're older.
Lily shook her head.
“She left a note for an eight-year-old.”
Nathan's voice hardened.
“She took something that belonged to my daughter.”
He was reaching for his phone when Olivia appeared behind them.
Mrs. Bennett stood in the doorway.
“I'm sorry, sir. She heard us talking.”
Olivia stared at the empty nightstand.
Her face crumpled.
“Where's Mommy's box?”
Nathan knelt immediately.
“Victoria took it.”
Olivia looked at him.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Is she going to throw it away?”
“No.”
Nathan took her hands.
“I will get it back.”
Olivia began crying.
Not loudly.
Her shoulders simply shook.
Lily sat beside her and signed while speaking.
WE WILL FIND IT.
Olivia looked at her.
Then she whispered, “She said Mommy's things were old.”
Nathan pulled his daughter into his arms.
“They're not old to you. They're important.”
Olivia wiped her face.
“Mommy painted those flowers.”
“I know.”
“And she put my first baby tooth inside.”
Nathan froze.
“Your tooth?”
Olivia nodded.
“In the little red pouch.”
Nathan remembered.
Grace had loved keeping tiny reminders of Olivia's childhood.
He held his daughter more tightly.
“Then we'll get that back too.”
Later that evening, Nathan went to Victoria's townhouse.
He didn't bring an armed entourage.
He brought Thomas as a witness.
Victoria opened the door wearing a cream sweater.
For a moment, she looked like the woman Nathan had once planned to marry.
Then she saw his expression.
“You came about the box.”
“Yes.”
She stepped aside.
He entered.
The townhouse was immaculate.
Fresh flowers stood on the dining table.
Their engagement photograph rested on the mantel.
Nathan looked at it.
Only two days earlier, he had believed they were building a future together.
“Where is it?” he asked.
Victoria folded her arms.
“I took it because Olivia was becoming obsessed with Grace.”
“She's grieving her mother.”
“She's been grieving for four years.”
Nathan stared at her.
Victoria's eyes filled.
“You don't understand what it's like to live in the shadow of a dead woman.”
Nathan's expression softened slightly.
“Then you should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Every time I suggested changing something in the house, you looked at me like I was erasing Grace.”
Nathan was silent.
There was truth in that.
He had asked Victoria to help raise his daughter while leaving little room for her to define her place in the family.
But that didn't excuse what she'd done.
“You had every right to feel uncertain,” he said. “You had no right to hurt Lily or take Olivia's things.”
Victoria looked away.
Nathan continued.
“I found the Bellweather ledger.”
Her face changed.
“The what?”
“The blue ledger. The one Eleanor Morgan tried to protect.”
Victoria slowly sat down.
Nathan watched her carefully.
“You knew Eleanor.”
“Yes.”
“You visited her apartment after she died.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
For a long moment, she said nothing.
Then she whispered, “I did.”
Nathan felt a wave of anger.
“You tried to take the key.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victoria looked up.
“Because my father told me that Eleanor had stolen confidential documents.”
“And you believed him?”
“I was twenty-six. I worked for him. He was my father.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Then why did you humiliate Eleanor's daughter?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“Because when I recognized Lily, I panicked.”
Nathan waited.
Victoria wiped her cheeks.
“I thought she had come here to expose me.”
“Expose what?”
Victoria stood.
She walked to a cabinet and removed the wooden jewelry box.
Nathan reached for it.
She held on.
“Before you take this, there's something you need to understand.”
“Then say it.”
Victoria looked at him.
“I didn't steal the charity money.”
Nathan's face remained cold.
“But I helped hide what happened.”
She released the box.
Nathan opened it.
The bracelet and photograph were still inside.
So was Olivia's small red pouch.
But the blue velvet lining had been removed.
Nathan looked up.
“Where is the lining?”
Victoria's expression became frightened.
“My father took it.”
Nathan stared at her.
“When?”
“This afternoon.”
“Why?”
Victoria swallowed.
“Because Grace stitched something into the underside.”
“What?”
Victoria looked toward the window.
Then she whispered:
“A list of every child whose records were changed—and the name of the person who ordered it.”
Nathan felt his heartbeat quicken.
“Who ordered it?”
Victoria shook her head.
“My father never let me see the list.”
Then she looked directly into Nathan's eyes.
“But he told me one thing about it.”
“What?”
May you like
Victoria's voice dropped.
“He said if you ever found that list, you'd discover why Grace stopped trusting your family.”
