Chapter 3 - the bride’s first confession
Jonathan did not move.
Daniel stepped into the room behind him.
Florence looked from one man to the other.
Her wedding dress suddenly seemed absurd inside the dark office.
White lace.
Pearls.
A veil abandoned on the floor.
A bride standing beside an open safe while her future husband held evidence left by his missing daughter.
Jonathan spoke quietly.
“Where is she?”
Florence swallowed.
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“I know she was alive after the night she disappeared.”
Jonathan took one step closer.
“How?”
Florence’s eyes filled with tears.
Jonathan felt nothing.
He had seen her cry before.
He had comforted her.
Now every expression seemed rehearsed.
“I didn’t do what Leo thinks I did.”
“He said you hurt her.”
“I argued with her.”
“You grabbed her.”
Florence stared at him.
“You watched the house footage.”
Jonathan said nothing.
That was enough.
Florence closed her eyes.
“Christina found something.”
“What?”
“She thought money was being moved out of the Prescott Foundation.”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
The word struck harder because Florence did not deny it.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who moved it?”
Florence looked toward Daniel.
“I want to talk to you alone.”
“No.”
“Jonathan, please.”
“Daniel stays.”
Florence pressed both hands against the front of her dress.
“Samuel.”
Jonathan’s face remained expressionless.
But something inside him collapsed.
Florence continued quickly.
“He used accounts connected to charitable subsidiaries. Small transfers at first. Consulting invoices. Vendor payments. Then larger amounts.”
“And you helped him.”
She hesitated.
“Yes.”
Jonathan looked away for one second.
“You approached me because of him?”
“At first.”
That hurt more than he expected.
Florence saw it.
“It changed.”
“Do not insult me.”
“I’m telling you the truth.”
“You’re wearing a wedding dress because you planned to marry me while stealing from my company.”
“It was never supposed to become this.”
“What was it supposed to become?”
Florence’s voice broke.
“A marriage. Access. Signatures. Samuel said nobody would get hurt.”
Jonathan almost laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the sentence was so familiar.
Nobody was supposed to get hurt.
People said it after lives had already been destroyed.
“Christina discovered the transfers,” Florence continued. “She confronted me. I panicked. Samuel came over.”
“What happened to her?”
“She threatened to call you.”
“And?”
“Samuel said we needed to calm her down.”
Jonathan’s eyes sharpened.
“What did he do?”
“He had someone bring medication.”
Daniel’s posture changed.
“What medication?”
“I don’t know.”
“Injection?” Daniel asked.
Florence nodded.
Jonathan crossed the room so quickly she backed into the desk.
“You drugged my daughter?”
“I didn’t touch the needle.”
“You let them.”
“I tried to stop him.”
“You opened the door.”
Florence began crying.
Jonathan felt no sympathy.
“What happened next?”
“She became weak. She fell. Leo woke up and came into the hallway.”
Jonathan remembered the child saying he heard his mother fall.
“Did he see her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then what?”
“Samuel said Christina would wake up in a few hours and we could move her somewhere until he fixed the financial records.”
“You kidnapped her.”
Florence stared at the floor.
“Yes.”
Jonathan’s face turned gray.
Daniel took a step forward.
“Where did you move her?”
“Hawthorne Recovery Center.”
Daniel immediately pulled out his phone.
Florence shook her head.
“She’s not there anymore.”
Jonathan’s voice became dangerous.
“Why?”
“Because she woke up.”
Hope hit him so violently that he almost reached for the desk.
“When?”
“Three days later.”
“Did you see her?”
“No. Samuel did.”
“What happened?”
“He called me and said there had been a complication.”
Jonathan’s hope froze.
“What complication?”
“He said Christina tried to escape.”
Florence covered her mouth.
“He told me she fell down a stairwell.”
Jonathan stared at her.
“Was she alive?”
“Yes.”
“You’re sure?”
Florence nodded quickly.
“I heard her voice.”
“When?”
“Four weeks ago.”
The room went silent.
Jonathan’s fingers tightened.
“You spoke to her?”
“Samuel called me from another phone. Christina was in the background. She was awake. She was angry. She was shouting.”
“What did she say?”
Florence looked at the USB again.
“She said Leo had something we would never find.”
Jonathan understood.
The USB.
“Then Samuel moved her.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
Jonathan studied her.
She looked genuinely terrified now.
Not of him.
Of Samuel.
“What were you looking for in my safe?”
Florence hesitated.
“An envelope.”
“What envelope?”
“Samuel said Christina left a second set of evidence.”
“Where?”
“He thought you had it.”
Jonathan almost answered.
Then stopped.
Christina’s video echoed inside his mind.
Do not let her know how much you’ve seen.
He could not trust Florence.
Not even while she confessed.
Perhaps especially while she confessed.
Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
“Hawthorne Recovery Center exists. Private neurological rehabilitation facility forty-two miles north.”
Jonathan turned.
“Get the car.”
Florence moved toward him.
“Take me with you.”
“No.”
“I can help.”
“You can help the police.”
Her face changed.
“If Samuel knows I talked, I won’t make it to the police.”
Jonathan stared at her.
“You’re asking me to protect you?”
“I’m asking you to understand that Samuel has spent twenty-eight years learning every weakness your family has.”
Jonathan started toward the door.
Florence spoke again.
“He has access to Leo’s trust.”
Jonathan stopped.
Slowly.
“What?”
Florence’s eyes stayed on his back.
“He changed something three months ago.”
Jonathan turned.
“What did he change?”
“I don’t know. But Christina found it. That’s why she started investigating.”
Jonathan looked at Daniel.
Daniel had already begun making calls.
Then Florence said one last thing.
“Jonathan, if you go to Hawthorne, don’t call ahead.”
May you like
“Why?”
“Because Samuel owns it.”
