Secrets in the Letter

7264 words

Claire’s fingers tightened around the edge of the mahogany desk, the wood cool and slick under her palm, as she leaned forward, her voice slicing through the heavy air of the study. “Charlotte, you can’t just dangle a letter like it’s a carrot and expect us to chase it blind. What’s in it? What did he write?” Across the room, Charlotte West stood by the tall window overlooking the Vineyard’s gray shoreline, her tailored navy blazer a stark contrast to the faded drapes that hadn’t been touched since Claire was a child. The lawyer’s face was unreadable, her posture rigid, hands clasped behind her back as if she were guarding a vault. Outside, the late morning light did little to warm the scene; the ocean churned under a bruised sky, waves slapping against the rocks with a rhythm that echoed the pulse hammering in Claire’s temples. The room smelled of old paper and salt, the kind of scent that clung to everything on this island, seeping into the walls of the Davenport estate like a memory that wouldn’t fade. “I’ve told you what I can,” Charlotte said, her tone measured, each word weighed like evidence in a deposition. “Harrison’s instructions were clear. You get the letter. You read it. I don’t interpret, I don’t explain. That’s on you.” Oliver, sprawled...