Page 81 of Everyone’s a Liar

“Blackmail?”

“Why else would they let her stay in a fancy home and pay her enough to live without having to work? Especially when the family is struggling to pay their bills.”

Bryce held up a warning hand. “Wait. We don’t know that she wasn’t paying rent. Or that she hadn’t actually inherited enough money to live on.”

“If that was true, then why was my uncle desperately trying to convince his banker to erase all trace of his Slidell account?” Livia demanded. “You don’t do that for a legitimate rental property. He’s hiding something—either for himself or for someone else.”

“Okay, I agree. It does sound sketchy,” Bryce conceded.

“There’s more. The neighbor mentioned that she’d seen a man trying to break into Stella’s house on the day of her funeral.”

“Not that unusual, unfortunately. Even in Rushville an empty house is an invitation for criminals.”

“Maybe not unusual, but the thief was wearing a suit during the break-in. And when I showed her a picture of Larry Sutton, Flora said the intruder looked like him.”

Bryce blinked, as if struggling to follow Livia’s rambling accusations. “Why would Larry Sutton try to break into your old nanny’s house? And why would he be wearing a suit?”

Livia set aside her empty glass. She could feel a warm glow spreading through her body, assuring her that she’d had enough. At least until she could get something more substantial in her belly.

“What if he wanted people to believe that he was at the house because he’d just come from Stella’s funeral and was a relative who had every right to be there?” Livia suggested. “I’m sure that most people wouldn’t have given him a second glance. Even Flora said that she wasn’t going to call the cops until she saw him trying to break open the front door.”

Bryce arched her brows. “So once again the nosy neighbor is Larry Sutton’s nemesis?”

“Exactly.” A grim smile twisted Livia’s lips. “It’s fitting, really. No amount of technology can compete with a bored old lady staring out the window.”

“True, but that doesn’t explain what Larry was doing there.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation.

“Hold on.” Livia jumped to her feet and crossed the living room to grab the purse that she’d tossed on a chair. Five minutes later, she had the pizza box open on the coffee table and they were wolfing down the greasy, doughy goodness as if they hadn’t eaten in days. It wasn’t until they’d satisfied their immediate hunger that Livia went to the kitchen to get a handful of napkins and another bottle of wine from her cupboard.

Bryce leaned back with a sigh, sipping her fresh glass of wine. “Let’s go back to the beginning and walk through your theory.”

Livia settled in the corner of the couch, her legs curled beneath her. “Okay.”

“Stella Gates is hired by your mother after you were born.”

Livia slowly shook her head, suddenly realizing that it’d been a mistake to assume it was her mother who’d hired a nanny to take care of her.

“Actually, it wouldn’t have been my mother’s decision. Henri Benoit controlled everything that happened at the Willows—including the staff,” she said.

“All right, so Henri hired her to come and help your mother after you were born.”

“Yes, but why?”

Bryce looked confused. “That’s what rich people do. They have babies and then pay someone else to take care of them.”

“Just yesterday, Delilah was complaining that she’d had to make do with a part-time babysitter to help her with Celeste, although Henri had been happy to pay for a live-in nanny for his precious Giselle. At the time I thought she was just jealous because my grandfather obviously loved my mother more than Adrian. Now I wonder why Henri had been so generous.”

Bryce shrugged. “Your mother was young. Maybe he was worried she wasn’t ready for the responsibility.”

It was a logical explanation, but Livia had a feeling her grandfather would be the petty sort of man to punish his daughter by refusing to help with her unwanted child.

“Or maybe he didn’t trust her,” Livia suggested. “What if he was paying Stella extra to spy on my mother?”

“Why would he do that?”

“He couldn’t have been happy that his princess had a baby without a husband. Preferably a rich one. He would want to make sure that he kept her under firm control so she didn’t make any other embarrassing mistakes.”