Chapter 15 The Man Who Disappeared
For one terrible second, Audrey could not understand what had happened.
The room was filled with smoke and shouting.
Ethan was beside her.
Rachel was crouched near the wall.
Vivian was pulling James away from the doorway.
But Richard was gone.
Audrey looked at the place where he had been standing.
“How?”
Ethan scanned the room.
“There has to be another exit.”
Caleb's men were already moving.
“Find him!”
Audrey grabbed Ethan's sleeve.
“Don't.”
He turned.
“We need to find your father.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you standing here?”
“Because this is exactly what they want.”
She pointed toward the open doorway.
“Richard disappeared during the confusion.”
Ethan looked at the floor.
A dark trail led toward the far wall.
Not blood.
Mud.
Someone had entered from outside.
Rachel noticed it too.
“Those footprints.”
Ethan followed them.
“They lead behind the cabinet.”
He pushed it aside.
A narrow doorway appeared.
Audrey stared.
“Another passage.”
James shook his head.
“No.”
Ethan looked at him.
“You knew about this.”
James hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Where does it lead?”
“Beneath the chapel.”
Audrey looked at Vivian.
“You said the chapel was gone.”
“I was wrong.”
James closed his eyes.
“No. You were told it was gone.”
Audrey's heart tightened.
“By whom?”
James looked at Evelyn.
She said nothing.
Ethan stepped through the opening.
Audrey followed.
They entered a stone corridor.
The air was colder here.
The walls were lined with old pipes and electrical cables.
“This wasn't built by my grandmother,” Ethan said.
James answered from behind them.
“No.”
“Then who built it?”
“Richard.”
Ethan stopped.
“My father built this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To move money.”
Audrey frowned.
“What kind of money?”
“Money that couldn't be traced.”
Ethan looked at the walls.
“Through here?”
James nodded.
“This passage connects the Parker estate to the old chapel.”
Audrey's voice was quiet.
“And beyond the chapel?”
James hesitated.
“The city.”
Ethan turned.
“Then Richard can escape.”
“Not if Caleb finds him first.”
Caleb had followed them.
He stood several yards behind.
Audrey faced him.
“Why do you want the ledger?”
Caleb's expression was tired.
“Because it proves my father was involved.”
“Your father?”
“James.”
Audrey frowned.
“You said Richard was your father.”
Caleb shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward James.
“That's my father.”
The revelation seemed to strike Ethan harder than anything else.
Audrey looked at James.
“Why did you never tell us?”
James's voice was barely audible.
“Because Caleb was born from a relationship that could have destroyed my family.”
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“That's one way to describe it.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You were my husband's son.”
Caleb looked at her.
“And you hated me for it.”
“I didn't hate you.”
“You sent me away.”
“I was protecting Audrey.”
“You were protecting the family name.”
Evelyn looked down.
“Perhaps both.”
Caleb's face hardened.
“That is what people like you always say.”
Audrey stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Everyone fell silent.
She looked at Caleb.
“You want the ledger.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it contains the evidence that Richard destroyed my mother's life.”
“Your mother?”
“Eleanor.”
Audrey looked confused.
Caleb continued.
“Eleanor was my mother.”
Ethan's face changed.
“My father's wife?”
“Yes.”
Audrey finally understood.
Caleb had been James's son.
Eleanor had been his mother.
Richard had raised Ethan.
And somehow, all four families had been connected for decades.
Caleb looked at Ethan.
“Your father knew who I was.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he was ashamed.”
“Of you?”
“Of himself.”
Caleb turned toward the passage.
“Keep moving.”
Audrey frowned.
“You're helping us?”
“I'm not helping you.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Richard has the original ledger.”
Audrey's eyes narrowed.
“You said the box contained evidence.”
“It does.”
“Then what does Richard have?”
Caleb looked at her.
“The proof.”
A distant door slammed.
Everyone froze.
Ethan whispered, “Someone's ahead.”
They moved carefully.
The corridor opened into an old underground chamber beneath the chapel.
Dust covered the stone floor.
At the center stood a wooden table.
On it was a single black briefcase.
Richard stood behind it.
He looked at Ethan.
“You shouldn't have come.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“You lied to me my entire life.”
Richard sighed.
“I did what I had to do.”
“No.”
Ethan's voice hardened.
“You did what you wanted.”
Richard's expression tightened.
“You have no idea what I sacrificed.”
“You sacrificed everyone except yourself.”
Richard looked at Audrey.
“You're the reason this happened.”
Audrey stared.
“My marriage?”
“Your grandfather's trust.”
Richard's voice became bitter.
“James promised to give you everything.”
Audrey frowned.
“I never asked for it.”
“You didn't need to.”
Richard opened the briefcase.
Inside were stacks of documents.
“The trust was worth more than the company.”
Ethan shook his head.
“So you arranged our marriage.”
“I created an opportunity.”
“You paid James.”
“I invested.”
“You manipulated Audrey.”
“I protected her.”
Audrey stepped forward.
“Don't use that word.”
Richard looked at her.
“What?”
“Protected.”
She pointed toward the documents.
“You didn't protect me. You used me.”
Richard's expression became cold.
“You have no idea what I kept away from you.”
“Then tell me.”
He looked at Ethan.
“I tried to protect my son.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“By turning my marriage into a business arrangement?”
“I needed access to the trust.”
“And when Audrey refused to cooperate?”
Richard's face changed.
“That wasn't supposed to happen.”
Audrey felt a chill.
“What wasn't?”
“Your decision to leave him.”
Ethan looked at his father.
“You were monitoring our marriage.”
Richard said nothing.
Audrey's stomach turned.
“How much did you know?”
“Everything.”
“You knew about our arguments?”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was leaving?”
“Yes.”
“And you still did nothing?”
Richard looked at her.
“You were supposed to stay.”
Audrey stared.
“Why?”
“Because if you left Ethan, the trust could be frozen.”
Ethan looked horrified.
“You were willing to destroy my marriage for money.”
Richard's voice remained calm.
“I was trying to save the company.”
“You lost it anyway.”
“Because of you.”
Ethan stepped toward him.
“You don't get to blame me.”
Richard smiled sadly.
“You always were more like your mother than I wanted.”
The room fell silent.
Ethan stopped.
“What does that mean?”
Richard looked at him.
“Your mother knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That I was responsible for Claire's death.”
Audrey's breath caught.
Ethan stared.
“What?”
Richard's face was empty now.
“I didn't order it.”
Audrey remembered Caleb's words.
People give orders. Other people decide what those orders mean.
Richard continued.
“I only told Caleb that Claire had to be stopped.”
Caleb's expression changed.
“You said she couldn't leave.”
Richard looked at him.
“I didn't tell you to kill her.”
Caleb's voice became bitter.
“I know.”
Audrey looked between them.
“Then who killed my mother?”
Richard looked toward Evelyn.
She lowered her head.
“Your grandmother.”
Audrey shook her head.
“No.”
Evelyn whispered,
“I gave the order.”
Audrey stared.
“You said you didn't.”
“I lied.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Why?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Claire had discovered the trust.”
Audrey's voice shook.
“What did she discover?”
“That the money wasn't only yours.”
“What else?”
Evelyn looked at James.
He closed his eyes.
“Half belonged to Caleb.”
Audrey turned.
Caleb looked stunned.
“My mother?”
James nodded.
“Your mother was entitled to half.”
Caleb stared at him.
“You let me believe you abandoned us.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You abandoned me.”
James had no answer.
Audrey looked at the documents.
“So Claire found out.”
“Yes,” James said.
“And she wanted to expose everyone.”
“Yes.”
“Evelyn tried to stop her.”
“Yes.”
“Richard knew.”
“Yes.”
“And Caleb was sent to the hospital.”
“Yes.”
Audrey's voice dropped.
“What happened at 2:17?”
Nobody answered.
Then Caleb stepped forward.
“I went into Claire's room.”
Audrey looked at him.
“What did you do?”
“I tried to convince her to leave.”
“Did you hurt her?”
“No.”
“What happened?”
Caleb's expression changed.
“Richard arrived.”
Ethan looked at his father.
“What did you do?”
Richard stared at the floor.
“I told Claire the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Audrey's inheritance was never safe.”
Audrey frowned.
“Why would that matter?”
Richard looked at her.
“Because the trust had one condition.”
“What?”
“You could only inherit if you married Ethan.”
Silence.
Audrey's blood ran cold.
Her marriage had not merely been encouraged.
It had been built into the legal structure of her inheritance.
She looked at Ethan.
His face was pale.
“That's impossible.”
Richard opened another document.
“Read it.”
Audrey took it.
Her eyes moved across the page.
The clause was unmistakable.
She had to be legally married to a Calloway heir to gain control of the trust.
She looked at Ethan.
“So our marriage was never just about us.”
“No,” he said.
Audrey's fingers trembled.
“It was a contract before we even met.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“But I didn't know.”
She looked at him.
“I know.”
For the first time, he reached for her hand.
She allowed him.
His fingers closed gently around hers.
Not possessively.
Not as an attempt to stop her.
Just enough to remind her that he was there.
Then the lights flickered.
A phone rang.
Everyone looked at Caleb.
His phone was ringing.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“Where?”
He listened.
Then he looked at Audrey.
“Your house.”
“What?”
“Someone has taken Rachel.”
Audrey's hand went cold.
“What?”
Caleb lowered the phone.
“She's gone.”
Ethan's face hardened.
“Who took her?”
Caleb looked toward Richard.
Richard's expression had changed too.
“It wasn't me.”
Audrey stepped forward.
“Then who?”
Caleb looked at her.
“The person who has been watching you from the beginning.”
A message appeared on Audrey's phone.
A photograph of Rachel.
She was sitting in a dark room.
Alive.
Frightened.
And beside her stood a woman.
Audrey stared at the face.
It was the same woman from the old photograph.
Elise Mercer.
Caleb's mother.
But Elise was supposed to have died twenty years ago.
A message appeared beneath the photograph.
Come alone, Audrey.
Then another line appeared.
Your husband has already betrayed you once. Don't let him do it twice.