Chapter 10 - Rosa’s Signature
Elena dropped the ledger.
Rosa stared at her own signature as if someone else had written it with her hand.
Daniel reached for the book.
“Is that yours?”
Rosa whispered, “Yes.”
Elena’s voice came out flat.
“Did you approve the bridge attack?”
“No.”
“Your name is there.”
“I signed hundreds of pages for Clara when I carried papers between her and investigators.”
“That entry is recent.”
“I know.”
Daniel looked toward the windows.
“Someone copied her signature.”
Victoria’s voice came from the doorway.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
She stood alone, unarmed.
Daniel reached for the pistol at his belt.
Victoria ignored him.
“Rosa signed that page herself.”
Rosa’s face hardened. “You lying—”
“Tell them where you were three days before the bridge.”
Rosa stopped.
Elena felt cold.
“Rosa?”
The old woman sat down.
“I met Victoria.”
Daniel swore.
Elena stared. “Why?”
“To bargain.”
“With my life?”
“No. With hers.” Rosa pointed at Victoria. “I told her I knew enough to hang her if she came near you.”
Victoria smiled. “And then she signed a page I placed in front of her.”
Rosa’s eyes closed.
“I thought it was a receipt for the letters.”
Elena laughed bitterly. “Apparently everyone in this family signs documents without reading them.”
Daniel winced.
Victoria stepped into the room.
“I did approve the bridge plan.”
Daniel stared at his mother.
Elena’s entire body went still.
Victoria continued.
“I wanted the carriage stopped. I wanted you frightened. I wanted you removed from Ashcroft Manor before the child was born.”
“You told Daniel to cut me loose.”
“Yes.”
“You blocked the exit.”
“Yes.”
“That is not frightening someone.”
Victoria’s face tightened.
“No. By then the plan had changed.”
“Because of the second will?”
“Because the Halcyon men on the far road had orders to kill all of us if you survived the first attempt.”
Silence.
Daniel shook his head. “You expect us to believe you were saving her?”
“No. I was trying to save myself.”
At least that sounded like Victoria.
She pointed at the ledger.
“Halcyon wants that book. Your father stole it from them years ago. Clara hid it. William spent the rest of his life looking for it.”
Elena frowned. “Then why is there a recent entry?”
Victoria’s eyes moved to Rosa.
“Because that is not the original ledger.”
Rosa whispered, “No.”
Victoria nodded.
“It is a decoy Clara created.”
Elena stared at the book that had just rewritten half their lives.
“Then where is the real one?”
Victoria looked directly at her.
“Your mother took it with her.”
Elena’s throat closed.
“Clara is dead.”
Victoria shook her head.
“No, Elena.”
Victoria explained that the decoy ledger was designed to survive discovery. Most entries were real. A handful were altered to send enemies after false targets.
“So Rosa’s signature is false?” Elena asked.
“No. Real signature, false purpose.”
Rosa cursed under her breath.
Victoria continued, “Clara believed a perfect fake would be detected. She built one that could hurt the right people even when stolen.”
Elena almost admired it. Almost.
“Did you know Clara was alive when you sent my carriage toward the bridge?”
Victoria’s jaw tightened. “I suspected.”
“Did you hope she would come out to save me?”
“No.”
“Then why the bridge?”
“Because Halcyon ordered an accident. I chose one location where repair crews would be nearby.”
Daniel stared at her. “You are asking for credit for arranging a safer murder.”
“I am telling you the truth.”
Elena shook her head. “You still think intention matters more than what you did.”
Victoria looked at her. “And you still think you can survive this without making ugly choices.”
That was the first time Elena wondered whether Victoria’s worst lesson might contain one useful warning.
“She is alive.”
---
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