Chapter 2 - THE FILE IN THE WALL
We didn't call the police.
Not yet.
My attorney, Daniel Reeves, arrived at Aura twenty-seven minutes later.
He walked through the locked front doors carrying a black leather case.
He looked at Theresa.
Then at me.
Then at the $14,800 bill.
“I see I missed lunch.”
I almost laughed.
“Unfortunately.”
He sat down.
“Show me everything.”
I opened my laptop.
Bank statements.
Corporate records.
Forged signatures.
Transfers.
Invoices.
Hotel receipts.
Chloe's name appeared over and over.
Daniel read everything silently.
Then he looked at Theresa.
“You knew about Crown Harbor?”
She shook her head.
“Not recently.”
“What does that mean?”
“It was my husband's company.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“When?”
“Twenty-two years ago.”
“What did it own?”
Theresa looked at me.
“Properties.”
“Which properties?”
She hesitated.
“A few restaurants.”
My stomach tightened.
“How many?”
“Three.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Name them.”
Theresa looked away.
“I don't remember.”
“You do.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She whispered,
“Crown Harbor was a holding company.”
“For what?”
“Assets.”
“Whose assets?”
“My husband's.”
“And Mark inherited it?”
“No.”
The room went silent.
“Then who?”
Theresa looked at me.
“His daughter.”
My heart stopped.
“What daughter?”
Theresa's lips trembled.
“My husband had another child.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Who?”
She didn't answer.
“Theresa.”
She covered her face.
“I don't know where she is.”
I felt cold.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“She disappeared.”
“When?”
“Twenty-two years ago.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Was her name on the corporate records?”
Theresa nodded.
“What was her name?”
“Amelia.”
My breath caught.
Daniel immediately opened his laptop.
“Last name?”
Theresa whispered it.
“Reeves.”
Daniel froze.
I looked at him.
“Daniel?”
He didn't answer.
His fingers moved quickly over the keyboard.
Then he stopped.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
He turned the laptop toward me.
A corporate filing appeared.
Crown Harbor Holdings.
Registered owner:
Amelia Reeves.
Status:
Active.
My mouth went dry.
“But if she disappeared twenty-two years ago…”
Daniel looked at me.
“Then someone has been maintaining this company for twenty-two years.”
“Who?”
He scrolled.
“There.”
A recent filing.
Filed three years ago.
Authorized representative:
Chloe Miller.
My blood ran cold.
“Chloe.”
Daniel nodded.
“Your husband's mistress wasn't just sleeping with him.”
Theresa whispered,
“She was managing Crown Harbor.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Did Mark know?”
Theresa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I stood.
“What does Crown Harbor have to do with Aura?”
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he asked,
“Who sold you the building?”
I told him.
“Martin Hale.”
“Was he connected to Mark's family?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Theresa.
She looked terrified.
“Then we need to find the original deed.”
I opened a drawer.
“I have it.”
“No.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You have a copy.”
He stood.
“Where's the original?”
I frowned.
“I've never seen it.”
He looked around my office.
“Then somebody took it.”
Suddenly David knocked.
“Elena?”
“Come in.”
He entered holding a small envelope.
“This was taped underneath your office desk.”
I stared at it.
My name was written on the front.
No stamp.
No return address.
I opened it.
Inside was a key.
And a handwritten note.
LOOK BEHIND THE BRICK.
Daniel looked at the wall.
“What brick?”
I suddenly remembered.
When we renovated Aura, there was one original brick wall we kept untouched.
A decorative section behind the wine cellar.
Daniel followed me downstairs.
We stood in front of the brick wall.
I counted.
“One, two, three…”
The eighth brick from the floor looked slightly different.
Daniel pressed it.
Nothing.
Then he pushed harder.
The brick moved.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a metal box.
I pulled it out.
My hands were shaking.
The key fit.
Click.
The lid opened.
Inside were old photographs.
Corporate certificates.
A child's hospital bracelet.
And a letter.
Daniel picked up the letter.
The handwriting was old.
He read the first line.
“Dear Amelia…”
Theresa made a strange sound.
She stepped backward.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She whispered,
“That handwriting…”
“Whose?”
“My husband's.”
Daniel continued reading.
The letter was dated twenty-two years ago.
It said Amelia had been given ownership of several assets.
Including one restaurant.
Aura.
I stared at the page.
“But Aura didn't exist twenty-two years ago.”
Daniel looked at the construction records.
“Maybe not under this name.”
We searched the box.
Another document.
A restaurant property acquisition.
Same address.
Different name.
I felt dizzy.
Someone had purchased this building decades before Aura existed.
Someone had held it quietly.
Someone had been waiting.
“For Amelia,” I whispered.
Daniel nodded.
Then Theresa suddenly said,
“That's not the worst part.”
We turned.
She was crying.
“My husband didn't hide Amelia because she was missing.”
“What do you mean?”
“He hid her because someone was trying to kill her.”
The room went silent.
“Who?”
Theresa looked at me.
“His business partner.”
“Who?”
She whispered the name.
“Richard Miller.”
My blood ran cold.
“Chloe's father?”
Theresa nodded.
And suddenly the entire story changed.
Chloe hadn't entered Mark's life by accident.
She had been looking for something.
Something her father had failed to find.
Something that had been hidden inside Aura for more than twenty years.
Daniel looked at the metal box.
“Then the question isn't why Chloe wants your restaurant.”
He looked at me.
May you like
“The question is…”
“What's hidden here?”
