Chapter 5 - The Third Person in the GarageEthan looked at Charles as though he had become a stranger.
“You were there?”
Charles did not answer.
Ethan stepped closer.
“You were in the garage?”
“Yes.”
Margaret gripped the edge of the table.
Her husband had died in a place where at least two Halcyon executives had been present.
Neither had ever contacted her.
Neither had ever come forward.
“What time?”
Charles swallowed.
“After Victoria.”
Victoria scoffed.
“Convenient.”
Charles ignored her.
“Daniel called me.”
“Why?”
“He knew I was uneasy about Arthur’s vendor structure.”
Ethan stared.
“You were helping him?”
“Quietly.”
“Then why hide your involvement?”
Charles looked down.
“Cowardice.”
Margaret’s voice became cold.
“My husband died.”
“I know.”
“And you went home?”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
Charles rubbed his forehead.
“I arrived around nine forty-five.”
Ethan immediately caught it.
“Dad called 911 at nine forty-one.”
“Yes.”
“So he was already collapsing.”
“Yes.”
“You found him?”
Charles nodded.
Margaret felt sick.
“You saw my husband dying?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
Charles’s eyes filled.
“I tried to help him.”
“What happened?”
“He was on the ground near his car.”
“Was he conscious?”
“Barely.”
“What did he say?”
Charles looked at Ethan.
“Your father kept saying one word.”
“What?”
Charles hesitated.
“Red.”
Margaret frowned.
“Red?”
Victoria’s eyes changed.
Ethan saw it.
So did Margaret.
Everyone turned toward her red evening gown.
Victoria laughed sharply.
“You cannot be serious.”
Charles continued.
“He said red. Then he tried to say something else.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t understand.”
Ethan’s voice hardened.
“Did you call 911?”
“No.”
Margaret stared.
“Why?”
“He said he already had.”
“That is not an answer.”
Charles looked ashamed.
“I panicked.”
“You panicked?”
“I saw papers scattered near his car. Invoices. Names.”
“And?”
“I realized this could destroy the company.”
Margaret stepped toward him.
“So you picked up the papers.”
Charles nodded.
“You stole evidence while my husband was dying.”
“I thought I was protecting thousands of employees.”
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“You were protecting yourself.”
Charles did not argue.
Ethan looked pale with rage.
“What did you do with the papers?”
“I gave them to Arthur.”
Ethan almost lunged at him.
Rebecca stepped between them.
“Ethan.”
He stopped.
Barely.
Charles continued.
“Arthur told me Daniel was unstable. That he had been trying to blackmail the company.”
Victoria laughed.
“You believed him because believing him protected you.”
“Yes.”
Margaret looked at Victoria.
“And you?”
“I left before Charles arrived.”
“Why?”
“Daniel accused me of helping Arthur.”
“Were you?”
Victoria’s jaw tightened.
“I had approved vendors.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Victoria looked away.
Margaret understood.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“And instead of helping him?”
“I told him to stop.”
“Why?”
“Because Arthur controlled careers.”
Margaret almost smiled at the irony.
“Careers.”
Victoria heard it too.
Her eyes narrowed.
Margaret touched her cheek.
“You threatened my son’s career tonight.”
Silence.
“You learned well.”
Victoria stood.
“I am not Arthur Vale.”
“No.”
Margaret looked at her.
“But you became the kind of person who thinks a job gives you ownership over someone’s dignity.”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
Ethan turned back to Charles.
“What happened after you gave Arthur the papers?”
“Nothing publicly.”
“Dad died.”
“I know.”
“You buried the evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Then six years later Arthur died, and you suddenly became interested in helping me buy Halcyon.”
Charles looked at him.
“I was trying to repair what I had done.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“You never told me.”
“If I told you everything, you would never have trusted me.”
“Correct.”
Margaret looked between them.
“You helped Ethan build Ravenwood?”
Charles nodded.
“Quietly.”
“How much?”
“I introduced investors.”
“Because you felt guilty?”
“Yes.”
Margaret sat.
Every fortune in the room seemed connected to guilt.
Ethan’s hidden company.
Charles’s assistance.
Arthur’s corruption.
Daniel’s death.
Victoria’s career.
Nothing was clean.
Rebecca closed the folder.
“We need to preserve this discussion formally.”
Victoria immediately stood.
“I’m leaving.”
“No,” Ethan said.
“You cannot detain me.”
“I’m not.”
She picked up her purse.
Then looked at Margaret.
“You think you finally understand your husband.”
Margaret said nothing.
Victoria smiled without warmth.
“You don’t.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
“What else?”
Victoria slowly opened her purse.
Rebecca tensed.
Victoria removed a small USB drive.
She placed it on the table.
“I’ve kept this for eleven years.”
Charles stared.
“What is that?”
Victoria looked at him.
“Insurance.”
Ethan reached for it.
Victoria pulled it back.
“No.”
“What’s on it?”
“A recording.”
Margaret’s heart accelerated.
“Of what?”
Victoria’s gaze moved to her.
“The last conversation I had with Daniel before he collapsed.”
Margaret’s breath caught.
Ethan held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Victoria smiled.
“Why?”
“You said you wanted the truth.”
“I do.”
“Then understand this.”
May you like
She closed her fingers around the drive.
“If you hear what your father says on this recording, you may wish I had never walked into that parking garage.”
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