Not from Lisa.

It was from an unknown number.

There was only one sentence.

You should ask your children what happened to the money Richard left before he died.

I stared at the screen.

Then another message appeared.

Because they already know.

I sat down slowly.

For the first time since Richard’s death, I wondered whether the story I had believed about my family was never the whole story.

And somewhere in Denver, three of my children were preparing for Christmas.

They thought they had come to take back a house.

They had no idea that I had just discovered something that could change everything.

PART 4
I read the message again.

Because they already know.

My hands felt numb.

I stared at the phone until the screen went dark.

Then I turned it back on and read the message again.

Whoever had sent it knew about Richard’s money.

Not the money I had today.

The money he had left before he died.

I had spent years believing I understood every part of Richard’s estate.

He had left me the house.

He had left me his investments.

He had left me enough life insurance to make sure I would never struggle.

At least, that was what I thought.

I immediately called Thomas.

He answered on the first ring.

“I was expecting your call.”

“Someone just messaged me.”

“What did they say?”

I read it to him.

There was a long silence.

“Don’t reply.”

“I wasn’t going to.”

“Forward it to me.”

I did.

Then I asked the question that had suddenly become impossible to ignore.

“Thomas, what money did Richard leave before he died?”

“That’s exactly what I’m trying to determine.”

“You told me his estate was settled.”

“It was.”

“Then where could money have gone?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“Thomas.”

“I need to be careful here.”

“Please.”

He sighed.

“When Richard died, there were several accounts and investment vehicles that were transferred to you. But there were also some assets that didn’t appear in the final probate inventory.”

I felt my stomach drop.

“What assets?”

“I’m not sure.”

“You just said there were assets.”

“I said there may have been.”

“How could you not know?”

“Because Richard used a separate financial adviser for some of his private investments.”

“Who?”

“Daniel Mercer.”

I froze.

The name was familiar.

“Mercer Financial?”

“Yes.”

“I thought Richard stopped working with him years ago.”

“So did I.”

“Is he still alive?”

“Yes.”

“Then call him.”

“I already did.”

“And?”

“He refused to discuss Richard’s accounts with me.”

“Why?”

“He said he was bound by confidentiality.”

I stood up.

“Thomas, I’m Richard’s widow.”

“I know.”

“Then I have a right to know.”

“That’s what we’re going to establish.”

I looked out the window.

The snow had stopped.

The sky was gray.

“How long?”

“For the audit?”

“Yes.”

“Several weeks.”

“I don’t have several weeks.”

“You do.”

“No.”

I tightened my grip on the phone.

“My children are involved.”

“We don’t know that.”

“Someone just told me they are.”

“Someone who may be trying to frighten you.”

“Then find out.”

Thomas was silent.

Finally he said:

“I’ll find out.”

That afternoon, I received another message.

This time there was a photograph attached.

It was an old photograph of Richard standing beside three people.

One was Daniel Mercer.

The other two were my children.

Jennifer.

Michael.

Lisa.

I stared at the picture.

I had never seen it before.

Underneath it was a message:

Ask them why they met with Richard’s adviser six months before he died.

My heart began racing.

Six months before Richard died.

The same time period mentioned in his letter.

I called Thomas again.

“I have a photograph.”

“Send it.”

I did.

Within minutes, he called back.

“I recognize the location.”

“Where?”

“Mercer’s old office.”

“Why would my children be there?”

“I don’t know.”

“Find out.”

“I will.”

That night I didn’t sleep.

At 4:17 in the morning, I finally got out of bed.

I walked into Richard’s old study.

I hadn’t entered that room properly in months.

His desk was still there.

His books.

His old leather chair.

A framed photograph of us from our tenth anniversary.

I sat down.

Then I remembered something.

Richard had always kept important documents in a small locked drawer.

After he died, Thomas had told me the drawer contained nothing important.

But I had never personally checked it.

I opened it.

Empty.

Except for a small brass key.

I stared at it.

I remembered that key.

It belonged to the safe in the basement.

I hadn’t opened that safe since Richard died.

I went downstairs.

The basement was cold.

I found the safe behind a row of storage boxes.

The key still worked.

Inside were several envelopes.

Property documents.

Old passports.

Insurance records.

And a small black notebook.

Richard’s handwriting was on the cover.

Private.

I opened it.

The first pages were ordinary financial notes.

Then I saw three names.

Jennifer.

Michael.

Lisa.

Underneath them were dates.

Payments.

Amounts.

Notes.

I read the first entry.

Jennifer — $18,000 — tuition debt.

The second.

Michael — $32,000 — business loan.

The third.

Lisa — $14,500 — medical and housing assistance.

I kept turning pages.

There were dozens of entries.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Richard had secretly helped our children financially for years.

I knew he had helped them occasionally.

I had no idea how much.

But then I reached the final pages.

The handwriting changed.

The notes became shorter.

More urgent.

Jennifer asking about trust.

Michael wants access to investment account.

Lisa says they should all receive house equally.

Then:

They think Maggie doesn’t know anything.

My hands started shaking.

The next page had only one sentence.

I am beginning to worry about what they may do after I’m gone.

I sat on the basement floor.

Richard had known.

He had known.

And suddenly his letter made sense.

I turned to the final page.

There was an account number.

And beneath it:

$1,200,000 — protected account.

I stared at the number.

One million two hundred thousand dollars.

I had never known about it.

At the bottom of the page was a note.

Do not transfer until Maggie is ready.

I immediately called Thomas.

He arrived less than an hour later.

When he saw the notebook, he didn’t speak for several seconds.

“Where did you find this?”

“The safe.”

“Did you know about this account?”

“No.”

He photographed the page.

Then he called someone.

Twenty minutes later, he was speaking to a bank representative.

I sat across from him, barely breathing.

Finally, he hung up.

“It’s real.”

I closed my eyes.

“What is it?”

“A trust account.”

“Whose name is on it?”

“Yours.”

I stared at him.

“Mine?”

“Yes.”

“Then why didn’t I know?”

“Because Richard established it privately.”

“For me?”

“Apparently.”

I looked at the notebook.

“What was he protecting me from?”

Thomas didn’t answer immediately.

Then he said:

“Possibly from your own children.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t want to believe that.”

“I know.”

“But the evidence…”

“I know.”

We spent the rest of the morning reviewing the documents.

And the more we discovered, the worse it became.

Richard had not only established the protected account.

He had also documented several conversations with my children.

They had asked questions about the house.

About his life insurance.

About his investments.

About whether I would be able to manage the estate alone.

One note stopped me completely.

Michael asked how quickly the house could be sold after Maggie’s death.

Another:

Jennifer wants to know if Maggie intends to leave house to all three equally.

And then:

Lisa says they should wait until Maggie is emotionally vulnerable.

I couldn’t breathe.

“That’s enough,” I whispered.

Thomas closed the notebook.

“No.”

I looked at him.

“There’s more.”

He opened another folder.

“This came from the bank.”

Inside were copies of documents.

I recognized my signature.

But I didn’t recognize the paperwork.

“What is this?”

“Power of attorney.”

I frowned.

“I never signed this.”