Chapter 6 - The Hidden Compartment
Julian blinked, his thumb brushing against the smooth edge of the brown envelope.
"One more thing?" Julian echoed, looking down at the empty-looking pocket. "I thought we found everything."
Lucy shook her head, walking up the altar steps to stand beside him.
"Feel the bottom," Lucy instructed, her voice steady. "There's a false lining. My mom made it herself using an old bookbinding technique."
Julian’s fingers slid into the envelope, feeling around the stiff cardboard base. He found a slight seam, hooked his fingernail underneath it, and peeled back a thin layer of brown paper.
Hidden beneath the false bottom lay a small, tarnished silver key and a folded microcassette tape.
Arthur leaned in closer, his eyes widening in recognition.
"Good lord," Arthur muttered. "Is that what I think it is?"
"What is this?" Julian asked, holding up the microcassette and the tiny key as if they were fragile glass.
"It's the recording of the board meeting from ten years ago," Lucy explained quietly. "The one where Sarah’s father and your uncle agreed to frame my mother for the embezzlement to cover up their own illegal offshore accounts."
Julian’s breath caught in his throat. His uncle Marcus—who had passed away under mysterious circumstances five years prior—had been implicated in the family business scandal.
"My uncle Marcus was involved?" Julian whispered, the horror compounding upon itself. "I thought he died of a heart attack."
"He didn't have a heart attack," Arthur corrected grimly, looking away. "He had a nervous breakdown the night Olivia confronted him with this exact tape."
Julian stared at the tiny cassette in his palm, realizing that the wedding day disaster was merely the tip of a massive, decades-old iceberg of corporate corruption and familial betrayal.
"Where does the key fit?" Julian asked, looking at Lucy for answers.
"At the old warehouse down by the docks," Lucy replied without hesitation. "Unit 402. My mother rented it under a pseudonym to keep us safe."
Julian looked from the key to the empty cathedral doors, knowing his life as he knew it was utterly gone.
"We need to go there tonight," Julian declared.
Arthur shook his head sharply. "Julian, it's not safe. Sarah’s associates are still out there."
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Before Julian could answer, his cell phone buzzed violently in his tuxedo pocket, flashing an unknown number on the screen.
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