Nora stood at the top of the basement stairs.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The weak light from the hallway framed her face, but I could not read her expression. She looked older than she had two nights earlier. Her hair was damp from the rain, and one hand rested against the railing.
Evelyn stepped closer to me.
Nora saw it.
“I'm not here to hurt you,” she said.
I almost laughed.
After everything I had learned, the sentence sounded absurd.
“You broke into our apartment.”
“I did not.”
“You knew we were here.”
“I followed you.”
“That isn't better.”
She came down one step.
“Julian, you don't understand what you're standing in the middle of.”
I held the metal box against my chest.
“Then explain it.”
Her eyes moved toward Evelyn.
“She doesn't know everything.”
Evelyn's jaw tightened.
“You've been saying that for years.”
Nora ignored her.
“I need you to listen to me before you decide what I am.”
“You already told me what you are.”
Something flickered across her face.
Pain, perhaps.
Or anger.
With Nora, I had learned that the two could look remarkably similar.
She came down the remaining stairs.
“I know what you found.”
“Then you know why I'm not going anywhere with you.”
“I don't want you to go anywhere.”
“Good.”
“I want you to understand why your father died.”
The basement seemed to grow colder.
Evelyn looked at me.
I looked at Nora.
“You said he died from complications.”
“He did.”
“Daniel's recording says you were involved in moving money.”
“I was.”
Evelyn inhaled sharply.
Nora did not deny it.
That was the first honest thing she had said to us in years.
I stepped forward.
“Why?”
“Because your father was going to destroy everything.”
“What does that mean?”
“He had discovered what Richard was doing.”
I frowned.
“Richard?”
“Yes.”
My uncle's face came to mind.
The man who had warned me.
The man who had kept silent.
Nora shook her head.
“You think Richard was protecting you. He wasn't.”
“Then why did he tell me about the trust?”
“Because he was afraid you would find out he helped your father.”
“Helped him with what?”
She looked at the metal box.
“Your father wanted to expose a network of accounts that had been used to hide company money.”
“That sounds like what Daniel found.”
“It was.”
I felt my pulse quicken.
“Then why were you involved?”
Nora's voice dropped.
“Because I was trying to stop your father from destroying our family.”
“By stealing from him?”
“By moving money before someone else could take it.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“You're still making yourself the victim.”
Nora looked at her.
“You have no idea what your aunt did.”
“My aunt?”
“Yes.”
I stepped between them.
“Enough. Start at the beginning.”
Nora sat on an old wooden chair.
For the first time, she looked tired.
“Your father discovered that Richard had been using shell companies to move money from the business. He confronted him.”
“And you?”
“I found out.”
“Why?”
“Because your father came home and told me.”
I remembered the recording.
My father's weak voice.
Nora's calm replies.
“You threatened him.”
“I was angry.”
“You told him he couldn't protect me.”
“I told him he couldn't protect you from what was coming.”
I stared at her.
“What was coming?”
“An investigation.”
She rubbed her hands together.
“If the books had been opened, Richard would have gone to prison. Other people would have gone too.”
“Did you steal the money?”
“No.”
“Did you move it?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Into an account controlled by your father.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The account was supposed to be temporary.”
Nora looked at me.
“Your father planned to use the money to expose Richard. He wanted to recover everything first.”
“Then why didn't he?”
“He died.”
The words landed heavily.
“Did you kill him?”
Nora stared at me.
“No.”
Evelyn's fingers tightened around mine.
Nora continued.
“Your father was already sick. His medication was complicated. He was exhausted. The night before he died, he confronted Richard.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“And the medication?”
Nora's eyes lowered.
“I made a mistake.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“What mistake?”
“I gave him the wrong bottle.”
Evelyn gasped.
Nora raised a hand.
“I did not poison him.”
“Then what happened?”
“He was supposed to take one medication before bed. I gave him another.”
“Why?”
“Because the bottles looked alike.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“No.”
She looked directly at me.
“I expect you to understand that I made a terrible mistake.”
I couldn't speak.
The room seemed too small for all the years of unanswered questions.
“Did the doctor know?”
“Yes.”
“Then why wasn't it in the report?”
“Because the dose wasn't enough to kill him.”
I stared.
“What?”
“The medication weakened him. His heart failed later.”
“That's not the same thing.”
“No.”
Nora's voice cracked.
“It isn't.”
For the first time, I saw genuine fear in her face.
Not fear of prison.
Fear of remembering.
She continued.
“After your father died, Richard tried to take everything. I moved the assets because I knew he would.”
“You could have told me.”
“You were twenty-four.”
“I was an adult.”
“You were grieving.”
“And you decided for me.”
“Yes.”
The admission came quietly.
I looked at Evelyn.
She had tears in her eyes.
Nora continued.
“I thought I could protect you.”
“By controlling me?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“That isn't protection.”
“I know that now.”
“No. You knew it when you locked my wife outside.”
Her face tightened.
“I was angry.”
“When you hit her?”
“I lost control.”
“When you hid her money?”
“I wanted her to leave.”
“Why?”
Nora looked at Evelyn.
“Because I believed she was connected to Claire.”
Evelyn went still.
“I'm not.”
“I know.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Nora reached into her coat.
I tensed.
She pulled out a folded photograph.
It showed Claire beside a man I didn't recognize.
Nora placed it on the floor.
“That man worked for Richard.”
Evelyn stared at the picture.
“That's Daniel's supervisor.”
Nora nodded.
“Claire was trying to get Daniel to stop investigating.”
“And you helped her?”
“No.”
Nora's eyes filled.
“I tried to stop both of them.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire had become dangerous.”
The room went silent.
Nora looked at me.
“Your mother wasn't the person you should have been afraid of.”
Evelyn's voice was cold.
“You're asking us to believe that after everything you've done?”
“No.”
Nora stood.
“I'm asking you to listen to the evidence.”
She pulled another envelope from her coat.
Inside were bank statements.
And a letter.
“This is where the money went.”
I took it.
The account belonged to a charity.
A legitimate one.
The transfers had been made years ago.
“What's this?”
“Your father moved the money there.”
I looked at the dates.
The transfers had occurred before his death.
My father's signature appeared on the authorization.
Nora whispered, “He was trying to save the money.”
“Then why was the trust never activated?”
“Because Richard intercepted the paperwork.”
I stared at the signature.
It matched.
For the first time, the story I had believed all my life began breaking apart from the inside.
Then I noticed something.
One transfer had occurred after my father's death.
I pointed to it.
“This one.”
Nora went silent.
“Who made this?”
She didn't answer.
“Nora.”
Her eyes moved to Evelyn.
“Claire.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“But Claire couldn't access the account.”
Nora looked at her.
“She had help.”
A sound came from above us.
A floorboard creaked.
All three of us froze.
Someone else was in the house.
Nora's face changed.
“Get behind me.”
I almost objected.
Then I heard footsteps.
Not one person.
Two.
Evelyn gripped my arm.
The basement door began to open.
And Nora whispered the name we had been searching for.
“Marissa.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 10: Marissa Finally Appeared With the Missing Records, and Her Confession Changed the Meaning of Every Threat We Had Received
I Thought I Was Bringing My Pregnant Wife a Small Surprise Until I Opened the Door and Saw My Mother Standing Over Her
Part 9 of 12
