Chapter 4 - Thomas Was Never in Boston
Thomas Hart answered my call on the fifth attempt.
“Daniel?”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“Boston.”
I stared at Sarah.
She was listening.
“So you’re in Boston.”
“Yes.”
“At the medical conference?”
“What is this?”
“What hotel?”
Another pause.
“Daniel, Lily is in the hospital. Why are you interrogating me?”
“Because you were at the Beaumont Hotel today.”
Silence.
Evelyn stood perfectly still.
Thomas finally said, “Who told you that?”
“Security camera.”
Evelyn whispered, “Hang up.”
Sarah heard her.
So did Thomas.
His voice changed.
“Is Evelyn there?”
“Yes.”
“I need to speak to her privately.”
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“Were you with Charles Mercer?”
Thomas exhaled.
“This is not a conversation for a hospital room.”
“My daughter stopped breathing in that ballroom.”
“I know.”
“How?”
No answer.
“How did you know?”
“Evelyn called.”
I looked at her.
She shook her head.
Sarah noticed.
“Evelyn says she didn’t call you.”
Thomas cursed softly.
“You have police there?”
“Detective Collins is standing beside me.”
The line went dead.
Sarah immediately started making calls.
I turned toward Evelyn.
“Your husband lied about being in Boston.”
“I’m aware.”
“You’re aware?”
“He came back early.”
“And didn’t tell me?”
“Why would he?”
“Because his granddaughter was almost killed at an event he secretly attended.”
Evelyn’s composure cracked.
“Stop saying killed.”
“What word would you prefer?”
“Reaction.”
“Someone switched her food and took her injector.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Lily saw you switch the dessert.”
“She misunderstood.”
“The injector was in your car.”
“Someone planted it.”
“Rachel’s forged signature was in your car.”
“Clerical error.”
“You knew Thomas was at the hotel.”
She looked away.
“Why?”
No answer.
I suddenly understood why Evelyn had been leaning over Lily’s bed before I entered.
She wasn’t comforting her.
She was shaping Lily’s story before anyone could question her properly.
“You weren’t trying to protect Lily from blame.”
Evelyn looked at me.
“You were protecting yourself.”
Her expression went cold again.
“You think you understand this family because you married Rachel.”
“I understood Rachel.”
“No. You loved the version she allowed you to see.”
The sentence cut deeper than I expected.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn’s jaw shifted.
She had said too much.
Sarah’s phone rang.
She listened for almost a minute.
Then she walked back toward us.
“Thomas Hart has been located.”
“Where?”
“A private airfield fifteen miles outside the city.”
Evelyn’s face whitened.
“Was he leaving?”
“Yes.”
“With Mercer?”
“No.”
“Where’s Mercer?”
“We don’t know.”
Sarah looked at Evelyn.
“Thomas is coming here voluntarily.”
“Why here?”
“He asked to see Lily.”
“No,” Evelyn said immediately.
Everyone looked at her.
Her voice softened.
“She needs rest.”
I stood.
“Thomas can explain why he lied.”
“He won’t.”
“You seem certain.”
Evelyn’s eyes met mine.
“You won’t like what he says.”
Thomas arrived forty-five minutes later.
He looked nothing like the impeccably controlled businessman I had known for twelve years.
His tie was gone.
His shirt collar was open.
His face was gray.
He stopped when he saw Lily.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
Lily turned away from him.
That hurt him.
I could see it.
Sarah asked Thomas to step into the adjoining family consultation room.
I followed.
Evelyn tried.
Sarah stopped her.
“Mr. Hart requested Daniel be present.”
Evelyn’s face hardened.
Thomas sat down.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he looked at me.
“I wasn’t in Boston.”
“I know.”
“I came to the luncheon because Mercer contacted me.”
“Why?”
“He said Evelyn was going to do something reckless.”
I stared through the glass toward my mother-in-law.
“What?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Then why didn’t you stop her?”
“I tried.”
“Lily almost died.”
Thomas shut his eyes.
“I know.”
“Why was Mercer there?”
“He wanted a document.”
“What document?”
Thomas looked at Sarah.
Then back at me.
“The same one Rachel found two weeks before she died.”
My entire body went still.
“What did Rachel find?”
Thomas swallowed.
“A medical-benefit agreement connected to Lily.”
“The one with Rachel’s forged signature?”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“Then what?”
Thomas looked toward the hospital room.
“The original.”
“And what did it say?”
His voice dropped.
“That Lily was never supposed to be the beneficiary.”
I stared at him.
“Then who was?”
Thomas’s eyes filled with shame.
May you like
“Rachel.”
📖 Find out why a multimillion-dollar policy was originally tied to Rachel—and what changed immediately before her fatal crash in CHAPTER 5. 👇
