Chapter 7 - THE RECORDINGMargaret's voice filled the vault.
“You think Arthur will choose you?”
Richard answered.
“He will choose what is right.”
“You don't understand him.”
“I understand my son.”
“He is mine.”
“He is not property.”
Margaret laughed.
“You're going to regret this.”
Richard's voice became cold.
“I already regret trusting you.”
The recording ended.
Arthur stared at the device.
Thomas shook his head.
“That wasn't the whole conversation.”
Arthur looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“Because Dad told me about it.”
“What else?”
Thomas hesitated.
“He said Margaret threatened to expose you.”
Arthur frowned.
“Why me?”
“Because she knew you would inherit the company.”
Arthur looked at the documents.
Then he saw another file.
His name.
He opened it.
Inside were private medical records.
Financial records.
Photographs of Claire.
Reports about their marriage.
Arthur felt sick.
“She had people following us.”
Thomas nodded.
“For years.”
Claire picked up a photograph.
It showed her leaving a hospital months before Noah's birth.
Someone had written beneath it:
Potential weakness.
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“She planned this before Noah was born.”
Arthur took her hand.
“I know.”
The vault contained enough evidence to destroy Margaret.
But Arthur wanted to know one final thing.
Who had actually killed his father?
The answer appeared in a handwritten note.
Robert did not act alone.
Arthur stared.
He called the detective.
“We need to question Victor.”
“Victor is dead.”
Arthur froze.
“What?”
“He died in the hospital an hour ago.”
Arthur closed his eyes.
Victor had taken the truth with him.
Or so he thought.
The detective continued.
“Before he died, he gave us a name.”
Arthur waited.
“Daniel Cross.”
Arthur's face changed.
Daniel had been his father's longtime business manager.
A trusted family friend.
Arthur had known him since childhood.
“No.”
The detective replied,
“He claims Daniel arranged the final meeting between Richard and Robert.”
Arthur hung up.
Thomas stared at him.
“Daniel?”
Arthur nodded.
They found Daniel at the old family cemetery.
He was standing beside Richard's grave.
Arthur approached.
“Did you help kill my father?”
Daniel didn't turn.
“I helped them meet.”
“Why?”
“Your father asked me to.”
Arthur froze.
“What?”
Daniel turned.
“I didn't know Robert planned to kill him.”
“Why did you lie?”
“Because Margaret threatened my daughter.”
Arthur's expression softened slightly.
“What did she threaten?”
“She said she'd destroy her.”
Daniel reached into his coat.
He handed Arthur a letter.
“Your father knew I was afraid.”
Arthur opened it.
Richard had written:
Daniel, if anything happens to me, protect my son. Do not let Margaret control him.
Arthur looked up.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was ashamed.”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“I thought silence would protect everyone.”
“It didn't.”
“I know.”
Daniel handed him another envelope.
“This is the final piece.”
Arthur opened it.
Inside was a bank transfer.
A payment from Robert to a private investigator.
The payment was made the day before Richard died.
The investigator's name was listed.
Arthur recognized it.
It was the same investigator Margaret had used to follow Claire.
Everything was connected.
Margaret had hired the investigator.
Robert had paid him.
Daniel had unknowingly arranged the meeting.
And Victor had helped cover it.
But one person still remained unaccounted for.
Margaret.
Arthur returned to the police station.
She was waiting.
He entered the interrogation room.
“You knew Robert would kill Dad.”
Margaret looked at him.
“No.”
“You hired the investigator.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Robert was planning something.”
She said nothing.
“You let it happen.”
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
“I thought he would scare your father.”
Arthur stared.
“You didn't think he'd kill him?”
“No.”
“But when Dad died, you covered it up.”
Margaret looked away.
“I was afraid.”
Arthur's voice cracked.
“You were afraid?”
“I had already lost everything.”
“No.”
Arthur shook his head.
“You had a husband who loved you. A son who worshipped you. A family.”
Margaret looked at him.
“And now?”
Arthur stood.
“Now you have the truth.”
He walked out.
But before he reached the door, Margaret spoke.
“Arthur.”
He stopped.
“There is something else.”
He turned.
“Thomas wasn't the only secret your father kept.”
Arthur stared.
“What are you talking about?”
Margaret smiled sadly.
“Ask Evelyn.”
Arthur froze.
“What does Evelyn know?”
Margaret said nothing.
Arthur left.
Outside, Claire waited.
“What happened?”
Arthur looked at her.
“My mother says Dad had another secret.”
Claire's eyes widened.
“Another?”
Arthur nodded.
May you like
And for the first time, he began to wonder whether his father had hidden one final person from the family.
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