Chapter 7 - THOMAS’S DEATH
We did not assume murder.
Important.
Thomas had documented heart disease.
He died at fifty-nine.
Hospitalized.
Death certificate.
Medical records.
No mystery there.
So why would Margaret imply otherwise?
Manipulation.
Probably.
Then Claire remembered something.
Thomas died after a family argument.
Margaret used that guilt against her.
“You killed your father with stress.”
Claire believed for years.
Ryan believed Claire’s “overdose” came from guilt.
Entire mythology.
Reality:
Thomas suffered severe coronary disease.
His cardiologist documented high risk weeks earlier.
His death was medically unsurprising.
Margaret had turned natural death into emotional weapon.
That was enough.
When confronted through counsel, she admitted:
“I never said Thomas was murdered.”
True.
She implied.
Then demanded file.
Why?
Insurance document contained attached schedule of corporate assets.
One asset listed:
Brooks Legacy Holdings — 32% beneficial interest: Thomas Brooks Trust.
Margaret had concealed trust ownership.
If Ryan asserted rights, she could lose control of company.
That was her real fear.
Not exposure for murder.
Loss of power.
Then Ryan made decision.
He petitioned for trust accounting.
Claire joined.
Independent review began.
Margaret responded by claiming Ryan was being manipulated by me.
Classic.
Then attacked my prenatal fitness.
She sent family messages:
Emma is unstable.
Emma provoked me.
Emma is using pregnancy to control Ryan.
But witnesses?
There were none in villa.
Except physical evidence.
Basin.
Wet marble.
Shoe print bruise.
Hospital documentation.
And house security.
Ryan remembered.
The villa had cameras.
Margaret insisted interior cameras were off for privacy.
Were they?
No.
One camera in foyer recorded.
Video.
Clear.
Margaret pressing feet against my face.
Kick.
Ryan entering.
Everything.
No narrative needed.
When Margaret learned video existed, she stopped denying kick.
Shifted:
“I lost my temper.”
There.
Then:
“She insulted me.”
Irrelevant.
Then:
“I never intended to hurt baby.”
Maybe true.
Still kicked pregnant abdomen.
Consequences.
Then Ryan watched footage alone once.
Never again.
He said:
“The worst part isn’t the kick.”
“What?”
“The way I walked past basin every day and never questioned why it was suddenly there.”
I didn’t understand.
Margaret had brought basin into living room days earlier.
Said she wanted foot soaks.
Preparation?
Maybe.
Not necessarily for humiliation.
Still, environment ready.
Ryan saw control growing.
Ignored.
Then he said:
“I’m selling the villa.”
I stared.
“Can you?”
If trust ownership confirmed.
Yes, eventually maybe.
But not revenge sale.
First:
Title.
Rights.
Legal process.
Ryan corrected himself.
“I want out of that house.”
May you like
That I understood.
We never slept there again.
