Chapter 11 - Edward Cole's Offer
I didn't meet Edward alone.
I met him with my attorney in a hotel conference room.
Dad waited downstairs because I asked him to.
I needed to hear Edward without watching my father's reaction.
Edward arrived carrying no files.
Just confidence.
“I'm sorry about Richard.”
“Are you?”
“He inherited his mother's temper.”
Interesting.
Blame a dead woman.
I said nothing.
Edward offered me a deal.
Keep the marriage if I wanted.
Leave it if I didn't.
Either way, Cole Development would pay me $8 million.
In exchange, I would sign a confidentiality agreement, approve the disputed property transfer, and state publicly that the Easter incident had been “a private marital misunderstanding.”
Eight million dollars.
Once, that number would have stunned me.
Now it insulted me.
“You're offering to buy my silence with money generated from land you tried to steal.”
His smile disappeared.
Then he changed tactics.
He claimed Dad had manipulated my mother into rejecting the original Cole deal.
He said Thomas had hated the Cole family because of an old federal investigation.
“Your father made this personal long before Richard met you.”
I asked for proof.
Edward slid an old letter across the table.
It was from Dad to Mom.
Please don't sign anything from Cole until I get home.
Real handwriting.
Real signature.
But no context.
Edward watched me carefully.
“Thomas cost your mother millions.”
“Then why did she keep the letter?”
He hesitated.
That was enough.
I stood.
“Eight million isn't enough?”
“No.”
“Twelve.”
“No.”
“Name your number.”
I looked at him.
“You still think this is about money.”
For the first time, Edward looked old.
As I reached the door, he said:
“Your mother was planning to sell.”
I stopped.
“She changed her mind after Thomas came home.”
I turned.
Edward smiled faintly.
“Ask your father what he brought with him.”
Downstairs, Dad was waiting.
I placed the letter in front of him.
His face went pale.
“Where did he get this?”
“What did you bring Mom?”
Dad looked toward the hotel doors.
Then back at me.
“Evidence.”
“Of what?”
May you like
His answer made my stomach drop.
“Cole Development had been bribing officials to manipulate property valuations.”
