Gavin discovered that Paige wasn’t living alone.
The little boy’s name was Matty.
His full name was Matthew Finch.
That surname changed everything.
Paige wasn’t merely Alistair’s girlfriend.
She was the mother of his child.
And Matty was legally registered as Alistair’s son.
I already knew that.
But Gavin found something else.
Matty wasn’t Alistair’s only secret child.
There was another child.
A girl.
Her name was Lily.
She was five years old.
Her mother was a woman named Sarah Whitmore.
I stared at the photograph.
A little girl with brown hair.
She had Alistair’s eyes.
“How many families does this man have?” I whispered.
Gavin shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
“Find out.”
But before he could answer, my phone rang.
It was Paige.
I stared at the screen.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
Her voice trembled.
“Jacqueline?”
“Yes.”
“I need to talk to you.”
“About Alistair?”
“Not just Alistair.”
“Where are you?”
She gave me an address.
The same house whose deed had my mother’s name.
I went there.
Paige opened the door.
She looked exhausted.
The little boy stood behind her.
“Matty,” she whispered.
He looked at me.
“Are you Daddy’s wife?”
I couldn’t answer.
Paige closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
I stepped inside.
“Tell me everything.”
She began crying.
“I didn’t know about you at first.”
“When did you find out?”
“Three years ago.”
“After Matty was born?”
She nodded.
“Alistair told me he was separated.”
I laughed.
“He told you he was separated?”
“Yes.”
“While we were married?”
She looked down.
“I didn’t know.”
“What did he tell you?”
“That his marriage was ending.”
I believed that part.
Because it was probably the same story he told every woman.
Paige wiped her eyes.
“When I found out you were still married, I tried to leave.”
“What happened?”
“He threatened me.”
My expression changed.
“How?”
“He said he’d take Matty away.”
I sat down.
“Why did you stay?”
“Because I was scared.”
Then Paige handed me a folder.
“These are the things he gave me.”
Inside were copies of financial documents.
Transfers.
Contracts.
Messages.
Recordings.
Evidence.
“What is this?”
“He told me to keep them safe.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
I read through the documents.
Then I found something shocking.
Paige had never received the apartment.
It was still controlled by a company tied to Martha and George.
“Why did Alistair tell you the apartment would be yours?”
“He said it was already mine.”
“He lied.”
Paige nodded.
“I know.”
“Why call me now?”
She looked at Matty.
“Because yesterday, after the accident, I heard your name.”
“What did you hear?”
“His mother said that if you found out about the money, everything would collapse.”
I looked at her.
“Everything?”
Paige nodded.
“Then she said something else.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘Jacqueline can’t know what happened to Daniel.'”
My father’s name.
I stood.
“Who is Daniel?”
Paige stared at me.
“Your father.”
My heart stopped.
“What do you know about my father?”
“I don’t know much.”
“Then why did Martha mention him?”
“Because Alistair had been looking for documents about him.”
I felt dizzy.
“Where?”
“At your house.”
My voice dropped.
“My house?”
Paige nodded.
“He searched your office.”
“When?”
“Several times.”
I remembered.
The times Alistair had said he needed files from my study.
The nights he’d stayed downstairs while I slept.
The sudden interest he’d shown in my mother’s old papers.
I had thought nothing of it.
Now I understood.
He wasn’t searching for money.
He was searching for evidence.
Evidence my mother had hidden.
Evidence that could expose his family.
Paige stood.
“There is one more thing.”
“What?”
“Alistair didn’t cause the accident.”
I stared at her.
“What are you saying?”
“He told me he was meeting someone that evening.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you heard him?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
Paige swallowed.
“He said, ‘If Jacqueline gets those documents first, we’re all finished.'”
I felt the room go silent.
The accident suddenly looked different.
Someone had been afraid of what I might discover.
Someone had been desperate enough to stop Alistair.
And now I had to determine whether the crash was truly an accident.
PART 6 — THE RECORDING
I gave every document Paige had to my attorney.
I didn’t keep copies on my personal devices.
I didn’t trust my home network.
I didn’t trust Alistair.
And I certainly didn’t trust his family.
The next day, the police contacted me.
They wanted to ask about the accident.
Apparently, investigators had found something unusual.
The vehicle’s braking system had been tampered with.
I stared at the detective.
“Are you saying someone caused the crash?”
“We’re investigating that possibility.”
“Was Alistair driving?”
“Yes.”
“Was anyone else in the vehicle?”
“No.”
“What about the car’s computer?”
“That’s being examined.”
I gave them the recording from the vehicle.
The detective listened.
His expression changed when he heard Alistair mention the company guarantees.
“Where did you get this?”
“The vehicle’s recording system.”
He nodded.
“This may be important.”
Two days later, Gavin found the missing piece.
A security camera from a gas station had captured Alistair’s car shortly before the crash.
Another vehicle followed him.
A black SUV.
The license plate was partially visible.
Gavin traced it.
It belonged to a company.
That company was controlled by George Finch.
My stomach dropped.
George had been following his own son.
Why?
I confronted him.
He denied it.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
I laughed.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
George looked exhausted.
“Your father wasn’t killed in an accident.”
The world stopped.
“What?”
George lowered his head.
“Your father’s death was covered up.”
I couldn’t speak.
“What happened?”
“Daniel discovered that money was being moved through companies controlled by people connected to us.”
“Us?”
“The Finch family.”
My hands went numb.
“Why would you help cover it up?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of whom?”
“People who had more power than me.”
“Did my mother know?”
“Eventually.”
“And she spent the rest of her life protecting me.”
George nodded.
“Yes.”
I thought about the letter.
Trust only yourself.
My mother had known.
She had known that the people around us weren’t what they appeared to be.
And then I remembered something else.
The deed.
My mother’s name.
The trust.
The house where Paige lived.
Suddenly, it all connected.
My mother had deliberately placed assets under protected ownership.
She had used the Finch network against itself.
The house wasn’t bought for Paige.
It was part of a trust.
And Alistair had been trying to acquire it because it contained something valuable.
Something hidden.
A safe deposit box.
Gavin found it.
The box had been established twelve years earlier.
Its contents had never been accessed.
Except once.
Seven months before Alistair’s accident.
By Alistair.
I stared at the access record.
“He opened my mother’s safe deposit box?”
“Yes.”
“What did he take?”
“We don’t know.”
I knew who might.
Richard Hale.
I called him.
“Richard, what was in my mother’s box?”
He didn’t answer.
“Richard.”
Finally, he said:
“Evidence.”
“What kind?”
“Financial records.”
“Against the Finches?”
“Yes.”
“And Alistair stole them?”
“Not all of them.”
“What remained?”
Richard’s voice became quiet.
“Your mother left a second box.”
My heart raced.
“Where?”
“With me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your mother made me promise to reveal it only if you were ever threatened.”
I almost laughed.
“Richard, I think I qualify.”
He agreed to meet me.
The box contained a small flash drive.
A handwritten note was attached.
Jacqueline,
If you are reading this, then the truth has finally found you.
Do not seek revenge.
Seek the truth.
The truth will be enough.
I inserted the drive into a computer.
There were dozens of files.
Bank statements.
Contracts.
Photographs.
Emails.
And one video.
I opened it.
My mother appeared on the screen.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakably herself.
“If you’re watching this, Jacqueline, then Alistair has probably discovered what I spent years trying to protect.”
I covered my mouth.
She continued.
“Your father did not die because of an accident.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“He was killed because he discovered a financial fraud involving several powerful people.”
She named them.
One by one.
Then she said the name that made my blood run cold.
George Finch.
But she wasn’t finished.
“George was involved initially.”
I stared.
“However, he later tried to help your father.”
My mother’s voice cracked.
“He failed.”
Then came the final revelation.
“The person who ordered your father’s death was not George.”
A pause.
My mother looked directly into the camera.
“It was someone you will never suspect.”
The video ended.
I sat frozen.
Then my phone rang.
It was Gavin.
“Jacqueline.”
“What?”
“We found who was following Alistair before the accident.”
“Who?”
His voice was low.
“It wasn’t George.”
“Then who?”
Gavin answered.
“Richard Hale.”
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