Chapter 14 - The London Ledger
Later that afternoon, while reviewing the final probate documents in his private library, Ethan received a thick leather parcel delivered by a diplomatic courier from London. The parcel bore the official seal of the High Court of Justice.
Ethan opened the package, revealing an old leather ledger and a formal letter signed by a senior barrister. The letter stated that Eleanor Carrington had deposited a second private trust in a London bank ten years prior to her marriage—a trust that had been growing untouched for nearly two decades.
The ledger contained a detailed inventory of property, real estate, and art collections held across Europe under Lily's full legal name. But as Ethan turned to the final page of the ledger, his eyes locked onto a handwritten note attached to the back cover.
May you like
The note was written in his late wife's delicate script, dated three weeks before her passing: Ethan, if Claire was the hand that held the vial, ask yourself who paid for the compound. Look at the logo on the bottom of page four.
Ethan flipped back to page four, his breath catching in his throat. Stamped on the bottom of the pharmaceutical invoice was the official crest of Vance International—the primary corporation owned by his own brother, Marcus Vance.
