I caught my husband sleeping with my brother’s wife, so I quietly swapped the lubricant in his bag for industrial glue.
Legal adviser.
My father had been her lawyer.
The shelves contained original patents bearing Evelyn’s name. Contracts showed that she had established the company five years before Arthur publicly claimed to have founded it.
A blue binder contained board minutes.
I turned to the final page.
There, in my mother’s handwriting, was a proposal to remove Arthur from all leadership positions after discovering unauthorized transfers.
The meeting had been scheduled for December 14, 2006.
She disappeared on December 12.
Two days before she could expose him.
Brandon lowered himself into a chair.
“This is proof.”
“It’s part of the proof.”
I opened another binder.
Inside were copies of letters addressed to Brandon and me.
None had been mailed.
The first was dated six months after Mom vanished.
My darling Elena and Brandon,
I am alive. I am safe for now. Your father has taken control of the company and has convinced everyone that I abandoned you. I did not leave you willingly. I will return when I can prove what he has done.
My knees nearly gave way.
I read the letter twice.
Then a third time.
Brandon took it from me with trembling hands.
“She wrote to us.”
“There are more.”
One letter for every year.
Birthdays. Graduations. My first executive appointment. Brandon’s wedding.
She had known everything.
The final letter was dated eleven months earlier.
Elena, I heard you resigned from the company. I fear Arthur has found another way to remove you. Trust your own mind. You were never weak.
Tears blurred the ink.
My father had not only taken our mother from us.
