Chapter 3 

Julian did not leave.

Instead, he stayed outside Clara’s house until sunset.

She hated that she was relieved.

Her mother noticed.

“You trust him.”

Clara looked away.

“I don’t know him.”

Eleanor smiled weakly.

“You looked at him differently.”

“Mother.”

“I’m sick, not blind.”

Clara laughed despite herself.

Then Eleanor’s expression changed.

“Did he mention your father?”

“Yes.”

Her mother went silent.

Too silent.

Clara noticed.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

Eleanor looked toward the bedroom door.

“Your father once told me that if he disappeared, I should never search for him.”

“Why?”

“Because the people who came for him would come for us.”

Clara sat beside her.

“Mother, what happened?”

Eleanor reached beneath her pillow.

She removed a small brass key.

“I’ve kept this for seven months.”

Clara stared.

“What does it open?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then why keep it?”

“Because your father told me never to lose it.”

That night, Julian returned.

Clara showed him the key.

He studied it.

“This isn’t ordinary.”

“Can you identify it?”

He turned it over.

An insignia had been engraved into the metal.

A military eagle.

Julian’s expression changed.

“This belongs to the old War Ministry archives.”

“Archives?”

“Restricted archives.”

“Why would my father have a key?”

“I don’t know.”

Clara stared at the floor.

“Then let’s find out.”

They searched the old Vance house.

Behind a loose wooden panel beneath the staircase, they discovered a narrow metal box.

Inside were financial ledgers.

Military supply contracts.

Names of officers.

Amounts of money.

Dates.

Julian turned pale.

Clara watched him.

“What is it?”

“Evidence.”

“Of what?”

“Military corruption.”

He turned a page.

The same generals appeared repeatedly.

Money had been diverted from army supplies.

Weapons had been purchased cheaply and resold through private companies.

Soldiers had gone into battle with defective equipment.

Clara’s voice trembled.

“My father knew.”

“Yes.”

“That’s why he went bankrupt.”

Julian shook his head.

“No.”

She looked at him.

“Then why?”

Julian pointed to a name.

His own family name.

CROSS.

Clara froze.

“My father was investigating your family?”

“No.”

Julian’s voice was barely audible.

“My father was one of the generals listed here.”

Silence filled the room.

Clara looked at him.

“Was he guilty?”

Julian didn’t answer.

Instead, he turned another page.

There was a handwritten note.

The Cross family must never learn what happened to the Vance heir.

Clara stared.

“What heir?”

Julian looked at her.

“I think that’s you.”

Before either could speak, footsteps sounded outside.

Someone was approaching.

Julian extinguished the lamp.

A shadow stopped behind the door.

Then a voice whispered:

“Find the letter before Cross does.”

Clara’s blood ran cold.

Because the voice belonged to someone she knew.

Her father’s former lawyer.