Chapter 13 - ELENA’S SECRET
Sarah looked from the photograph to Elena.
“You knew Catherine?”
Elena lowered herself into a chair.
“Yes.”
Mark looked betrayed.
“You knew my mother?”
“I worked for her.”
Elena’s voice trembled.
“Before I worked for your family, I cleaned offices at Caldwell Properties.”
“Your mother noticed me.”
“She helped me when my husband died.”
“She gave me extra work.”
“She helped me apply for permanent residency.”
Mark stared at the photograph.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Your father asked me not to.”
“Why?”
Elena looked toward Sarah.
“Because Catherine trusted me.”
“She told me she was afraid of Brenda.”
Sarah felt a chill.
“You knew before the crash?”
“I knew Brenda and Catherine were fighting.”
“I did not know how serious it was.”
Elena wiped her eyes.
“After Catherine died, your father became convinced he had failed her.”
“He paid for my nursing assistant training.”
“We stayed in contact.”
Years later, when Sarah needed help after a difficult pregnancy, William had quietly recommended Elena.
Sarah finally understood.
Her hiring had not been random.
William had placed someone he trusted near Noah.
Not because he expected danger immediately.
Because he feared the past would eventually return.
Detective Hale examined the letters.
William’s message to Mark confirmed it.
Elena knew enough to recognize Brenda’s behavior.
That was why she had started recording.
That was why she watched Brenda carefully.
And that was why William trusted her to protect Noah.
Mark sat silently.
“I spent my whole life thinking Dad controlled everything because he didn’t trust me.”
Elena looked at him kindly.
“He trusted you.”
“He worried that you wanted to see the best in people.”
Mark gave a bitter laugh.
“He was right.”
The final letter was addressed to Noah.
Sarah did not open it.
“That belongs to him.”
Detective Hale agreed.
They secured it for safekeeping.
Meanwhile, testing on William’s glass produced a troubling result.
An unexpected substance was detected.
Investigators could not yet conclude how it entered the glass.
But William’s death was officially reopened.
Brenda faced additional questioning.
Robert remained missing.
Then investigators searched Robert’s financial accounts.
They found something shocking.
Robert had purchased a one-way international ticket.
For the following night.
Two seats.
One in his name.
One in Brenda’s.
Sarah frowned.
“But Brenda is in custody.”
Hale nodded.
“The tickets were purchased before she surrendered.”
Mark understood first.
“They were supposed to leave together.”
“Yes.”
“So why did she surrender?”
Hale looked thoughtful.
“Maybe something changed.”
Sarah remembered Brenda arriving at the police station covered in blood.
“What if she wasn’t lying about Robert attacking her?”
Hale nodded.
“That is possible.”
“Why would he attack her?”
Mark looked at William’s notebook.
If Robert realizes Brenda cannot inherit, he will turn on her.
Sarah finally understood.
“Because Robert discovered Brenda was no longer useful.”
Hale looked at her.
“Exactly.”
Brenda had been intended to take control of Noah’s trust.
But once investigators had her on video contaminating the bottle, she could never become trustee.
That meant Robert needed another route.
Sarah looked at the trust documents again.
“If Brenda is disqualified, Robert becomes backup trustee.”
Mark’s face hardened.
“So he no longer needs Brenda.”
“And if something happens to me and Sarah…”
Hale finished the thought.
“Robert could try to position himself as Noah’s only suitable family guardian.”
Elena pulled Noah closer.
Sarah felt pure rage.
Her son was not a child to these people.
He was a bank account with a heartbeat.
Then Hale’s phone rang.
He listened.
“We found Robert.”
Sarah stood.
“Where?”
Hale’s expression darkened.
May you like
“He just walked into Mark’s office building.”
“And he has a gun.”
