Chapter 5 - SELENA'S LAST MOVE
Selena disappeared for three days.
The police searched every property connected to the Voss family.
Nothing.
Then I received an envelope.
No stamp.
No address.
Inside was a photograph of my mother.
She was leaving a hospital twenty-five years earlier.
On the back:
You should have asked what happened that day.
I called Arthur.
He arrived immediately.
“What hospital?”
I showed him.
His face changed.
“I know it.”
“Why?”
“That was the hospital where your father was treated before his death.”
I stared.
“So?”
“Your mother was there too.”
We went to the hospital archives.
Most records had been destroyed.
But one employee had preserved old files.
A nurse remembered my father.
“He came in unconscious.”
“What happened?”
“He had been poisoned.”
I froze.
“Poisoned?”
The nurse nodded.
“He survived.”
“Then why was his death reported as an accident?”
She looked at Arthur.
He closed his eyes.
“Because the family paid the hospital.”
I felt sick.
“Who?”
She hesitated.
“Victor.”
That explained everything.
But it raised another question.
“Why did Dad go along with it?”
The nurse handed me a file.
Inside was a letter.
My father's handwriting.
I am allowing the world to believe I am dead because the person who poisoned me will come after my daughters.
I stared at the word.
Daughters.
He knew about Charlotte.
He knew about me.
He was protecting both of us.
Then the nurse whispered:
“There was another person with him.”
“Who?”
“Your grandmother.”
My heart stopped.
“My grandmother was there?”
“Yes.”
The nurse remembered one sentence.
Your grandmother had told my father:
“If you disappear, Aria will inherit everything.”
My father had answered:
“She won't inherit it.”
The nurse looked at me.
“She was angry.”
“Why?”
“Because your father had changed the trust.”
I understood.
My grandmother wanted the fortune.
My father wanted the money protected.
And he had chosen the foundation over the family.
That evening, Charlotte and I sat together.
For the first time, we talked without secrets.
She told me about growing up.
She had known her father.
She had received letters.
She had never known me.
I told her about my childhood.
We laughed at how similar we were.
Then she asked:
“Do you hate him?”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Even after all the secrets?”
“He was trying to protect us.”
She smiled.
“I think I understand.”
Then her expression changed.
“Aria.”
“What?”
“I found something in Dad's letters.”
“What?”
She opened her bag.
One document.
A list of names.
At the bottom was one name circled in red.
SELENA VOSS.
But beneath it was another name.
ARTHUR MONROE.
I stared.
My father's best friend.
The man who had protected me.
The man standing in the next room.
My hands went cold.
“Why is Arthur's name here?”
Charlotte shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I stood.
“Then we ask him.”
Arthur walked in.
He saw the paper.
His face changed.
He closed the door.
“You found it.”
I stared.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“What does it mean?”
Arthur sat down.
Then he said something I never expected.
“I was the one who helped your father disappear.”
I swallowed.
“And?”
“And I was the one who convinced him to trust Victor.”
My heart sank.
“Why?”
“Because at the time, I believed Victor was protecting him.”
“And he wasn't.”
“No.”
Arthur looked devastated.
“He betrayed us.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your father made me promise.”
I walked away.
For the first time, I wondered if the person protecting me had also been responsible for the danger.
Then my phone rang.
Selena.
I answered.
Her voice was calm.
“You finally learned about Arthur.”
My blood ran cold.
“How did you get this number?”
“You're asking the wrong question.”
“What do you want?”
“Meet me.”
“Where?”
She gave me an address.
Then whispered:
“Come alone.”
The call ended.
I looked at Charlotte.
She knew immediately.
“You're not going.”
“I have to.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“She knows something.”
Arthur stepped forward.
“I'll go with you.”
“No.”
“Aria.”
“If Selena wants me alone, she must have a reason.”
Arthur looked worried.
May you like
I picked up my coat.
“I need answers.”
