Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Isabel Hawthorne had been dead for nine months.
That was what every newspaper in Chicago had reported.
A late-night car accident.
Emergency surgery.
Internal complications.
Death before dawn.
Damian had never questioned it.
Until now.
Grace watched him enter a room in the basement of Hawthorne estate that had been locked since Isabel’s funeral.
Boxes lined the walls.
Photographs.
Letters.
Medical documents.
Damian stood in the center.
For the first time, Grace saw him hesitate before opening something.
A small wooden box sat on Isabel’s desk.
Inside was a silver flash drive.
Taped beneath it was a note.
FOR DAMIAN.
IF I CANNOT TELL YOU MYSELF.
His hands trembled once.
Only once.
He inserted the drive.
A video appeared.
Isabel filled the screen.
Alive.
Pale.
Nervous.
Noah could be heard crying somewhere behind the camera.
“Damian.”
She looked directly into the lens.
“If you’re watching this, I failed.”
Damian stopped breathing.
Isabel continued.
“Your father was right.”
“There is something rotten inside Hawthorne.”
“I found payments from legitimate companies to shell firms connected to Gabriel Voss.”
Cole stepped closer.
Isabel named dates.
Accounts.
Properties.
Then she said something none of them expected.
“Gabriel is not stealing from you.”
“He is building a second organization inside yours.”
“One loyal to him.”
Damian leaned toward the screen.
Isabel’s eyes filled with tears.
“And he knows about Noah’s trust.”
Grace felt cold.
“He asked me three weeks ago whether you had updated your will.”
“He pretended it was casual.”
“It wasn’t.”
Then Isabel looked over her shoulder.
Fear crossed her face.
Someone had entered the house.
“I have to stop.”
The recording ended.
Damian replayed the final ten seconds.
Again.
Again.
Then Grace noticed something.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“The reflection.”
Behind Isabel was a framed photograph.
Its glass reflected part of the doorway.
A man stood there.
Only half his body visible.
Dark jacket.
Silver watch.
Cole enlarged the image.
Damian recognized the watch.
Gabriel Voss wore it every day.
An Elias Hawthorne retirement gift.
The same watch Gabriel wore at Isabel’s funeral.
Damian stepped away from the screen.
Grace expected anger.
Instead, he whispered,
“I left her alone.”
Grace looked at him.
“I thought she was paranoid.”
“You didn’t know.”
“She tried to tell me.”
“You didn’t know.”
“I told her Gabriel was family.”
His voice cracked on the last word.
Grace moved closer.
“Damian.”
He looked at her.
“She died believing I didn’t believe her.”
Grace had no easy answer.
So she gave him the only honest one.
“Then believe her now.”
The words changed something.
Damian straightened.
Cole began tracing Isabel’s financial documents.
Two hours later, they found the first direct link.
A charitable foundation.
Voss Children’s Initiative.
It had transferred millions through offshore accounts.
One transfer went to a private medical contractor.
The date?
Two days before Isabel’s accident.
Another payment went to the emergency surgeon who had treated her.
That surgeon had retired suddenly and moved abroad.
Grace stared at the screen.
“Can we find him?”
Cole nodded.
“We can try.”
Damian looked at Isabel’s frozen image.
“We don’t try.”
His voice was quiet.
“We find him.”
But before Cole could answer, alarms sounded upstairs.
Grace’s heart stopped.
“Noah.”
She ran.
The nursery was empty.
The window remained locked.
The crib was untouched.
But Noah was gone.
On his mattress lay the stuffed bear Damian had brought from the airport.
Its stomach had been cut open.
Inside was a note.
ONE CHILD.
May you like
ONE EMPIRE.
CHOOSE.
