Chapter 5: The Name From the Past
Eleanor.
That name followed Evelyn all day.
She repeated it silently while sitting in her office.
Eleanor.
A stranger.
A witness.
A person Thomas trusted enough to mention in his final warning.
Daniel stood near the window.
Madison sat across from Evelyn.
The three of them looked like people who had been forced into the same room by a storm.
“You knew about her,” Daniel said.
Evelyn looked at him.
“No.””
“But Dad did.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Evelyn looked down.
“Because your father kept secrets.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“Everyone in this family kept secrets.””
The words hurt because they were true.
Evelyn had spent years protecting Daniel from pain.
But maybe protecting someone from the truth was another kind of lie.
Madison quietly spoke.
“My father told me Thomas betrayed you.””
Evelyn looked at her.
“And now?””
Madison looked at the photograph.
“Now I don’t know what to believe.””
That was the first honest thing Madison had said since the engagement party.
Evelyn noticed.
And despite everything, she saw something different.
Not innocence.
But confusion.
“You were used,” Evelyn said.
Madison looked surprised.
“I still did it.””
“Yes.””
Evelyn’s voice remained calm.
“And you will have to live with that.””
Madison lowered her eyes.
The office door opened.
The assistant entered.
“Mrs. Hart.””
“Yes?””
“There is someone here to see you.””
“Who?””
The assistant hesitated.
“She says her name is Eleanor Price.””
Nobody moved.
Daniel looked at his mother.
Madison whispered:
“The woman in the photo.””
Evelyn stood slowly.
“Bring her in.””
A moment later, the door opened.
An elderly woman entered.
She carried a small leather bag and wore a simple navy coat.
Her eyes immediately found Evelyn.
For several seconds, neither woman spoke.
Then Eleanor whispered:
“You look exactly like he said you would.””
Evelyn’s heart stopped.
“He?””
Eleanor stepped closer.
“Thomas.””
Daniel moved forward.
“How did you know my father?””
Eleanor looked at him.
And tears filled her eyes.
“Because I was the last person your father called before he died.””
The room became silent.
Evelyn felt the past crashing into the present.
“What did he tell you?””
Eleanor opened her leather bag.
She removed a sealed envelope.
“I kept this for twenty years.””
Evelyn stared.
“Why?””
“Because Thomas made me promise not to give it to you unless Victor tried to take the company again.””
Daniel looked at the envelope.
“Why would he wait?””
Eleanor looked at him sadly.
“Because your father believed the person who exposed the truth would not be an enemy.””
She handed the envelope to Evelyn.
“She would be family.””
Evelyn opened it with shaking hands.
Inside was one page.
Only one.
A handwritten message from Thomas.
She read the first line.
May you like
And every piece of certainty she had carried for twenty years disappeared.
*Evelyn, if you are reading this, it means Victor found a way back into our lives. But there is something you never knew about the night I died…*
