Chapter 3: The Name She Should Never Have Spoken
Richard did not look toward the stairs.
He kept his eyes on Victoria.
“My brother has been dead for six years,” he said.
“So explain why you just said his name.””
Victoria shook her head.
“I didn't mean—”
“You said Daniel.””
“I was frightened.””
“Of what?””
She reached for his hand.
He pulled it away.
“Richard, please. You need to listen to me before you do something you'll regret.””
He gave a short, bitter laugh.
“You've spent the last ten minutes telling me what I should do. Now it's my turn.””
He turned to Thomas.
“Lock the front doors. Ask the groundskeeper to secure the gates. Nobody leaves this house until the police arrive.””
Victoria sprang to her feet.
“You can't imprison me!””
“I'm not imprisoning anyone. I'm preventing a possible crime scene from becoming a disappearing act.””
“You have no proof!””
Richard pointed at the glass.
“Then drink it.””
She stared at him.
He pointed again.
“Drink the juice, Victoria.””
Her eyes filled with tears, but she did not touch the glass.
Thomas had seen people cry from pain, grief, and fear. He had watched a stable boy sob when his father died and an elderly housekeeper weep while packing the belongings of a woman she had served for thirty years.
Victoria's tears looked different.
They came easily.
They came without changing her expression.
And every time Richard glanced away, she watched the door.
Thomas understood then that she was not afraid of being punished.
She was waiting for someone.
Richard seemed to reach the same conclusion.
“Who are you expecting?”” he asked.
“No one.””
“Then why do you keep looking at the stairs?””
Victoria's gaze snapped back to him.
“I've told you, I'm frightened!””
“Of your husband?””
She said nothing.
“Or of the person who told you what to put in my drink?””
Victoria's knees buckled slightly.
Thomas moved forward, but Richard raised a hand to stop him.
“Let her answer.””
For a long moment, Victoria stared at her husband.
Then she whispered, “You were never supposed to drink the wine.””
Richard's jaw tightened.
“That's a remarkable thing to say to a man whose wine you poured.””
“I didn't know Thomas would interfere.””
“Interfere?””
“You don't understand how much I had to risk.””
Richard stepped closer.
“What did you put in my glass?””
She shook her head.
“I can't tell you.””
“Why?””
“Because if I do, you won't be the only one in danger.””
Richard's face hardened.
“Is that a threat?””
“No!””
“Then tell me the truth.””
Victoria pressed her hands against her temples.
“You think this began tonight? You think I woke up this morning and suddenly decided to destroy my life?””
“I don't know what you decided.””
“Because you never asked! You never noticed anything!””
Richard stared at her.
“What should I have noticed?””
She laughed through her tears.
“Your company was collapsing, Richard. Your investors were withdrawing. Your board wanted you gone. You spent every night in your office pretending you could fix everything with another signature.””
“That has nothing to do with this.””
“It has everything to do with this!””
She struck the table with her palm.
“You were going to lose everything. The house, the company, the money. Everything we built.””
Richard's voice dropped.
“So you decided to kill me?””
Victoria recoiled as if he had struck her.
“I never wanted it to happen this way.””
The words hung in the air.
Thomas felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Richard slowly sat down.
“Tell me about Daniel.””
Victoria looked toward the door again.
This time, Richard caught her wrist before she could move.
“Stop looking for help. There is nobody here who can save you from the truth.””
She tried to pull away.
“Let go of me!””
He released her immediately.
She stumbled backward, knocking a chair against the wall.
For a moment, the two of them simply stared at each other.
Then Victoria began speaking.
“Daniel didn't die the way you think he did.””
Richard went completely still.
Six years earlier, Daniel Whitmore had died in a car accident on a wet country road. His car had gone through a barrier and plunged down a steep embankment. The wreckage had burned before emergency services could reach it.
Richard had identified his brother through dental records.
He had buried a closed coffin.
He had stood beside Victoria at the funeral while she held his hand and whispered that time would heal the wound.
Now, every memory seemed to turn against him.
“What do you mean?”” he asked.
Victoria swallowed.
“The night before the accident, Daniel came to see me.””
Richard stared at her.
“Why?””
“He said he needed money.””
“How much?””
“Two hundred thousand pounds.””
“Why would he come to you?””
“Because he knew about the money I had saved.””
Richard frowned.
“What money?””
Victoria hesitated.
“The money your father left me.””
Richard slowly shook his head.
“Our father left you nothing. He left you a wedding gift.””
“He left me more than that.””
“You told me you used it to pay off your student loans.””
“I lied.””
The confession landed with the dull weight of a stone.
Richard rose from his chair.
“How much?””
“Three hundred thousand pounds.””
He stared at her.
“You've been hiding three hundred thousand pounds from me for twelve years?””
“It's my money!””
“I never said it wasn't. I asked why you lied.””
Victoria's shoulders began to shake.
“Because I knew what you would think.””
“What would I think?””
“That I was planning to leave you.””
Richard looked at her for a long moment.
“Were you?””
“No.””
“Were you planning to kill me?””
She closed her eyes.
“Richard, I loved you.””
“That's not an answer.””
She opened her eyes again.
“Daniel told me he was in trouble. He said some very dangerous people wanted their money back. He begged me to help him.””
“And you gave him the money?””
“Yes.””
“How much?””
“All of it.””
Richard looked toward the fireplace, as if he needed something solid to keep the room from shifting beneath him.
“And the accident?””
Victoria wiped her cheeks.
“He called me that night. He was crying. He said he'd made a mistake.””
“What mistake?””
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe you gave my brother three hundred thousand pounds, received a mysterious phone call, and never asked another question?””
“I was afraid!””
“Of Daniel?””
She shook her head.
“Of the people he was working with.””
Richard rubbed his face.
For the first time that evening, he looked less like a wealthy businessman and more like a man who had just discovered that his life was built on lies.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I thought it was over.””
“And now?””
Victoria looked at the glass of juice.
“Now it's back.””
A heavy knock sounded at the front door.
Everyone turned.
Thomas moved toward the dining room entrance.
Before he reached it, the doorbell rang again.
Three sharp chimes.
Richard called out, “Who is it?””
A man's voice answered from the hallway.
“Open the door, Richard.””
Richard froze.
He knew that voice.
Thomas had never heard it before, but he watched the blood drain from his master's face.
Victoria covered her mouth.
“No,” she whispered.
The voice came again.
“Richard, I know you're in there.””
Richard walked slowly into the corridor, with Thomas close behind him.
The front door stood beneath a tall stained-glass window. Rainwater trickled across the stone threshold. Beyond the glass, a figure waited beneath the porch light, his dark coat soaked at the shoulders.
Richard stopped three feet from the door.
“Who are you?”” he called.
The man lifted his face.
For one impossible moment, Richard could not breathe.
The man had a narrow scar running from his left temple toward his eyebrow. His hair was darker than Richard remembered, and his face was leaner, weathered by years of hardship.
But there was no mistaking those eyes.
Richard took a stumbling step backward.
“Daniel?””
The man smiled sadly.
“Hello, brother.””
Behind them, Victoria let out a strangled sob.
Richard turned toward her.
“You said he was dead.””
“I thought he was!””
“You told me you watched them bury him!””
“I did!””
Richard's voice rose.
“Then who is standing at my door?””
Victoria shook her head violently.
“I don't know what he wants!””
The man outside knocked again.
“Open the door, Richard. We don't have much time.””
Thomas glanced at his master.
Richard looked as though the ground had vanished beneath his feet.
After six years of mourning a dead brother, he was staring at a living man who should not have existed.
Slowly, Richard unlocked the door.
Daniel stepped inside.
He looked around the entrance hall, taking in the marble staircase, the polished banister, the family portraits, and the enormous chandelier that had hung above the foyer since Richard's childhood.
“Nothing's changed,” Daniel said quietly.
Richard grabbed him by the coat.
“You let me bury you.””
Daniel didn't resist.
“I know.””
“You let me grieve for you!””
“I know.””
“You let me believe you were dead for six years!””
Daniel's face crumpled.
“I didn't have a choice.””
Richard shoved him away.
“You always had a choice!””
Daniel stumbled against the wall, then straightened.
His gaze shifted past Richard to the dining room.
He saw the shattered glass on the rug.
He saw the juice on the table.
And then he saw Victoria.
All the color drained from his face.
“Oh, God,” he whispered.
Victoria took one step backward.
“Daniel, please.””
He stared at her.
“You gave him the juice?””
Richard turned sharply.
“What?””
Daniel's eyes moved to the glass.
“Tell me you didn't give him the juice.””
Victoria began to cry harder.
“Daniel, I was trying to fix everything!””
He rushed toward the dining room, snatched up the glass, and threw its contents into the fireplace.
The liquid hissed against the hot coals.
Richard stared at him.
“What the hell are you doing?””
Daniel spun around.
“Keeping you alive!””
Nobody spoke.
Daniel looked at Thomas.
“Did he drink any of it?””
“No, sir,” Thomas replied.
“I stopped him.””
Daniel's shoulders sagged with relief.
“Thank God.””
Richard's face twisted with fury.
“You walk into my house after six years, tell me nothing, destroy evidence, and expect me to thank you?””
Daniel looked at his brother.
Then at Victoria.
Finally, he reached inside his coat and pulled out a small, battered envelope.
“I didn't come here to ask for forgiveness,” he said.
He placed the envelope on the table.
“I came because I found out what Victoria was planning.””
Richard stared at the envelope.
“What is that?””
“Proof.””
“Proof of what?””
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“That the man who ordered your murder isn't Victoria.””
He paused.
May you like
Then he looked directly at Richard.
“It's the person who has been sitting beside you at every family Christmas for the last twenty years.””
