Naomi felt a chill move through her.
“Why?”
Miriam looked at the photograph again.
“Your grandmother believed Evelyn had uncovered something dangerous. She thought someone was watching our family. She made me promise that if anything happened to her, I would keep you away from the past.”
“And you did.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“By letting me get engaged to a man who might be connected to it?”
Miriam flinched.
Naomi immediately regretted the sharpness in her voice.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No, sweetheart. You have every right to be angry.”
Miriam took a shaky breath.
“When you brought Brandon home for the first time, he was polite. Charming. He listened when I spoke, helped me carry groceries, and called me Mrs. Parker. I thought he was a good man.”
“He fooled all of us.”
“Perhaps. But there was something else.”
“What?”
“He asked about your grandmother’s estate.”
Naomi frowned.
“What estate? Grandma left us a few pieces of furniture and a small amount of money.”
“That’s what I told him.”
“Was that true?”
Miriam looked away.
“No.”
The room became very quiet.
Miriam explained that her grandmother had owned a small commercial building in downtown San Jose, along with a parcel of land that had once housed a family business. The property had been called Parker House, and it had provided a modest income for decades.
When Evelyn disappeared, the family discovered that several business records were missing.
Their father had died soon afterward, leaving Miriam with few answers and a complicated collection of documents.
Eventually, she had been told that the property was burdened by debt and that selling it was the only practical option.
But Miriam had never completed the sale.
“Why not?” Naomi asked.
“Because I couldn’t understand the paperwork. There were conflicting ownership records, missing signatures, and documents that didn’t match the dates. I was frightened of making a mistake.”
“So you kept the property?”
“Technically, yes. I paid the taxes whenever I could, but the building remained empty for years. Eventually, I hired someone to investigate.”
“Who?”
“A lawyer named Thomas Bell.”
Naomi reached for her phone.
“Is he still practicing?”
“I don’t know. He stopped answering my calls several years ago.”
“Did you ever tell Brandon about the property?”
“Only that your grandmother had owned a building. I never gave him the address.”
Naomi looked at the photograph.
“Then how did he find out?”
Miriam’s expression changed.
“Because Brianna came to see me six months ago.”
Naomi went completely still.
“What?”
“She said she was researching local businesses and wanted to know whether I would consider selling the property. She offered to help me understand its value.”
“And you trusted her?”
“I didn’t. Not completely. But she seemed to know things about the property that I hadn’t told her.”
“Such as?”
“She knew Evelyn’s name.”
Naomi pushed back from the table.
“Mom, why didn’t you tell me any of this?”
“Because she threatened to expose something about our family.”
“What could she possibly know?”
Miriam’s eyes filled.
“She told me that Evelyn had a daughter.”
Naomi stared at her.
“A daughter?”
“She said the woman was alive, that she lived somewhere in California, and that she had been searching for our family.”
“Did you believe her?”
“I didn’t know what to believe. Brianna showed me a photograph of a young woman. She looked like Evelyn.”
Naomi felt her pulse quicken.
“Where is the photograph?”
“I never kept it. Brianna took it away when she left.”
“And what did she want from you?”
“She wanted me to sign documents giving her company permission to investigate the property.”
“Did you sign them?”
“No.”
Miriam’s answer brought Naomi a small measure of relief.
“But she kept calling,” her mother continued. “And then Brandon started asking questions. He told me that Brianna was trying to help you build a secure future.”
Naomi remembered the business loan.
The paperwork Brandon had placed in front of her.
The reassuring smile he had worn while telling her that everything was routine.
She suddenly felt sick.
“Did he ever mention Parker House?”
Miriam hesitated.
“Once. He asked whether you had inherited any property from your grandmother.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him no.”
Naomi rose and began pacing the kitchen.
Brandon had not merely been planning a wedding.
He had been asking questions about her family’s assets, persuading her to sign financial documents, and working with a woman who had targeted her mother months before the ceremony.
Then, on the morning of the wedding, he had helped destroy the one thing Miriam treasured most.
Was it possible the humiliation had been intended to provoke Naomi into leaving before she could discover something else?
Her phone rang.
This time, the caller ID displayed a name.
