Chapter 7 - The Mistress Who Came to Me Begging for Protection
Melissa Carr had never looked so ordinary.
The expensive handbag was gone.
So were the diamond earrings and the carefully arranged waves of blonde hair.
She sat in Ava's conference room wearing jeans, a plain sweater, and a pair of white sneakers.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
For a moment, I barely recognized her.
Then she looked up.
“Catherine.”
I sat across from her.
“Why are you here?”
She glanced toward Ava.
“Is this room private?”
“Yes,” Ava replied.
Melissa took a breath.
“Graham has been calling me.”
“What does he want?”
“The paperwork Victor signed.”
I frowned.
“Thomas Reed has the originals.”
“I know. Graham wants me to persuade Lucas's trustee to support the transfers anyway.”
Ava leaned forward.
“Has Graham threatened you?”
Melissa hesitated.
“He said Lucas could lose everything if I didn't cooperate.”
I watched her carefully.
“You were so confident at the hospital.”
Her face tightened.
“Victor told me everything was arranged.”
“Did he tell you where the money came from?”
She looked away.
I waited.
Finally, she whispered:
“Not at first.”
A heavy silence settled over the room.
Ava opened a notebook.
“Melissa, you should understand that you may need independent legal advice. If you have information about potentially unlawful transactions, you should not assume anything you say here is confidential from future proceedings.”
Melissa nodded.
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“I wasn't a good person to you, Catherine.”
I didn't answer.
“I knew Victor was married.”
“Yes.”
“He told me your marriage was over emotionally. That you lived separate lives.”
I almost laughed.
Victor had told Melissa that story while eating dinner with me, attending family holidays, and asking me to help manage his mother's medical appointments.
“He told you what made his choices easier,” I said.
Melissa wiped her eyes.
“I believed him because I wanted to.”
For the first time, she sounded honest.
She explained that Victor had purchased her first apartment shortly after Lucas was born.
At first, she assumed his business was thriving.
When he began transferring large amounts of money, she asked questions.
He told her the payments came through legitimate investment companies.
Over time, she stopped asking.
“I liked the life he gave us,” she admitted.
I appreciated that she didn't pretend otherwise.
She had enjoyed the expensive clothes, private vacations, and luxurious home.
But I could also see that she had begun to understand the price.
“Why come to me now?” I asked.
“Because Graham told me Lucas might be named in the investigation.”
Ava shook her head.
“Lucas is a child. Being named as a beneficiary of disputed transfers does not make him responsible for whatever adults did.”
Melissa's eyes filled with tears.
“That's what I needed to hear.”
I watched her.
“Is that all?”
She hesitated.
Then she reached into her purse and removed a small electronic device.
A digital voice recorder.
“Victor used to dictate business notes,” she explained. “Sometimes he left the recorder at my house.”
“Did you record him without his knowledge?” Ava asked.
“No. This is one of his own recordings. I made a copy after I heard him arguing with Graham.”
Ava took the device carefully.
“We'll need to determine when it was recorded and whether it can be authenticated.”
Melissa nodded.
“I understand.”
Daniel Brooks joined us.
He connected the recorder to a speaker.
A man's voice filled the room.
Victor.
His familiar tone made my chest ache.
“Graham, I told you those accounts need to be cleared before the end of the quarter.”
A second man answered.
Graham Pierce.
“We can't keep moving money without questions.”
Victor sounded irritated.
“Then stop leaving questions.”
The recording continued.
They discussed company transfers, ownership documents, and an account associated with Brightwell Management.
Then Victor said something that made my blood run cold.
“Catherine doesn't know which authorization she really signed.”
Ava immediately raised her hand.
Daniel paused the recording.
Nobody spoke.
I stared at the speaker.
“What did he mean?”
Ava's expression was serious.
“I don't know yet. We need the complete context.”
Daniel resumed playback.
Graham spoke again.
“What if she finds the original pages?”
Victor answered without hesitation.
“She won't. They're not at the office.”
“Where are they?”
“You know where I keep the documents nobody touches.”
Then the recording ended.
Melissa looked at me.
“That's why I came.”
I leaned forward.
“Did Victor ever tell you where he kept important papers?”
She shook her head.
“Not directly.”
“Think carefully.”
She closed her eyes.
“He always talked about a place where nobody would think to look.”
My pulse quickened.
“What place?”
She hesitated.
“Your lake house.”
I stared at her.
“The lake house?”
Melissa nodded.
“He hated going there. But every year or two, he'd disappear for a day and come back carrying old files.”
A memory surfaced.
Victor used to claim he was checking the roof or inspecting storm damage.
I hadn't questioned those trips.
The property had belonged to my father before he died.
Victor disliked spending time there because it reminded him of a man whose integrity he could never imitate.
Or perhaps there had been another reason.
Perhaps my father's lake house had been hiding the evidence of Victor's crimes.
Melissa leaned forward.
“Catherine, there's something else.”
“What?”
“Victor once told Graham that the lake house was the one property he couldn't simply transfer.”
I frowned.
“Why not?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Then she added:
“He said your father made sure of it.”
I sat back slowly.
For years, Victor had controlled almost every financial decision in our marriage.
Yet the lake house had remained untouched.
Even at the hospital, Melissa had demanded it.
Victor never answered her.
Now I wondered whether my father had left behind more than memories.
Ava studied me.
“Catherine, do you still have access to the property?”
“Yes.”
“Then we should arrange a careful search, with appropriate documentation and preservation of anything relevant.”
I nodded.
That evening, Ethan and I drove toward the lake house.
The sky was darkening when we reached the long gravel driveway.
The house stood beyond the trees, overlooking a quiet stretch of water.
I hadn't visited in nearly two years.
As we approached, Ethan pointed toward the front porch.
“Mom.”
I slowed the car.
“What?”
“The door.”
The front door was standing slightly open.
I stopped.
Neither of us moved.
May you like
Then we saw a light flicker inside.
Someone had reached my father's lake house before us.
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