Chapter 2: The Key in the Ledger**
That night, the Sterling mansion felt less like a home and more like a mausoleum. Arthur retreated to his father’s old study—a vaulted room lined with dark mahogany shelves and smelling faintly of pipe tobacco and cedar.
He pulled out the note. *414.*
Arthur opened the heavy safe behind the mahogany desk. Inside lay leather-bound personal ledgers spanning four decades of Charles Sterling’s life. He pulled out the ledger from twenty-five years ago and flipped straight to page 414.
The page had been sliced out with a razor.
Arthur swallowed hard. A soft tap at the door made him start. Julian walked in holding two glasses of bourbon, setting one on the desk.
"You're not fooling me, Artie," Julian said softly, sitting on the edge of the desk. "Lily told me what she saw. A man tucked it there today. Which means Dad didn't put it there. Someone else delivered Dad’s ghost to our front door."
Arthur hesitated, looking at his younger brother. Julian had spent his whole adult life running from their father’s high expectations, masking his pain behind expensive suits and shallow charm.
"Page 414 is missing," Arthur confessed, turning the book toward him. "Whatever happened twenty-five years ago was wiped from the books. But whoever put this note here wanted us to look."
Julian took a slow sip, his gaze dropping to the floor. "Twenty-five years ago... that was the winter Mom got sick. The winter the north side community clinic suddenly shut down after Dad pulled the endowment."
Arthur frowned. "Dad always said the clinic closed due to structural damage."
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"And you believed him, because believing him was easier than asking," Julian replied, his voice devoid of humor. "Maybe it's time we stop taking our father's word as gospel."
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