Chapter 10 - My Mother’s First Betrayal
Margaret agreed to speak after learning Thomas was alive.
She sat across from me in a guarded hospital room.
The bullet through her shoulder had missed major arteries.
She looked elegant even in a gown.
That had always been her armor.
“I loved Thomas,” she said.
“Then why marry Harold?”
“Because I believed Thomas was dead.”
“You were pregnant.”
“Harold knew.”
“He offered protection?”
She nodded.
Grandmother insisted the child be raised in the family.
Harold agreed only after securing control of Hart Construction.
He used my birth as leverage against everyone.
“What happened when you learned Thomas survived?”
Margaret’s face changed.
“Years later, I received a letter.”
“When?”
“When you were eight.”
I stared at her.
“You knew for thirty years.”
“He said he could not return safely.”
“Did you answer?”
“Yes.”
They corresponded in secret for five years.
Then Harold found the letters.
He threatened to expose Thomas’s classified identity and take me away from Margaret.
“So you stopped writing.”
“Yes.”
“You chose Harold.”
“I chose you.”
“No. You chose fear and called it motherhood.”
She began crying.
“Evelyn, I tried to protect you.”
“You signed the payment before my ship exploded.”
“I thought Victor would sabotage your transfer orders.”
“You believed the same men who killed Samuel would only alter paperwork?”
She had no answer.
Margaret had spent her life surviving Harold by helping him harm someone else.
First Thomas.
Then Grandmother.
Then me.
Claire entered the room unexpectedly.
“You always loved Evelyn more.”
Margaret turned toward her.
“That is not true.”
“You covered every mistake she made.”
I almost laughed.
“What mistakes did she cover?”
Claire pointed at me.
“She got the trust. The house. The company. Even Grandma’s name.”
“You helped Dad beat me for those things.”
“Because nothing was ever mine.”
“There it is.”
Claire’s face hardened.
“What?”
“The excuse.”
Every person in our family had one.
Harold wanted control.
Margaret was afraid.
Claire felt overlooked.
Victor followed orders.
None of those reasons changed what they chose.
Claire left before police could question her further.
An hour later, Nathan called.
Someone had accessed the family trust account using Grandmother’s old credentials.
Thirty million dollars had been transferred.
The authorization came from inside the hospital network.
May you like
Claire had used Margaret’s room as cover.
And the receiving company belonged to Victor Dane.
