Chapter 8 - REBECCA’S SECRETDaniel had spent three years believing a stranger killed his wife.
A drunk driver named Paul Mercer.
Mercer had pleaded guilty.
He died in prison eight months later.
Case closed.
Except Rebecca had worked as a contract accountant before Lily was born.
Daniel remembered long nights.
Spreadsheets.
Confidential projects she never discussed.
Sterling Global had never meant anything to him.
It had simply been one of hundreds of corporate names.
Grace searched archived employment files.
There she was.
REBECCA CARTER — FORENSIC ACCOUNTING CONSULTANT.
Daniel sat staring at the photograph.
Grace whispered, “Daniel.”
He raised one hand.
“Not yet.”
He couldn't hear sympathy yet.
He needed facts.
Rebecca had worked directly under Robert Sterling.
Her assignment ended seventeen days before her death.
Grace opened a protected report.
Rebecca had discovered transfers connected to Meridian.
She had also identified Victoria Sterling as the controlling beneficiary.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Rebecca died because she discovered the truth.
It had never been random.
Grace started crying.
“My family did this to you.”
Daniel stood suddenly.
“Your mother did.”
“I brought her world into your life.”
“She was already in it.”
Grace looked at him.
He pointed at Rebecca’s file.
“This happened before I ever met you.”
He swallowed.
“Maybe finding you wasn't an accident.”
Grace froze.
They returned to Daniel’s house under heavy security.
The broken window had been boarded.
Everything looked smaller now.
But Daniel didn't care.
He went straight to Rebecca’s boxes.
Clothes.
Documents.
Old photographs.
Lily sat beside him.
“Are we looking for Mommy’s secret?”
Daniel stopped.
He hated that his daughter had been pulled into this.
“Yes.”
Lily reached into a box.
“This was hers.”
A children's book.
The Secret Garden.
Rebecca used to read it to Lily every night.
Daniel opened the cover.
Nothing.
Lily frowned.
“Mommy always said the best secrets were in the garden.”
Daniel and Grace looked at each other.
Daniel flipped through the book.
A section of pages had been carefully glued together.
Inside was an SD card.
Grace whispered, “Rebecca knew.”
The card contained copies of Meridian’s financial records.
Enough to prove laundering, bribery, sabotage, and murder-for-hire.
And one recorded conversation.
Victoria Sterling's voice.
Take care of the accountant before she sends Robert anything else. Make it look ordinary.
Daniel couldn't move.
Rebecca's murder had been ordered in one sentence.
Like cancelling an appointment.
Grace touched his shoulder.
He flinched away.
Instantly regretted it.
“Daniel—”
“I need a minute.”
He walked outside.
Then he broke.
Not elegantly.
Not quietly.
He punched the porch railing until his knuckles bled.
Three years of grief changed shape in seconds.
Someone had chosen Rebecca.
Someone had stolen Lily’s mother.
Grace approached slowly.
“Please don't tell me justice will fix this.”
“I won't.”
“Because it won't.”
“I know.”
“I can’t bring her back.”
Grace’s voice trembled.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Then what am I supposed to do with this?”
She didn't have an answer.
So she simply stayed.
Eventually, Daniel sat on the porch.
Grace sat beside him.
Lily came out and climbed between them.
Nobody spoke.
For once, silence was enough.
Victoria's arrest should have ended everything.
Instead, she disappeared during federal transport.
The convoy was attacked.
Two officers injured.
Victoria gone.
Marcus arrived at Daniel’s house with the news.
Daniel stood.
“No.”
Grace understood immediately.
“She'll come here.”
Marcus nodded.
“Rebecca's evidence could destroy everyone connected to Meridian.”
Daniel looked at the SD card.
“She wants this.”
“She may also want Lily.”
That sentence transformed him.
Daniel’s grief became focus.
“No one touches my daughter.”
Marcus began relocating them.
But Lily was no longer in the living room.
Daniel turned.
“Lily?”
The back door was open.
His heart stopped.
He ran outside.
A pink hair ribbon lay on the grass.
Tire marks cut across the alley.
Grace screamed for security.
Daniel found a phone beside the fence.
It rang.
He answered.
Victoria’s voice.
“Bring Rebecca’s files.”
Daniel could barely speak.
“If you hurt her—”
“I already killed her mother.”
Grace covered her mouth.
Victoria continued.
“Don't make me decide whether history repeats itself.”
Daniel’s voice became terrifyingly calm.
“Where?”
An address arrived.
Grace grabbed his arm.
“You're not going alone.”
“She's my daughter.”
“And Rebecca died trying to expose my mother.”
May you like
Grace’s eyes burned.
“This ends with both of us.”
