Charles stepped closer, his shadow falling over the bed. “Did he threaten you, Mrs. Vance?”

My mother looked at Charles, her eyes widening in confusion. “Who is this?”

“This is Charles Whitmore, Mom. He’s helping me. You’re safe now.”

She let out a shaky breath and gripped my hand with surprising strength.

“He wanted the files, Emily. He thought your father gave them to me before he disappeared.”

I leaned closer to her, resting my hand over hers.

“What files, Mom? What did Dad find?”

She looked at the door, as if expecting Bellamy to walk back in.

“Your father didn’t just walk away from us,” she said, her voice cracking.

“I know,” I said. “I never believed he did.”

“He worked in the accounting department for the Bellamy Group,” she continued, her voice growing steady but hushed.

“He found something he wasn’t supposed to see.”

“What did he find?” Charles asked, his voice low and serious.

“Massive financial fraud,” my mother said.

She looked directly into my eyes, her grip tightening.

“Julian Bellamy was funneling millions of dollars out of the company’s construction accounts.”