Chapter 2 - Sarah Had Warned HimDaniel carried both children into the house.
Lily walked pressed against his side.
Noah had stopped crying but kept searching Daniel's shirt with his mouth.
Hungry.
Daniel went directly to the kitchen.
The pantry door was locked.
He stared.
A keypad had been installed beside it.
He had never seen it before.
“Lily.”
She looked up.
“How long has that been there?”
“Two days.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
He opened the refrigerator.
Milk.
Fruit.
Prepared meals.
Baby food.
Enough food to feed twenty people.
He felt sick.
This had never been about scarcity.
Vanessa had surrounded hungry children with food they were forbidden to touch.
“Where's Noah's formula?”
Lily pointed toward a high cabinet.
Locked too.
Daniel grabbed a chair.
Inside were six unopened containers.
He prepared a bottle while calling Noah's pediatrician.
Then he watched his son drink like he had been waiting for permission to be hungry.
Lily stood nearby.
Daniel handed her a sandwich.
She took it but didn't eat.
“What's wrong?”
“Can I?”
The question destroyed him.
“Can you what?”
“Eat it.”
Daniel crouched.
“Lily, you never have to ask me whether you're allowed to eat.”
Her eyes filled.
“Vanessa said I was getting greedy.”
Daniel closed his eyes for one second.
Then opened them.
“Eat.”
Lily took one bite.
Then another.
Too fast.
Daniel gently touched her wrist.
“Slowly.”
She nodded.
His phone rang.
Vanessa.
He declined it.
Again.
Declined.
Again.
Then a message.
YOU'RE OVERREACTING. LET ME EXPLAIN BEFORE YOU DO SOMETHING STUPID.
Daniel stared at the words.
He photographed the message.
Then called Miriam Sloan.
The attorney answered on the fourth ring.
“Miriam Sloan.”
“My name is Daniel Rowan.”
Silence.
Then:
“Daniel?”
“You know who I am.”
“Yes.”
“I found a letter from your office addressed to Sarah.”
Another silence.
Longer.
“Where?”
“In my trash.”
Miriam exhaled.
“Is Vanessa there?”
“No.”
“Are Lily and Noah with you?”
Daniel looked toward the children.
“Yes.”
“Are they safe?”
The question struck him.
Not hello.
Not condolences.
Safe.
“Why are you asking me that?”
Miriam's voice became careful.
“Because Sarah asked me to.”
Daniel's hand tightened around the phone.
“My wife has been dead eighteen months.”
“I know.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Not over the phone.”
“No.”
Daniel stood.
“I've had enough people deciding when I get information about my own family.”
“Daniel—”
“My daughter was behind my mansion digging through garbage for food while carrying my baby son.”
Miriam went silent.
Daniel continued.
“Vanessa locked the pantry.”
Nothing.
“She took Lily's phone.”
Miriam whispered:
“Oh God.”
“And I found your letter.”
“Daniel, listen carefully.”
He stopped.
“Do not allow Vanessa access to Sarah's old office, her computer, or any boxes that belonged to her.”
“Why?”
“Because Sarah left documents.”
“What documents?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
Miriam hesitated.
Then:
“That Vanessa was trying to access Lily and Noah's trust before Sarah died.”
Daniel sat slowly.
“What trust?”
The children had funds.
He knew that.
Sarah came from money.
Her parents left investments for Lily.
Noah received additional protection through Sarah's life insurance.
But Daniel had never thought of the accounts as some hidden fortune.
“Miriam.”
“The Rowan Children's Trust.”
“How much?”
“Originally?”
“Yes.”
“Approximately six-point-two million dollars.”
Daniel went still.
He had known Sarah's estate was substantial.
Not the exact number.
She handled her inherited assets separately.
“How much now?”
“We don't know.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone has been making unauthorized reimbursement requests.”
Daniel's heart began pounding.
“How much?”
“Just over one-point-four million dollars over sixteen months.”
He looked toward the hallway Vanessa had disappeared down.
“After Sarah died.”
“Mostly.”
“Mostly?”
Miriam lowered her voice.
“The first attempt happened three weeks before Sarah's death.”
Daniel stopped.
“Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Sarah knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“She tried.”
Daniel's stomach twisted.
“What do you mean she tried?”
Miriam sighed.
“That's part of what we need to discuss in person.”
Daniel looked at the dirty envelope.
“What exactly did Sarah change?”
“She removed everyone except you and me from administrative access.”
“Vanessa never had access.”
“Correct.”
“Then how did money move?”
“Documents bearing your electronic signature.”
Daniel stared.
“I didn't sign anything.”
“I suspected that.”
Daniel stood.
“Where are you?”
“Downtown.”
“I'll come.”
“No.”
“What?”
“Stay with your children.”
Miriam's voice softened.
“They need you more than I do.”
Daniel looked at Lily.
She had wrapped half her sandwich in a napkin.
“What are you doing?”
She froze.
“Saving it.”
“For later?”
She nodded.
“In case the kitchen gets locked again.”
Daniel had to look away.
Miriam heard enough through the phone.
“What happened to them?”
“I don't know everything yet.”
“Then start there.”
Daniel took a breath.
“Come to the house.”
“I'll be there in forty minutes.”
After he hung up, he found Lily hiding the wrapped sandwich inside her sweatshirt pocket.
He pulled her close.
“You don't have to do that anymore.”
She nodded.
But didn't remove it.
Daniel understood.
Trust did not return because an adult said it should.
His phone buzzed.
This time a notification from the mansion's security app.
SECOND FLOOR OFFICE — MOTION DETECTED.
Sarah's old office.
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
Vanessa hadn't left the property.
She was upstairs.
Inside the one room Miriam had just warned him not to let her enter.
Daniel handed Noah to Lily only long enough to call the security guard at the front gate.
“Lock the property down.”
“Sir?”
“No vehicles leave.”
Then he ran upstairs.
By the time he reached Sarah's office, the door was open.
Vanessa stood beside the fireplace.
A cardboard box was burning.
Daniel stopped.
“What are you doing?”
Vanessa turned.
In her hand was another envelope.
Sarah's handwriting.
May you like
And before Daniel could reach her—
Vanessa threw it into the flames.
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