Chapter 14 · Someone Else Was There

Vivian slammed the ledger on the table between them. The sound echoed in the empty library. Silas didn't flinch.

"Silas Crane." She said it like a curse. "My mother paid you. Starting 1920. Six years before you walked into my gala pretending to be my brother."

He looked at the page. His face gave nothing away.

"So you knew," he said finally.

"I know now." Vivian's hands were shaking. She pressed them flat against the table. "Philip hired you. Didn't he."

It wasn't a question.

Silas leaned back in his chair. He looked tired. The golden boy charm was gone. What was left looked older. Worn.

"Yeah," he said. "Philip hired me."

The room tilted. Vivian had suspected. Had known, really, since she found the ledger. But hearing him say it out loud made it real.

"To do what? Steal my inheritance? Destroy my family?"

"To be Daniel." Silas met her eyes. "That's all. Walk in, be convincing, wait for your father to change the will. Philip handles the legal side. I get a cut and disappear."

"And you just said yes."

"I needed the money."

Vivian laughed. It came out sharp and ugly. "Everyone needs money.