Chapter 3 - The Broken Ledger
Lila didn't breathe. She didn't blink. The dust on top of the mantelpiece tickled her nose, but she pressed her face flat against the cold marble, praying with every cell in her body.
The beam of Evan’s flashlight swept across the dark library floor. It flicked over the velvet armchairs, danced along the spine of ancient leatherbound books, and hovered for a agonizing second right over the opened mirror.
"See?" Claire’s voice came from the threshold. She sounded exasperated. "Nothing. You're jumpy, Evan. The stress of today is getting to you."
"I can't afford to be jumpy," Evan muttered. He stepped into the room, his footsteps heavy and slow on the hardwood floor. He walked right past the fireplace, so close that Lila could see the polished silver cufflinks on his sleeves. "Dr. Mason called ten minutes ago. Eleanor has already hired a family lawyer in Boston. She's filing an emergency petition for temporary custody tomorrow morning."
Claire let out a cold, bitter laugh. "On what grounds? A child shouting nonsense at an altar? Let her try. We have Dr. Mason’s official evaluation stating Lila suffers from auditory hallucinations brought on by grief. No judge in the state is going to hand a traumatized girl over to an estranged aunt."
"Unless Eleanor finds out about the offshore account," Evan said, his voice dropping into a tense whisper. "If she digs into the company books from sixteen months ago—"
"The books are clean!" Claire hissed, taking two quick steps toward him, grabbing his arm. "I made sure of that the night Naomi died. Every transfer was listed as a medical expenditure for her treatment. Nobody is looking at those statements because there is no reason to look."
"Naomi knew," Evan insisted, his voice cracking. "Right before she fell, she looked at me and said—"
"Shut up!" Claire snapped, her voice cutting through the dark like a whip. "Naomi is buried six feet under the earth, Evan. The only person left who remembers anything is a ten-year-old girl who is currently sedated upstairs. Now close the windows, lock the French doors, and get to bed. We have a legal battle to prepare for tomorrow."
Lila listened as their footsteps faded back down the long corridor. The light vanished. The heavy library doors clicked shut.
Lila slid down from the mantelpiece, her knees shaking so violently she almost collapsed on the hearth.
Offshore accounts. Medical expenditures. Dr. Mason.
It wasn't an accident. Her mother hadn't just tripped on the stairs. They had been draining Naomi’s family trust, and when Naomi found out, they had used Dr. Mason to pretend she was sick, to give her "medicine" that made her weak.
Lila turned back to the safe. Her hands were shaking, but her mind was suddenly crystal clear.
The combination wasn't a birthday. It wasn't an anniversary.
Naomi had loved mathematics. She had taught Lila how to play chess when she was six. She always used the prime numbers.
2-3-5-7.
Lila spun the brass dial: Left to 23, Right to 5, Left to 7.
She grabbed the heavy iron handle and turned it.
Click.
The steel door swung open smoothly and silently.
Inside lay a thick manila folder tied with a red ribbon, alongside a small black USB drive and a cassette tape labeled in Naomi’s neat cursive: For Eleanor.
Lila grabbed the entire contents of the safe, stuffing them into the oversized pockets of her jacket. She closed the safe door, spun the dial, and shoved the heavy mirror back into place against the wall.
Just as she stepped down from the stool, she heard a sound that made her blood turn to ice.
The service door in the linen closet swung open.
A figure stood in the doorway holding a flashlight, the white beam pinning Lila right where she stood.
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"I knew I heard a rat scurrying in the walls," Claire said quietly, stepping out into the library. She was still holding the silver tray, but the glass of milk was gone. In its place was a heavy iron fireplace poker she had picked up from the hallway.
Claire smiled, a cold, terrifying expression in the dark. "You really are your mother’s daughter, aren't you, Lila? Always poking your nose into things that don't belong to you."
