Chapter 24 - The Estate Beyond the River
Before dawn, Daniel, Samuel, and Lily drove toward the isolated estate marked on the map.
The property sat beyond the river, hidden behind rows of aging oak trees. A tall iron gate blocked the entrance, its paint peeling after years without care. From the outside, the mansion appeared abandoned.
Yet Daniel noticed fresh footprints in the damp soil.
Someone had arrived recently.
Samuel photographed the gate before carefully pushing it open.
It groaned loudly.
Inside, the estate looked frozen in time. Dust covered antique furniture, but certain paths through the house remained perfectly clean.
"They've been using this place," Samuel whispered.
Daniel walked slowly into the library.
Shelves stretched from floor to ceiling, packed with legal books, property records, and leather-bound journals.
One journal immediately caught his attention.
Its spine carried a familiar year.
The exact year Daniel had left the country.
Inside, every page documented purchases, renovations, and financial transfers connected to his overseas income.
The handwriting wasn't Rebecca's.
Nor Michael's.
Someone else had coordinated everything from the shadows.
Near the final pages, Daniel discovered a folded photograph.
It showed Rebecca standing beside a sharply dressed elderly man outside the estate nearly fourteen years earlier.
Neither of them smiled.
On the back, someone had written a single sentence.
"The first phase is complete."
Daniel looked around the silent library.
"This never started with Rebecca."
Samuel nodded.
"No."
"I think she was following someone else's plan."
At that exact moment, a grandfather clock in the hallway chimed despite not being connected to any visible mechanism.
May you like
Hidden gears shifted somewhere behind the wall.
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