Chapter 2 - Cassandra Arrived Before Malcolm Called AnyoneCassandra Hartwell Vale didn't knock.
She entered the house using the code she'd had for years.
"Malcolm?"
Her heels clicked across the marble foyer.
Malcolm folded the list and slid it into his jacket.
Cordelia watched.
Good.
He didn't know why he trusted that look, but he did.
"Harrison," Malcolm said quietly, "go upstairs."
His son tightened his grip on him.
"I don't want to."
"I know."
"Can I stay with you?"
Malcolm looked toward the foyer.
Cassandra was getting closer.
He crouched.
"Go to my room. Lock the door."
Harrison's eyes widened.
"Dad—"
"It's okay."
It didn't feel okay.
"Take your phone."
Harrison nodded.
Malcolm watched until his son reached the staircase.
Cassandra entered the living room seconds later.
She stopped.
Her eyes moved over the pills.
Cordelia.
Then Malcolm.
"What happened?"
Malcolm studied his sister.
At forty-six, Cassandra had spent the last decade running Hartwell Biotech's charitable foundation and sitting on nearly every family board Frederick created.
She was polished.
Controlled.
Impossible to surprise.
Tonight, she looked surprised.
Maybe genuinely.
"Why are you here?" Malcolm asked.
Cassandra frowned.
"Excuse me?"
"I didn't call you."
"Declan did."
Malcolm's pulse changed.
"Our brother?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"He said there was some kind of emergency here."
Malcolm stared.
"I haven't spoken to Declan."
Cassandra's expression changed.
"Then who called him?"
Cordelia whispered:
"I didn't."
Cassandra noticed the housekeeper's tone.
"What exactly happened?"
Malcolm looked at the pills.
"Harrison opened Cordelia's bag."
Cassandra's face stayed neutral.
"Okay."
"There were pills inside."
"Did he take them?"
"No."
"Thank God."
Then Cassandra looked toward Cordelia.
"Why were prescription pills within reach of a child?"
Cordelia flinched.
Malcolm answered before she could.
"That's being handled."
Cassandra's eyes narrowed.
"Handled how?"
"Why did Declan tell you there was an emergency?"
She pulled out her phone.
"He sent this."
A text from Declan.
Something happened at Malcolm's. Go there now. Cordelia may be involved.
Timestamp: seven minutes earlier.
Malcolm calculated.
Seven minutes earlier, Cassandra had already been driving.
The first incident happened less than fifteen minutes ago.
"Call him."
Cassandra looked at Malcolm.
"What?"
"Call Declan."
She did.
Speakerphone.
The line rang.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
Cassandra frowned.
"He's probably in a meeting."
"At eight-thirty?"
"He works."
"So do I."
Cassandra looked irritated.
"Malcolm, what is happening?"
He didn't answer.
Instead, he asked:
"Do you remember Dad's medication from the last month before he died?"
Her expression changed.
It was tiny.
But Malcolm saw it.
"Why?"
"Just answer."
"He had several prescriptions."
"For what?"
"Pain. Blood pressure. I don't know."
"Did he ever say someone had switched them?"
Cassandra stared.
"No."
Cordelia looked away.
Malcolm noticed.
"Cordelia?"
Cassandra turned.
The housekeeper stood very still.
"What did my father tell you?"
Cordelia whispered:
"Not now."
Cassandra laughed.
"Not now?"
She stepped forward.
"You've worked for this family half your life. If you're implying something about Dad's death—"
"I'm not implying anything."
"Then explain the pills."
Cordelia looked at Malcolm.
He understood.
She would tell him.
Not Cassandra.
That angered his sister.
"You think you can keep family information from me?"
Cordelia's voice remained soft.
"Some information wasn't yours."
Cassandra's face hardened.
Malcolm had seen that look in boardrooms.
She hated losing authority.
"Cordelia, I suggest you remember who employs you."
Malcolm said:
"I do."
Cassandra turned.
"What?"
"I employ her."
"You know what I mean."
"No. I know exactly what you mean."
They stared at each other.
The old family pattern resurfaced immediately.
Cassandra commanding.
Malcolm resisting.
Declan charming everyone after.
Frederick watching.
Always watching.
Cassandra crossed her arms.
"Where is Harrison?"
"Upstairs."
"I'd like to see him."
"No."
Her eyebrows rose.
"I'm his aunt."
"And he's frightened."
"Of Cordelia?"
Malcolm didn't answer.
Cassandra looked toward the pills again.
"You should call Walter."
"No."
"Why?"
"Cordelia told me not to."
Cassandra laughed.
Now the surprise was genuine.
"You're taking legal advice from the housekeeper?"
"I'm taking her warning seriously."
"What warning?"
Malcolm watched her.
"Why does that bother you?"
"It doesn't."
"Then why are you asking so many questions?"
"Because you called no one, yet somehow Declan knew enough to send me here."
That landed.
Cassandra looked at her phone.
"I told you I don't know."
Malcolm believed she didn't.
At least not completely.
Cordelia suddenly gripped the back of a chair.
Malcolm turned.
"Are you all right?"
She blinked.
"I feel..."
Her knees buckled.
Malcolm caught her before she hit the floor.
"Cordelia!"
Cassandra stepped forward.
"What happened?"
Cordelia's eyes remained open.
But unfocused.
"I don't know."
The same words.
Malcolm lowered her carefully.
"Call 911."
Cassandra hesitated.
"Now!"
She dialed.
Malcolm stayed beside Cordelia.
Her pulse was fast.
She could answer her name but seemed unable to recall the previous several minutes.
When paramedics arrived, they asked what medications she'd taken.
Cordelia whispered:
"Only my normal prescription this morning."
"What prescription?"
She told them.
The paramedic looked at the white tablets on the floor.
"Are those yours?"
"No."
Malcolm interrupted.
"They were in an old bottle belonging to my father."
The paramedic frowned.
"Your father?"
"He died eighteen months ago."
Cassandra closed her eyes.
"This is absurd."
The paramedics transported Cordelia for evaluation.
Malcolm decided Harrison would stay with his sister-in-law's parents for the night.
Cassandra insisted she could take him.
Malcolm refused.
That angered her too.
When the ambulance left, Cassandra stood beside her car.
"You don't trust me."
Malcolm stared.
"I don't trust anyone right now."
"Because of a list?"
He froze.
Cassandra realized what she'd said.
Slowly, Malcolm stepped closer.
"I never told you there was a list."
Her face went blank.
For the first time since arriving, Cassandra had no answer ready.
May you like
Malcolm lowered his voice.
"How do you know about it?"
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