Chapter 7 - THE HOUSE WITH THE LIGHT ON
We returned to Coral Gables after midnight.
The house looked exactly as I remembered.
Except one light was on upstairs.
I stopped at the gate.
“Someone's inside.”
Richard nodded.
“I told you.”
Laura looked at me.
“Call the police.”
Richard shook his head.
“Not yet.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because if the ledger is still there, we need to know who came for it.”
Camilla grabbed my arm.
“Lucas, Emilia comes first.”
She was right.
I turned toward Richard.
“Where is my daughter?”
“Two miles away.”
“Take me there.”
He nodded.
The house belonged to an elderly couple.
They opened the door immediately.
A little girl ran from the hallway.
She stopped when she saw Camilla.
“Mommy!”
Camilla dropped to her knees.
Emilia ran into her arms.
I stood frozen.
Five years.
Five years of birthdays I never attended.
Christmas mornings I never saw.
First words.
First steps.
First day of school.
All of it gone.
Then Emilia looked at me.
Her eyes widened.
She studied my face.
“Are you Lucas?”
My throat closed.
“Yes.”
She looked at Camilla.
“Is he my daddy?”
Camilla nodded.
Emilia took one small step toward me.
Then another.
I crouched down.
“Hi, Emilia.”
She smiled.
“You have my picture.”
I looked at the photograph in my hand.
“Yes.”
“Mommy said you lived far away.”
“I did.”
“Are you staying now?”
I couldn't promise what I couldn't control.
But I could tell her the truth.
“I want to.”
She nodded seriously.
Then she handed me her stuffed rabbit.
“Hold this.”
I took it.
“Why?”
“Because you're new.”
I laughed through tears.
“I guess I am.”
She smiled.
For the first time in five years, something felt right.
Then the elderly woman approached.
“She has been asking about you for years.”
I looked at Camilla.
“She knew?”
“She knew your name.”
I sat beside Emilia.
She leaned against Camilla.
Safe.
Loved.
Home.
I wished I could freeze the moment.
But my phone vibrated.
A message from my mother.
The house is empty now.
Then another.
The ledger is gone.
I looked at Richard.
He read my face.
“What happened?”
“The ledger.”
He nodded.
“Then we know who took it.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
Instead, he looked at Camilla.
Her face changed.
“Richard?”
He whispered:
“Your sister's husband.”
Camilla stood.
“He knows about the house?”
“Yes.”
“And he knows Emilia is here?”
Richard's expression hardened.
“He may.”
I immediately stood.
“We have to move her.”
The elderly couple looked frightened.
Camilla took Emilia's hand.
“We're going.”
Emilia looked up.
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
She frowned.
“I don't want to leave.”
Camilla knelt.
“You're not leaving me.”
Emilia looked at me.
“Is Daddy coming?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
We returned to my mother's house.
This time, I didn't feel like it belonged to me.
It felt like a place filled with ghosts.
My father.
My marriage.
My childhood.
Five years of lies.
Laura found a box in the study.
Inside was an old child-sized red coat.
Camilla stared at it.
“That was Emilia's.”
“How?”
“My mother gave it to Patrick.”
I looked at the coat.
There was something sewn inside the pocket.
A tiny paper star.
Emilia's name was written on it.
I unfolded it.
Inside was my father's handwriting.
Protect the child. The truth is bigger than the money.
I looked at Richard.
“What truth?”
He stared at my mother.
Mom finally broke.
“I didn't steal the money.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The eighty thousand.”
She shook her head.
“I borrowed it, but I paid it back.”
Richard looked surprised.
“Then why did Patrick think you were hiding something?”
“Because I was.”
“What?”
She reached into the drawer.
She pulled out a bank statement.
“Someone had been depositing money into my account.”
I stared.
“Who?”
She pointed to the signature.
It wasn't hers.
Richard stepped closer.
“That's impossible.”
Laura looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because that account was used to move money out of Patrick's company.”
My mother looked at me.
“I wasn't the person stealing from your father.”
“Then who was?”
She slowly turned toward Richard.
Everyone went silent.
Richard's face changed.
“You're accusing me?”
Mom shook her head.
“No.”
She pointed at the old photograph.
“I'm saying Patrick suspected you.”
Richard stepped backward.
Camilla grabbed Emilia.
I moved between them.
Richard looked at me.
“Lucas, your father was wrong.”
“Then prove it.”
He reached into his coat.
Instead of a weapon, he pulled out a small envelope.
“I kept this because I knew one day you'd need it.”
He handed it to me.
Inside was a bank transfer receipt.
The money had gone to a company in Canada.
I stared.
Canada.
The same country where I had lived for five years.
The company name was unfamiliar.
May you like
Then I saw the director.
Charlotte.
