Chapter 8 - THE LAST PIECE OF THE CONSPIRACY
Margaret Whitmore's medical records had been archived at a private clinic.
The first report described a stroke. The second, filed two days later, listed an unusual medication interaction. The third was missing.
Detective Ruiz obtained a court order to access the clinic's pharmacy records. The medication had been prescribed by a physician paid through a company linked to Peter. It had not caused Margaret's death, but it had worsened her condition and left her unable to communicate clearly during her final weeks.
Daniel sat with the records spread across his study desk.
His mother had known about Marcus. She had tried to protect him. She had also tried to protect Daniel from the truth.
A letter in her handwriting was found inside an old family Bible.
My dear Daniel,
If you are reading this, then I was not brave enough to tell you while I was alive.
Marcus is your brother. I loved him before I knew how to protect him. Your father made me believe that keeping the secret would spare you both pain.
I was wrong.
There is another thing you must know. Peter has been using the family trust to pay people who helped Richard hide the pension money. He believes the company belongs to the men who built it, not the people whose lives depend on it.
I tried to stop him.
If Olivia has found the records, believe her.
She is stronger than I was.
I am sorry.
Your mother.
Daniel read the letter three times.
Then he called Olivia.
She listened without interrupting. When he finished, she took his hand.
“Your mother loved you.”
“I should have asked more questions.”
“You were young. You trusted the people who raised you.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“Marcus was my brother, and I never knew.”
“Neither did he, not until he was old enough to understand what had been taken from him.”
“Does that excuse what he did?”
“No,” Olivia said gently. “Understanding someone isn't the same as forgiving them.”
The police confirmed that Peter had arranged the false accident report, paid the private facility where Olivia had been held, and helped Vanessa obtain access to the wedding venue's construction plans.
A security camera outside the storage property showed Vanessa entering the building the night Olivia escaped.
She had not merely helped hide Olivia.
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She had ordered the final confinement.
The investigation was no longer about a wedding gone wrong. It involved kidnapping, financial fraud, attempted murder, and a conspiracy that had lasted years.
