Chapter 7 - The Woman My Father Trusted
Margaret did not answer her phone.
Police went to her apartment.
Empty.
Her passport was gone.
So was her car.
I wanted to believe there was an explanation.
There wasn’t.
By morning, investigators had confirmed that Margaret had secretly received payments from Meridian North for at least nine years.
Nine years.
She had hugged me after my father died.
She had helped me organize his estate.
She had attended Christmas dinners.
She had watched me trust Daniel.
And she had been watching Riverside.
We found her letter that afternoon.
Not because she wanted us to.
Because my father had anticipated her betrayal too.
Hidden among the flash-drive files was an encrypted folder named M.C.
David cracked it.
Dad had written:
Margaret believes loyalty means protecting the institution rather than the people inside it. If she ever chooses Thomas Carter’s network over Emily, follow the payments, not her explanations.
I sat in silence.
Even dead, Dad was three moves ahead of everyone.
Daniel stood by the window.
“He knew Margaret was involved?”
“He suspected.”
“Why did Richard never tell us anything?”
“Maybe because every person he trusted eventually gave him a reason not to.”
Daniel looked at me.
The sentence hurt both of us.
That night, Vanessa requested another meeting.
I nearly refused.
Then Detective Bennett told me Vanessa had information about Margaret.
I went.
Vanessa looked at my shortened hair.
Her eyes dropped.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re sorry you’re sitting there.”
“That too.”
At least she didn’t pretend.
“What do you know about Margaret?”
“She recruited me.”
I stared.
“What?”
“Three years ago.”
Vanessa explained that Margaret had contacted her after learning she was Charles Voss’s daughter.
Margaret claimed she wanted to clear Charles’s name.
She told Vanessa Daniel possessed evidence.
“Did she tell you to sleep with my husband?”
Vanessa looked ashamed.
“No.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel was lonely and angry and weak.”
Each word felt like a cut.
“And because I wanted access.”
“To Riverside?”
“To everything.”
“Did you love him?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“I thought I did.”
I almost laughed.
“Convenient.”
“Emily, Margaret wanted the transfer completed because Meridian planned to demolish Riverside.”
That explained the premium.
Sixty million extra dollars wasn’t payment for real estate.
It was payment for destroying evidence.
“Where is your father?”
“I genuinely don’t know.”
“When did you last see him?”
“Six years ago.”
“What did he say?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled.
“He said if Richard Hale ever died unexpectedly, I should disappear.”
My heart stopped.
“My father died of a heart attack.”
Vanessa said nothing.
“What are you implying?”
“I’m saying my father didn’t believe it was natural.”
I stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“You’re lying.”
“I wish I were.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard was preparing to expose Meridian.”
I stared through the glass.
My father’s death certificate said cardiac arrest.
No autopsy.
He had been sixty-eight.
He had heart disease.
There had never been a reason to question it.
Until now.
I picked up the phone again.
“Who was with him the night he died?”
May you like
Vanessa whispered the answer.
“Margaret.”
