Chapter 3 - The Woman in the Photograph
Dominic shut the cellar door.
“Your mother worked here?”
Rachel shook her head.
“Not that I knew.”
“Where is she?”
“She died eleven years ago.”
That stopped him.
Rachel studied the photograph again.
Her mother looked younger, but there was no mistake.
“That’s her.”
Marcus opened the folder.
Inside were copies of invoices, company transfers, and handwritten notes.
Dominic read silently.
Rachel watched his expression darken.
“What?”
“Victor wasn't stealing from my father.”
Marcus looked up.
“He was building something separate.”
Dominic nodded.
“And Sofia discovered it.”
Rachel turned the photograph over again.
“Why would my mother know?”
Nobody answered.
That evening, Rachel went home to her small apartment and searched through the only box of her mother’s belongings she still owned.
At midnight, someone knocked.
Rachel froze.
“Who is it?”
“Dominic.”
She opened the door.
He stood there in a black coat.
Marcus waited farther down the hall.
“You followed me?”
“I had security follow you.”
“That somehow sounds worse.”
“You're connected to this now.”
“I didn't volunteer.”
“No.”
Dominic paused.
“That’s why I'm here.”
Rachel studied him.
“You came to apologize?”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
“I came to give you a choice.”
He placed an envelope on her table.
Inside was enough money to cover months of expenses.
Rachel looked up.
“What is this?”
“You can leave.”
“You're paying me to disappear?”
“I'm paying you because this situation became dangerous through no fault of yours.”
Rachel pushed the envelope back.
“No.”
Dominic frowned.
“No?”
“My mother hid something from me for eleven years. Your sister apparently trusted her. I want to know why.”
“You don't understand Victor.”
“And you don't understand Bennett women.”
Dominic stared at her.
From the hallway, Marcus murmured,
“I'd probably stop arguing.”
Dominic glanced back.
Marcus immediately became interested in the wall.
Rachel opened her mother’s box.
They searched together.
Old receipts.
Photographs.
Letters.
Then Rachel found an envelope taped beneath the cardboard lining.
Written across the front:
For Rachel, if the Vale family ever finds you.
Her hands shook.
Dominic said quietly,
“You don't have to open it tonight.”
“Yes, I do.”
Inside was a letter.
Rachel read aloud.
“Rachel, if you're reading this, Sofia failed to escape.”
Dominic closed his eyes briefly.
Rachel continued.
“She discovered Victor was using family companies to hide money and planned to expose him. I helped her copy documents because I believed she deserved a chance to leave safely.”
Rachel stopped.
Dominic waited.
“There’s more.”
She continued.
“Sofia believed Victor had someone inside Dominic's security circle.”
Marcus stiffened.
“What?”
Rachel read the final line.
“She never learned his name.”
Dominic immediately pulled out his phone.
“Marcus.”
“I know.”
Marcus locked the apartment door.
Rachel looked between them.
“What happens now?”
Dominic’s gaze settled on her.
“Now we find out who in my house has been working for Victor.”
Rachel swallowed.
Then her phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
One message.
Your mother should have taught you when to stop looking.
Dominic took the phone.
His face changed.
“Pack a bag.”
Rachel stared at him.
“Why?”
May you like
“You're coming back to the mansion.”
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