The Woman on the Balcony
Chapter 04 - The Woman on the Balcony
Lydia watched the brooch video in silence.
It showed her approaching the cable, kneeling beside it, and touching the knot. At first, the footage appeared to confirm Martin’s accusation. Then the audio played.
Lydia could be heard whispering into her phone, “The wire is still here. Victoria marked it. Serena is coming downstairs in ten minutes.”
The call had been made to Martin.
Arthur’s face hardened. “You knew.”
Lydia began to cry. She admitted Martin had told her the cable was part of a security test meant to expose weaknesses before the gala. When she discovered Victoria’s red marker, she realized someone else had found it. Instead of warning Serena, she called her brother.
“I was afraid he had involved me in the missing money,” Lydia said. “I thought if I stayed quiet, he would fix it.”
“Silence was the help he needed,” Serena replied.
Lydia surrendered her phone. The messages proved Martin had ordered Mercer to forge medical records and paid a contractor to install the cable. They also revealed that Northstar’s deposit had already been divided among hidden accounts.
The detective confronted Martin with the evidence from Ethan’s desk.
Martin finally confessed to the financial scheme but denied causing Ethan’s death. He claimed the boat had already been damaged when he arrived at the marina.
Then investigators found an unsent video on Ethan’s flash drive. It showed Martin beside the boat’s open engine compartment, arguing with Dr. Mercer. Mercer held a cut fuel hose in his hand.
The two men had intended to frighten Ethan into abandoning the audit. The damaged boat caught fire on the lake before he could return.
Arthur closed his eyes as the truth settled over the room.
Martin and Mercer were arrested. Lydia was not charged with the original scheme, but she agreed to cooperate and resigned from every foundation role. Her failure to warn Serena remained a choice she would have to answer for.
The midnight board vote was canceled.
Arthur asked Serena to become permanent chairwoman, but she refused.
“This family has spent too long treating power as an inheritance,” she said. “The clinics should be governed by the people who depend on them.”
She proposed an independent board made up of doctors, nurses, patients, and community leaders. Victoria supported her. After a long silence, Arthur did too.
Before leaving the ballroom, Arthur stopped beside the staircase and removed the steel cable himself.
“I built this house to display success,” he said. “I never noticed what ambition was turning us into.”
Serena looked at the red silk still tied around the wire.
“Then let tonight be the last time this family hides danger beneath something beautiful.”
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Hours later, a doctor examined Serena and confirmed that she and the baby were unharmed.
For the first time since Ethan’s death, she allowed herself to believe they might both have a future free from the foundation’s secrets.
