Chapter 14
The cover was worn, but the edges had been protected carefully. A brass clasp held it closed.
Alexander removed it.
For a moment, neither of us touched the ledger.
“This could change everything,” he said.
“It could also be incomplete.”
“I know.”
“Or false.”
“I know that too.”
“Then don’t decide what it means before we read it.”
He looked at me.
“That was one of the things I admired about you.”
The words unsettled me more than I wanted them to.
“You admired many things. You just didn’t trust them.”
His gaze lowered.
“I was wrong.”
The apology was so simple that it hurt.
He opened the clasp.
The first pages contained columns of dates and amounts, written in several hands. Some entries had initials. Others listed account numbers, shipping routes, legal retainers, and private security contracts.
At the top of one page was a heading.
Project Hearth.
Beneath it were three names.
Daniel Hale.
Alexander Russo.
Claire Russo.
My pulse stopped.
Alexander turned the page.
The next entry had been written in red ink.
Objective: remove Claire from household. Isolate Alexander. Secure custody of Ethan. Preserve Hale alliance.
I reached for the ledger.
“No.”
Alexander’s voice was low.
“I need to see it.”
He handed it to me.
I read the lines again, hoping the words would rearrange themselves into something less deliberate.
They did not.
The plan had not been an impulsive accusation. It had been organized. There had been an objective, a sequence, and people assigned to carry it out.
At the bottom of the page appeared a list of initials.
M.R.
E.R.
R.H.
I recognized Rebecca’s initials.
I recognized Elena Russo’s.
The first belonged to Margaret.
My fingers tightened around the paper.
“Your mother was involved.”
Alexander stared at the page.
“She may have signed something without knowing what it meant.”
“You said she trusted your father.”
“She did.”
“Then why is her name here?”
He did not answer.
I turned another page.
There were entries from the months before my expulsion. Notes about my schedule. Ethan’s nursery. My visits to the hospital. The names of household staff. A record of every time I had left the estate alone.
Someone had been watching me long before Rebecca accused me.
At the bottom of the page, a line had been underlined.
Mother will create emotional pressure. Elena will prepare documents. Rebecca will provide testimony. Alexander will be given no alternative.