Chapter 16 - The Things Left Unsaid

Arabella woke the next morning with the uncomfortable feeling that she had agreed to something without knowing what it was.

Sebastian’s promise replayed in her mind: if he discovered anything connected to the waterfront project, he would tell her. It had sounded sincere over dinner. But sincerity was difficult to measure, especially when the person offering it had already admitted to knowing more about the company’s troubles than he had initially let on.

She pushed the thought aside and got ready for work.

At Montgomery Holdings, the day began with a stack of reports and a message from her father asking her to stop by his office when she had time. Arabella answered that she would come after reviewing the morning’s updates. She wanted to arrive with something more useful than suspicion.

The reports offered no dramatic revelation. A few older transactions still needed supporting documents, and the finance team had identified inconsistencies in how some historical references were recorded. None of it proved misconduct. It did, however, make the old waterfront project feel less like a distant family argument and more like a question the company had never properly answered.

Her assistant appeared at the door. “Mr. Knight’s office called. They’re asking whether the records specialist can contact our finance team directly.”

Arabella looked up. “Did they say why?”

“Only that he wants the verification process to remain independent. They asked whether we could provide access to the relevant records if the specialist requests them.”

“That’s reasonable,” Arabella said, though she was surprised Adrian had followed through so quickly.

“Should I tell them yes?”

“Tell them we’ll cooperate with any properly documented request. Nothing leaves this office without being logged, and our legal team needs to be informed.”

Her assistant nodded and left.

Arabella stared at the reports for a moment. Adrian could have used his position to demand access, or tried to persuade her to hand over the document she had kept to herself. Instead, he seemed content to let a specialist decide what mattered. It did not make him trustworthy. It did make him harder to dismiss.

She went to her father’s office just before noon.

Richard Montgomery was reading through a folder when she entered. He closed it and gestured for her to sit.

“You’ve been asking questions,” he said.

“I’ve been trying to understand what happened.”

“Those are not always the same thing.”

“Then help me make them the same.”

Her father studied her for a long moment. “What do you want to know?”

“Whether you’ll cooperate with an independent review of the old waterfront records.”

His expression tightened. “Who suggested that?”

“Adrian arranged for a specialist’s contact details to be sent to me. He said the document I found should be verified before anyone draws conclusions.”

“And you trust his intentions?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m asking whether you’ll cooperate.”

Richard leaned back, rubbing a hand over his forehead. “If the review is properly conducted and the request is reasonable, we should cooperate. But I don’t want unverified material circulating through the company.”

“Neither do I.”

“Arabella, there are people who will use this situation to protect themselves. They may present fragments as proof and leave out anything that complicates the story.”

“Are you talking about Adrian?”

“I’m talking about anyone who has something to lose.”

It was not an answer, and they both knew it.

“Did you ever find out who altered the records?” she asked.

Her father’s eyes shifted briefly toward the window. “We never established that the records were altered deliberately. Some documents were missing. Some figures didn’t reconcile. There were explanations offered at the time, but not all of them could be verified.”

“Then how did everyone become so certain the other family was responsible?”

“Because people were frightened, angry, and losing money. When a business fails, people look for someone to blame. Sometimes they find the truth. Sometimes they find the person easiest to accuse.”

Arabella thought of Adrian’s guarded expression and Sebastian’s pause at dinner.

“Were you afraid of what the records might show?”

Richard’s face grew still. “Of course I was. Any person responsible for a company would be concerned about unexplained losses.”

“That isn’t what I asked.”

“No,” he said quietly. “It isn’t.”

For a moment, she thought he might finally tell her something new. Instead, he opened the folder again, ending the conversation without asking her to leave.

“I’ll speak with our legal team about the review,” he said. “That’s all I can promise today.”

Arabella stood. “It’s more than you promised yesterday.”

“I hope you understand why I’m cautious.”

“I understand caution, Dad. I’m trying to understand silence.”

She left before he could answer.

Back in her office, she found a message from Sebastian asking how her morning was going. She typed a reply, deleted it, then sent a simple: Busy, but fine. She wasn’t ready to turn every conversation into an interrogation, but she wasn’t ready to return to pretending, either.

A second message arrived a few minutes later. It was from Adrian’s office, confirming that the specialist would contact Montgomery Holdings once the initial review of the reference number was complete. No conclusions had been reached.

Arabella set her phone down.

For once, no one was asking her to choose a side. They were asking for records, cooperation, and patience. Those things should have made the situation easier. Instead, they left her with fewer excuses to rely on instinct alone.

She looked again at the old reference number written on her copy of the document. It still meant nothing by itself. It could be a useful lead, an innocent coincidence, or a fragment stripped of the context that would explain it.

She had to let the evidence speak before deciding what it meant.

The harder question was whether the people she loved would let it.