Chapter 3 - The Secret Ethan Kept From His MotherMargaret had imagined many reasons Ethan might hide something from her.
Protecting her feelings.
Protecting his privacy.
Perhaps even hiding how wealthy he had become because he knew she hated extravagance.
She had never imagined revenge.
“What does she mean?”
Ethan looked at Victoria.
“Not here.”
Victoria laughed.
“Convenient.”
Charles stepped in.
“This conversation should move upstairs.”
“No.”
Margaret surprised herself with the firmness of her voice.
She looked at Ethan.
“For years, you told me you were building a career.”
“I was.”
“You told me you stayed at Halcyon because the work mattered.”
“It did.”
“You told me Victoria was difficult but brilliant.”
Ethan’s eyes shifted.
Margaret noticed.
“You defended her.”
“I needed to.”
“For what?”
He looked toward the crowd.
Dozens of people were still watching.
Margaret understood.
“Fine.”
She took his hand.
“Take me somewhere private.”
They moved to a boardroom above the ballroom.
Charles came.
So did the chief legal officer, Rebecca Sloan.
Victoria was asked to remain downstairs until security arrived.
She refused.
“I have every right to attend any discussion involving allegations against me.”
Rebecca looked at Ethan.
He nodded.
“Let her.”
Margaret disliked that.
Victoria sat at the far end of the table.
Her split lip had been cleaned.
A small swelling had formed along one cheek.
She no longer looked embarrassed.
She looked dangerous.
Ethan sat beside Margaret.
Charles remained standing near the window.
Margaret folded her hands.
“Start talking.”
Ethan exhaled.
“Dad didn’t die from a heart attack.”
Margaret went completely still.
Victoria looked almost pleased.
“No.”
Margaret shook her head.
“I was there.”
“You were at the hospital.”
“I saw the doctor.”
“The cause they gave you was cardiac arrest.”
“Yes.”
“That describes how his heart stopped.”
Margaret frowned.
Ethan’s voice softened.
“It doesn’t explain why.”
Margaret’s stomach tightened.
Her husband Daniel had died eleven years earlier.
Fifty-eight years old.
Healthy.
Active.
He had collapsed inside a parking garage after attending a business dinner.
Doctors said it was sudden cardiac arrest.
Margaret had spent a decade accepting the randomness of it.
“What are you saying?”
Ethan looked at Rebecca.
She opened a folder.
Inside were copies of old documents.
“Dad had been doing consulting work for Halcyon.”
Margaret nodded.
She remembered.
Daniel had been an accountant.
Not glamorous.
Careful.
Quiet.
The kind of man who double-checked a restaurant bill because numbers mattered to him.
“He discovered irregular payments.”
Ethan pushed a document toward her.
“Millions of dollars routed through subcontractors.”
Margaret stared at the numbers.
“What does this have to do with his death?”
Ethan swallowed.
“Dad called someone the night he died.”
“Who?”
Ethan looked across the table.
Victoria’s smile disappeared.
Margaret followed his gaze.
“No.”
Victoria immediately shook her head.
“That is not what happened.”
Margaret looked at Ethan.
“He called her?”
“Three times.”
“Why?”
“Because she was working in procurement.”
Victoria interrupted.
“I was twenty-seven.”
Margaret’s eyes moved to her.
“You knew my husband?”
“Barely.”
Ethan’s hands tightened.
“Dad had evidence that someone inside Halcyon was paying inflated vendor invoices and receiving money back through shell companies.”
Victoria folded her arms.
“And he thought I could help.”
“He trusted you.”
“That was his mistake.”
Margaret flinched at the coldness.
Ethan leaned forward.
“He arranged to meet you that night.”
Victoria’s confidence shifted.
“Your evidence?”
“Parking garage footage.”
For the first time, Victoria looked unsettled.
Margaret whispered, “You met Daniel?”
Victoria said nothing.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
Margaret felt the room tilt.
“What happened?”
Victoria looked at Ethan.
“You tell her.”
Ethan’s face was pale.
“Dad entered the garage at 9:14.”
Margaret remembered the police report.
“Victoria entered six minutes later.”
“No.”
Victoria snapped.
“I was already nearby.”
Ethan ignored her.
“At 9:41, Dad called 911.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
She had heard that recording only once.
Daniel gasping.
Struggling to speak.
Then silence.
“At 9:43,” Ethan continued, “Victoria left.”
Margaret turned toward her.
“You left him?”
Victoria looked furious.
“He was standing when I left.”
“Why did you leave?”
“Because he accused me of things I hadn’t done.”
“What things?”
Victoria said nothing.
Ethan answered.
“Stealing from Halcyon.”
Margaret stared.
Victoria stood.
“That is enough.”
Rebecca’s voice cut through the room.
“Sit down.”
Victoria looked at her.
Rebecca did not blink.
After a moment, Victoria sat.
Margaret’s breathing became shallow.
“You think she killed Daniel?”
“No.”
Ethan answered quickly.
Victoria laughed.
“Thank you.”
“I think she knows who did.”
Victoria’s laugh stopped.
Margaret looked between them.
“What happened after she left?”
Ethan slid another document across the table.
A toxicology report.
Margaret stared.
“I’ve never seen this.”
“Because it wasn’t part of the original hospital packet you received.”
“What is it?”
“A later lab review.”
Margaret’s eyes moved over unfamiliar chemical names.
Ethan pointed.
“Dad had a high concentration of a medication in his blood.”
“He didn’t take medication.”
“I know.”
“What medication?”
“A beta blocker.”
Margaret looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca answered.
“In a person without tolerance, a large enough dose could trigger severe hypotension, bradycardia, collapse.”
Margaret’s face went numb.
“You’re saying someone poisoned him?”
“We don’t know.”
Ethan’s voice cracked slightly.
“But I’ve spent seven years finding out.”
Margaret stared at her son.
Seven years.
A secret investigation.
A hidden company.
A chairman position.
All while she believed he was simply climbing a corporate ladder.
Victoria leaned back.
“And now we get to the part Ethan doesn’t like.”
Margaret looked at her.
Victoria’s eyes were cold.
“Your husband wasn’t innocent either.”
Ethan stood.
“Stop.”
Victoria smiled.
“Why?”
Margaret looked at Ethan.
“What did Daniel do?”
May you like
Victoria answered before he could.
“He stole the same money he accused everyone else of stealing.”
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