Chapter 4 - THE FILE IN THE LOCKED STUDY
I had built my company by learning one simple rule: when the numbers stopped making sense, someone was hiding something.
My marriage had become a ledger full of contradictions.
For the next two days, Daniel and I examined every document connected to the twins, our household finances, and the trust established by my late father.
Victoria claimed she knew nothing about the proposed changes.
She said Richard had been helping with routine administration.
But the evidence showed that the requests originated from an email account she controlled.
Meanwhile, she changed tactics.
She became affectionate.
She brought coffee to my office, kissed my cheek in front of the staff, and asked whether I was sleeping enough.
At dinner, she apologized for losing her temper with Emily.
“I was overwhelmed,” she said. “The twins have been difficult, and I haven't felt like myself since the birth.”
I watched her carefully.
“Being overwhelmed doesn't explain a forged document.”
Her spoon stopped halfway to her mouth.
“You've already decided I'm guilty.”
“No. I'm trying to understand what happened.”
She pushed her chair back.
“Then perhaps you should investigate the woman who tied herself to your bed.”
The accusation was so absurd that I almost laughed.
Almost.
“Emily's injuries were documented by a physician,” I said. “The security footage shows you entering the room. Daniel has the records.”
Victoria's face tightened.
“You think evidence tells the whole story?”
“No. That's why I'm asking questions.”
She left the table without finishing dinner.
That evening, I went into her private study.
The room had always been off-limits to the household staff. Victoria said it was where she handled personal correspondence and family matters.
I had respected her privacy.
Now I needed to know what she was hiding.
Daniel had advised me not to remove or disturb anything that might be relevant to an investigation. I followed his instructions, photographing documents where they lay and leaving the originals untouched.
Inside a locked drawer, I found copies of the twins' birth certificates, photographs of their hospital identification bracelets, and a draft letter addressed to a family court.
The letter described me as emotionally unstable and increasingly unable to manage my affairs.
It cited no medical evaluation.
It cited no professional assessment.
It relied on statements from unnamed sources.
Attached was a proposed petition seeking temporary authority over the twins.
The petitioner was Victoria.
I sat down slowly.
She had been building a story about me.
A story in which I was a wealthy father whose judgment could no longer be trusted.
If she could convince a court that I was unfit, she might obtain temporary control over the children and influence the trust that paid for their future.
But why?
I searched the remaining files.
At the bottom of the drawer, I found an email printout from Richard.
It contained only three lines.
The hospital records are the weak point.
If Nathan sees the original report, everything falls apart.
Make sure Emily doesn't talk.
My hands went cold.
What hospital records?
I photographed the email and called Daniel.
He arrived within forty minutes.
After reading it, he looked at me gravely.
“We need to determine what this refers to before making assumptions.”
I agreed.
Then I remembered something.
The day Grace was born, a nurse had asked whether I wanted to review a discrepancy in one of the twins' medical records.
I had been exhausted. Victoria had told me the issue was a routine clerical error.
She had taken care of it.
I had never seen the original report.
The next morning, Daniel contacted the hospital through the appropriate legal channels.
While we waited, I returned to the study.
A small envelope had been pushed behind a row of books.
Inside was a photograph of Victoria standing beside a man I had never met.
They were outside a medical building, and the date on the back was almost a year before our wedding.
Beneath the photograph was a handwritten note.
If he discovers what happened before the wedding, the entire arrangement is over.
I read the sentence twice.
Then I turned the photograph over again.
The man beside Victoria was wearing a hospital identification badge.
May you like
His name was clearly visible.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
