“Because I wanted you to hear the recording before you read his private words.”
Clara unfolded the paper.
The letter was dated two weeks before William’s heart attack.
Clara read silently. Michael watched her face change.
“What does it say?” he asked.
She handed him the letter.
Michael read.
Clara,
If you are reading this, then I did not find the courage to tell you in person. I want you to know that my silence was not because I trusted Olivia. It was because I trusted you to protect Michael if I failed.
There is something I never told either of you. I recovered Anna Bell’s ledger. She survived the bridge and went into hiding with her daughter. She has been living under another name in Savannah. I have been sending money to her through Daniel because Peter was still searching for her.
I did not tell you because she believed her daughter would be safe only if no one connected her to us.
Her daughter’s name is Olivia Mercer.
Michael lowered the page.
Clara stared at him.
“That cannot be.”
Daniel nodded.
“Anna Bell was Olivia’s mother. Olivia was not the person who stole the money from the clients. Peter was. Olivia discovered what he had done after Anna disappeared. She helped him cover it up because he threatened her mother and because she believed he would expose her family.”
Michael stood.
“But Olivia said she knew my family had money.”
“She did,” Daniel said. “Peter told her to approach you. He intended to use the marriage to recover the assets William had frozen. Olivia agreed.”
Clara’s heart sank.
“But the threats against Michael?”
“Peter made them. Olivia repeated them.”
“To control us.”
“Yes.”
Michael took a step away from the letter.
“So she did not start the crime, but she continued it.”
“She forged the power of attorney,” Daniel said. “She participated in the scheme. Whatever happened to her mother, Olivia still chose what she did to you.”
Clara looked toward the open doors where Olivia had vanished.
The truth did not make Olivia innocent.
