Chapter 66: Her Father's Letter

Freya waited until she and Louis returned to their hotel before opening the envelope. She sat near the window while Louis remained several feet away, giving her space. The paper inside had yellowed slightly, but the handwriting was clear.

The letter began simply: "Freya, if you're reading this, then I wasn't able to explain these things myself."

Her throat tightened.

Her father wrote that the family business had uncovered irregular payments during a development partnership. He had initially believed they were accounting errors. Later, he discovered several contractors were controlled through hidden intermediaries.

He never accused Victor directly in the letter. Instead, he wrote that Victor had repeatedly pressured him to stop asking questions.

Another paragraph mentioned Charles Stone.

"Mr. Stone believes the same network may have touched investments belonging to his family. We have agreed to compare records privately until we understand what is happening."

Freya handed the page to Louis.

He read it twice.

The final section was personal. Her father apologized for spending too much time working and told Freya that money was useful only when it protected choices rather than replacing them. He urged her never to measure her worth through wealth or through the person she married.

Freya stopped reading.

The words struck painfully close to what the original Freya had eventually become. After losing her parents and being betrayed by Clement, she had done exactly what her father warned against.

Louis quietly placed a glass of water beside her.

"She never read this," Freya whispered.

"What?"

Freya caught herself. "I mean, I never read it."

Louis noticed the correction but didn't challenge it.

There was one more sheet inside the envelope: a handwritten list of company names and numbers. Meridian Advisory appeared near the top.

Beside it was another unfamiliar name: Greyline Partners.

Louis photographed the list and sent it to Derek. His reply came within minutes.

"Greyline appeared in one of the Hale records."

Freya looked at Louis. "Recent?"

"Yes."

The company had apparently provided market intelligence to an intermediary used by Ethan's team shortly before the rivalry escalated.

The connection stretched across more than a decade. Meridian, Greyline, Stonebridge, Victor Shaw. Different names, similar patterns.

Freya folded the personal letter carefully and returned it to the envelope.

"Do you think my parents' accident was connected?" she asked.

Louis didn't answer immediately.

"We have no evidence of that."

"That's not what I asked."

He met her eyes. "I think we should verify everything before assuming it was more than an accident."

Freya appreciated that he refused to feed her fear.

That night, she couldn't sleep. Eventually she walked onto the hotel balcony and found Louis already there.

"You too?" she asked.

"Apparently."

They stood quietly overlooking the harbor.

Freya finally said, "I came here thinking your bankruptcy was the biggest problem in this story."

Louis glanced at her. "This story?"

Her heart skipped.

"Figure of speech," she said quickly.

Louis didn't press, but the phrase joined the growing collection of strange things Freya said when she forgot to be careful.

Freya eventually returned inside, carrying the letter with her. She placed it beside the childhood photograph she had brought from storage and decided she would preserve both properly when they returned home. Whatever mistakes the original Freya had made, her father's words had finally reached the daughter he intended to protect—even if that daughter was no longer exactly the person he had known.

There were still too many unanswered questions to draw a final conclusion. Each discovery clarified one part of the past while exposing another missing piece. For now, they agreed to preserve what they had found, verify every connection carefully, and avoid giving Victor any reason to suspect that the old records had resurfaced.