My pulse quickened.
“What?”
“A scholarship fund.”
I stared at her.
“That’s impossible.”
I managed our finances.
Our estate.
Our charitable giving.
There was no fund I didn’t know about.
Elena shook her head.
“She said it wasn’t only for Maya. She wanted a program for students who fell out of private-school scholarship systems because their families lost housing or changed districts.”
“That program doesn’t exist.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“Because Claire gave me a name.”
“What name?”
Elena looked toward the window.
“Arthur Bell.”
I knew him.
Arthur Bell had been Claire’s attorney before our marriage.
Afterward, most of our legal work moved to my firm.
I hadn’t spoken to him since Claire’s funeral.
Elena continued.
“She told me if the program ever disappeared, I should contact him.”
“Did you?”
“Six months ago.”
“And?”
“He said he couldn’t discuss anything without you.”
I stood before realizing I had done it.
Sophie looked worried.
I forced myself to sit again.
“Why didn’t he call me?”
Elena shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Neither did I.
But for the first time since seeing Maya beside Sophie, I understood something.
The mystery wasn’t why Maya had returned to Northbridge.
The real mystery was why Claire had spent the final months of her life building something I had never heard about.
That evening, after Sophie was asleep, I went into the study I had barely changed since Claire died.
I found Arthur Bell’s number.
He answered on the fourth ring.
“Daniel?”
“You know why I’m calling.”
There was a long silence.
Then Arthur exhaled.
“I wondered when this day would come.”
“Did Claire create a scholarship fund?”
Another silence.
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means your wife left instructions.”
“For money?”
“For you.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What instructions?”
Arthur spoke carefully.
“Claire made me promise I wouldn’t give them to you until a specific condition was met.”
My irritation rose.
“What condition?”
“That you asked about Maya Ruiz.”
The room went completely still.
Arthur continued.
“She believed that if you ever asked about Maya on your own, it would mean something in your life had changed enough for you to understand what she was trying to tell you.”
I looked toward the family photograph on my desk.
Claire.
Sophie.
