Chapter 9 - The Grandmother
Evelyn Bellamy lived in a small coastal house.
No security.
No guards.
No mansion.
Just a woman in her late eighties sitting beside a window.
When I entered, she looked at me.
And cried.
“You look like your mother.”
I stopped.
“You knew I would come.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you find me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
I looked at him.
He looked away.
I turned back to her.
“Did you kill my mother?”
“No.”
“Did you order Victor to hurt her?”
“No.”
“Did you know he was dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't you stop him?”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was afraid.”
The answer stunned me.
She had always been the most powerful woman in our family.
And she had been afraid.
“Afraid of Victor?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She looked toward my father.
“Your mother.”
I frowned.
“My mother?”
“She discovered something about Warren.”
My father stepped forward.
“Mother.”
Evelyn ignored him.
“She discovered that Warren had been investigating Bellamy Holdings without telling me.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does when you know why.”
She looked at me.
“Your father planned to dismantle the company.”
I stared.
“Why?”
“Because he knew it was corrupt.”
My father finally spoke.
“Enough.”
“No.”
I stepped between them.
“Tell me.”
Evelyn's voice shook.
“Your father wanted to expose the entire board.”
I looked at him.
“Why didn't you?”
“Because I believed I could fix it quietly.”
“And Mom?”
“She disagreed.”
My grandmother closed her eyes.
“Your mother wanted to go public.”
“What happened?”
“Victor found out.”
“And then?”
“He arranged the accident.”
I whispered:
“So Victor killed her.”
“Yes.”
“But you said he didn't act alone.”
My grandmother looked at me.
“He had help.”
“Who?”
She reached into a drawer.
Pulled out a photograph.
And handed it to me.
I stared.
Reid.
Victor.
Tessa.
And another man.
My stomach dropped.
I knew him.
He had been at our wedding.
He had congratulated Reid.
He had toasted our future.
I whispered:
“Marjorie's brother.”
My grandmother nodded.
“Charles Kessler.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Reid's uncle?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Reid help him?”
My grandmother looked at me.
“He didn't.”
Silence.
“What?”
“Reid discovered the truth three years ago.”
I couldn't breathe.
“He knew?”
“He knew your mother wasn't killed by accident.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
“Because Charles threatened you.”
I sat down.
Everything shifted again.
Reid hadn't been innocent.
But maybe he hadn't been the mastermind.
My grandmother continued.
“Reid was trying to protect himself.”
“By marrying me?”
“No.”
She looked at me sadly.
“By staying close to the enemy.”
I remembered the hotel photograph.
The woman beside Reid.
Tessa.
Maybe that wasn't an affair.
Maybe it had been surveillance.
But then why the diamonds?
Why the lies?
Why the staircase?
My grandmother handed me another file.
“Because eventually, Reid chose power over courage.”
I opened it.
There were financial records.
Payments to Tessa.
Instructions.
Surveillance reports.
Then one document.
Reid's signature.
A termination order.
Terminate Bellamy protection immediately.
I stared at it.
“When?”
My grandmother answered.
“Two weeks before your birthday.”
My stomach tightened.
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“And he abandoned me.”
“Yes.”
I closed the folder.
For the first time, I understood something.
Reid may not have started the war.
May you like
But he had chosen his side.
And now I knew exactly what I had to do.
