Chapter 44 - Anna's Voice
Lydia refused to listen at first.
“No.”
Melissa did not push.
The audio belonged to an interview between Anna Mercer and Marcus Vane.
Recorded with Anna's written consent.
Six weeks before her death.
She had been sick.
Her voice sounded weak.
Marcus sounded warm.
Professional.
Almost kind.
Noah listened with Daniel and Melissa.
Lydia waited outside.
Vane asked about Robert.
Anna described the affair.
Margaret.
The false prenatal result.
The money.
Then Vane asked:
“Do you want your daughter recognized?”
Anna answered:
“Yes.”
“Do you want her to receive money?”
A pause.
“I want her to have the choice I didn't.”
“What choice?”
“To decide whether these people are family.”
Noah looked down.
Vane continued.
“If the trust owes her hundreds of millions, should she receive it?”
Anna laughed softly.
“If it owes her twenty dollars, she should receive twenty dollars.”
“Would you authorize us to investigate?”
“Yes.”
“Would you authorize litigation if necessary?”
“I won't be here.”
“Your daughter can decide.”
“Then ask her.”
Vane became quieter.
“Anna, information has value.”
Noah felt something tighten.
“What do you mean?”
“If your evidence creates a claim, we can compensate you now.”
A long pause.
“I don't want hush money.”
“This isn't hush money.”
“Then what is it?”
“Consulting.”
Anna laughed.
Even sick, she understood.
“You're buying the map.”
Vane did not answer immediately.
Then:
“Yes.”
Another pause.
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Anna's breathing was audible.
Medical bills.
Noah could imagine them.
Fear.
Time.
The knowledge that you would not live long enough to repair what had happened.
Anna finally said:
“Fine.”
Noah closed his eyes.
Then Anna added:
“But you do not own Lydia.”
Vane replied:
“Of course not.”
“You don't own her claim.”
“No.”
“You don't get to tell her what family means.”
“No.”
“And you don't use that staircase picture.”
Noah froze.
Daniel stopped breathing.
Vane asked:
“What picture?”
Anna's voice sharpened.
“Don't insult me.”
“You know Margaret.”
“I met Margaret.”
“She showed me things.”
“She showed everyone things.”
A cough.
Then Anna said:
“I watched what she did to Daniel's boy.”
Noah stared at the speaker.
“He was a baby.”
Vane remained silent.
“Do not make my daughter another version of him.”
The recording ended seven minutes later.
Noah sat motionless.
Anna had known about him.
Not personally.
But enough.
Enough to see the pattern.
Enough to warn Marcus.
Lydia entered eventually.
“Did she help him?”
Melissa answered carefully.
“She gave him information.”
Lydia's face fell.
“For money?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Lydia closed her eyes.
Noah said nothing.
She laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
“Lydia—”
“My mother took Margaret's money.”
“She took Vane's money.”
“Everybody pays us to be quiet or talk.”
Noah stood.
“She also told Vane not to use you.”
Lydia looked at him.
“What?”
Noah played that section.
Anna's voice filled the room.
You do not own Lydia.
Do not make my daughter another version of him.
When it finished, Lydia pressed both hands over her face.
This time she cried loudly.
Years of control breaking at once.
Robert stood outside the room.
He heard.
He moved toward the door.
Then stopped.
Lydia had not asked for him.
So he stayed outside.
Noah noticed.
That mattered.
After several minutes Lydia whispered:
“She knew she was dying.”
“Yes.”
“She sold him the information because of medical bills.”
“We don't know why.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“My insurance denied an experimental treatment.”
She wiped her face.
“It cost forty-eight thousand.”
Nobody spoke.
Fifty thousand.
Not greed.
Time.
Maybe hope.
Maybe desperation.
Lydia looked at Noah.
“Does it change the case?”
“No.”
Melissa answered.
“It changes Vane's story.”
“How?”
“He represented to you that his firm independently found evidence through legal investigation.”
Lydia stared.
“He already had everything.”
“Yes.”
“And then he charged me for investigating it.”
Melissa nodded.
“Potentially.”
Lydia began laughing through tears.
“My mother sold him the map.”
“And he sold it back to you.”
“Yes.”
The cruelty of it sat in the room.
Marcus Vane had not created Lydia's claim.
He had packaged it.
Financed it.
Leveraged it.
And billed her for the privilege.
Noah looked at Daniel.
May you like
Margaret had always believed truth was just another asset.
Vane believed the same.
