Chapter 15 - Caroline’s Grudge
Caroline Vale did not deny contacting Claire.
She denied breaking into the funeral home.
She agreed to speak with investigators only with counsel present.
Nia saw her once through the courthouse hallway.
Caroline was fifty-three, elegant and pale, with silver beginning at her temples.
She looked at Nia for a long moment.
Then said one sentence.
“You look like Evelyn.”
Nia stopped walking.
Caroline’s attorney touched her arm.
“Don’t.”
But Caroline continued.
“Your mother deserved better than your father.”
Nia’s anger rose.
“You don’t get to use my mother.”
Caroline smiled sadly.
“Neither did Edward.”
Before Nia could respond, Bell guided her away.
“Don’t let her pull you into a hallway argument.”
“She knows something.”
“Probably.”
“About Mom?”
“Yes.”
That answer stopped her.
Bell had reviewed recovered journal pages.
One contained references to Caroline.
As a teenager, Caroline had sometimes stayed at the Harrington home because Thomas Reed’s drinking had become unstable after the business collapse.
Evelyn had tried to help her.
Nia absorbed this slowly.
“My mother knew her.”
“Apparently well.”
“Why didn’t Dad tell me?”
Bell gave her a look.
Nia sighed.
“Right. Secrets.”
Edward eventually filled in the gaps.
Thomas’s collapse had hurt his daughter badly.
Caroline blamed Edward.
Evelyn did not.
She blamed both men.
She once told Edward that winning the lawsuit did not mean he had won anything worth keeping.
After Thomas died, Evelyn quietly paid part of Caroline’s college tuition.
Edward had continued those payments after Evelyn became ill.
Nia stared at him.
“So Caroline hates you even though you helped her?”
Edward selected:
“People can receive help and still hate the person who hurt them.”
Nia thought of herself.
That answer was too true.
Caroline’s involvement with North Harbor now made emotional sense.
She had inherited a grievance.
Graham had inherited it through marriage.
Vincent had discovered it and used it.
But what did Caroline actually do?
Bell soon found out.
She had provided Vincent with archived legal documents from her father’s disputes with Edward.
Those documents included old examples of Edward’s signature.
Dozens.
Some handwritten.
Some witnessed.
Perfect material for forgery training.
Caroline claimed she believed Vincent was preparing a civil challenge over old partnership assets.
She denied knowing about the coffin.
Nia did not believe all of it.
But Bell again insisted belief was not proof.
That evening, Edward was discharged from the hospital.
He refused to return to the mansion.
“I will not sleep there,” his device said.
Nia arranged a fully accessible suite at a private rehabilitation residence where he could receive temporary support.
She stayed with him the first night.
At two in the morning, she woke to a sound.
Edward was breathing rapidly.
His eyes were wide.
For one terrible second, Nia thought he was medically unstable.
Then she understood.
A nightmare.
She turned on the lamp.
“Dad.”
He looked at her.
“You’re not there.”
His breathing continued.
“You’re not in the coffin.”
She moved where he could see her clearly.
“You’re here.”
He blinked twice.
Nia placed her hand on his shoulder.
“The lid is open.”
His eyes closed.
She realized the sentence had become a promise.
The lid is open.
After several minutes his breathing slowed.
The next morning, Edward asked for the mansion security footage again.
Nia refused at first.
“You don’t need to watch yourself being hurt.”
His device answered.
“I need to know.”
“Know what?”
“Time.”
They reviewed timestamps.
Edward studied them carefully.
Then he noticed something.
At 2:21, when Graham entered the memorial room, Vincent did not appear surprised.
At 2:25, Graham left.
At 2:27, Vincent sent a text.
Police recovered it later.
Nia read the recipient.
CAROLINE.
The message contained only three words.
HE LOST HIS NERVE.
Nia stared.
“He was reporting to her.”
Bell nodded.
A second message came from Caroline.
THEN FINISH IT YOURSELF.
The room went silent.
Caroline’s lawyer had said she knew nothing about the coffin.
Perhaps that remained technically possible.
But the next message made it harder.
Vincent wrote:
HE’S STILL BREATHING.
Caroline replied ninety seconds later.
THEN YOU STILL HAVE A PROBLEM.
Nia looked at Edward.
He looked back.
The old grievance had crossed a line.
Caroline had not been standing beside the coffin.
May you like
![92 The Girl They Called Broke Was a Billionaire’s Daughter—But Her Father’s Arrival Exposed a Secret Powerful People Had Buried for Years]](https://cdn.treeiq.biz/site_590/2026/11/clone-0-0915d882-53d7-4d17-b43a-a010ca1a1068.webp)
But she had known Edward was alive.
And she had told Vincent to finish the problem.
