Chapter 5 - The Ledger Under the Floorboards
"What are you talking about?" Elena demanded, stepping closer despite the terror clawing at her throat. "The doctors said your heart stopped. The machines flatlined. I was right there in the hospital room holding your hand when the nurse pulled the sheet over your face!"
"Hospitals are busy places, sweetheart," her father replied softly, leaning back against the rough bark of the oak tree. "Mistakes get made when paperwork piles up and families are in a hurry to settle estates. But that isn't the real reason we need to talk today. There’s something in my old desk drawer in the study. A small leather-bound ledger hidden beneath the loose floorboard near the radiator."
Clara stood quietly beside her grandfather, gently resting her hand on his sleeve as if anchoring him to the physical world.
"What ledger?" Elena asked, her voice dropping to a trembling whisper. "Dad, stop talking in riddles. If you're here—if you're really here—why did you hide for three years? Do you have any idea what Mom and I went through? The grief, the lawyers, the probate court, the empty chair at Thanksgiving?"
"I didn't hide from you, Elena. I was hidden from you," her father said, his gaze hardening into something cold and sharp. "The men who came to the house the week before my supposed stroke... they weren't business associates. They were looking for the safe combination and the deeds to the northern timberland. And they are watching this house right now, waiting to see if you finally stumble upon what I left behind."
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Before Elena could process the warning, a faint crunch of gravel echoed from the front driveway, followed by the heavy, unmistakable slam of a car door.
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