Chapter 7 - Emily’s Price
Emily did not answer Victoria’s calls for two days.
Victoria did not blame her.
Instead, she went to Harrisburg.
Daniel’s garage sat between a tire shop and an old brick warehouse near the railway.
CALDER AUTO & DIESEL.
Three service bays.
Clean floor.
No marble.
No chandeliers.
No bronze family crest.
Daniel was beneath a pickup when Victoria arrived.
He rolled out and stared at her expensive coat.
“You’re going to ruin that.”
“I’ve ruined more expensive things.”
He almost smiled.
“Emily isn’t here.”
“I came to see you.”
“That sounds dangerous.”
Victoria handed him a folder.
“What’s this?”
“Records showing Rosewood executives contacted two banks that rejected your loan applications twenty years ago.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Where did you get them?”
“Lucas found notes in archived credit files. My father told the banks you were under investigation for theft.”
Daniel looked away.
“He did more than call.”
“What?”
Daniel wiped his hands on a rag.
“After Emily and I left, I got hired at a commercial repair shop in Scranton. Three weeks later, police showed up.”
Victoria stiffened.
“For what?”
“A Rosewood-owned hotel claimed tools and parts had been stolen before I quit a maintenance subcontract.”
“You never worked for a Rosewood hotel.”
“Exactly.”
“Were you charged?”
“No. The complaint fell apart.”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“But my employer fired me anyway.”
Victoria whispered, “I didn’t know.”
“I know.”
The lack of accusation hurt more than accusation.
Daniel sat on a workbench.
“You want to understand Emily?”
“Yes.”
“Then understand this. She didn’t spend twenty years wanting your money. She spent twenty years trying to make sure Sophie never learned to measure herself by your family’s money.”
Victoria looked through the open bay.
A small bicycle leaned beside the office.
Sophie’s.
“She seems brave.”
“She is.”
“Too brave.”
Daniel nodded.
“She learned that from her mother.”
“And what did she learn from you?”
“How to change brake pads.”
Victoria smiled despite herself.
Daniel became serious.
“Emily loved you.”
Victoria looked down.
“That’s why this hurts.”
He walked into the office and returned with a battered file.
“Emily kept copies of every letter she sent you.”
Victoria opened it.
Seven letters.
The first angry.
The second pleading.
By the fifth, Emily’s handwriting had become smaller.
The seventh was only half a page.
Vicky,
I don’t know if you are refusing to answer or if they are keeping this from you. If it is you, I will stop asking. I only need you to know I never signed away Grandfather’s trust. Dad says you witnessed it. I need you to tell me whether that is true.
Victoria stopped reading.
The letter was dated November 14, twenty years earlier.
She had never seen it.
Inside the file was also a photocopy of a FedEx receipt.
Delivered to Rosewood Hospitality headquarters.
Signed for by J. Reed.
Victoria’s heart stopped.
Jonathan.
But twenty years ago, Jonathan did not work for Rosewood.
He worked at Pike & Browning.
Warren Pike’s firm.
Victoria looked at Daniel.
“Where did Emily get this?”
“Rosa found it in Warren’s old case box years later.”
Victoria checked the date.
Jonathan had been a second-year associate.
Her future husband had personally signed for Emily’s letter.
“He knew her letter existed.”
Daniel said nothing.
Victoria remembered meeting Jonathan seventeen years ago at a charity gala.
Had it really been their first meeting?
Or had Jonathan already known exactly who she was?
The thought made her nauseated.
Emily arrived twenty minutes later with Sophie.
She stopped when she saw Victoria.
“What are you doing here?”
Victoria handed her the receipt.
Emily read it.
Her face went blank.
“Jonathan.”
“You remember him?”
“No.”
“He signed for one of your letters at Warren Pike’s firm.”
Emily’s breathing changed.
Sophie looked between them.
“Mom?”
Emily closed the file.
“Go finish your homework in Dad’s office.”
“I already—”
“Sophie.”
The girl obeyed.
Once she was gone, Emily faced Victoria.
“You married one of them.”
“I didn’t know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“I know.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“Do you?”
Victoria took the blow.
“I’m beginning to.”
She told Emily about Meridian Advisory.
The shell company controlled by Jonathan.
Emily sat down.
Daniel swore softly.
“How much?” Emily asked.
“Approximately eleven million flowed through Meridian over nine years.”
Emily stared at Victoria.
“Do you still believe he was protecting you?”
“No.”
That answer came quickly.
Emily noticed.
Victoria continued.
“I also learned about the later ratifications.”
“What ratifications?”
“I don’t know yet.”
A door opened.
Sophie emerged holding a drawing.
She sensed the tension and stopped.
Victoria looked at the child.
Then at Emily.
“I want to make something clear.”
Emily waited.
“I will return every dollar and every share that came from you, whether we win a lawsuit or not.”
Daniel studied her.
Emily’s expression remained guarded.
“You may not be able to.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad already pledged most of the family shares.”
Victoria frowned.
“To whom?”
“Blackridge.”
Victoria stared.
Emily slid a document across the workbench.
A financing agreement.
Charles and Adrian had pledged a controlling block of Rosewood stock as collateral for a bridge loan connected to the proposed acquisition.
Victoria’s signature appeared on the consent page.
This time, she recognized it.
It was real.
Dated twelve years earlier.
Victoria remembered the meeting.
Her mother had been undergoing surgery.
Jonathan had brought a stack of routine corporate documents to the hospital lounge.
Victoria had signed without reading every page.
Her own mistake.
Her own hand.
Emily watched her realize it.
“You signed that one.”
Victoria nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
“And if it ratified the capital structure…”
“It may make your claim harder.”
Sophie stood in the doorway.
The room felt colder.
May you like
Victoria had finally found a signature that truly belonged to her.
And this one might help Charles keep everything.
