Chapter 6 - Daniel’s Last Recorded WordsThe police arrived before Victoria played the recording.
Two officers entered the boardroom after hotel security called in the assault.
For the next forty minutes, the hidden corporate war collided with the simplest fact of the evening.
Ethan had punched Victoria.
He did not deny it.
Victoria did not deny slapping Margaret first.
Witnesses confirmed both.
Security footage confirmed everything.
Margaret hated watching the replay.
Her own body lowering toward the marble.
Victoria standing over her.
Ethan appearing.
The punch.
She looked away.
The officers took statements.
Victoria demanded charges.
Ethan cooperated.
Rebecca arranged counsel.
Nothing about being chairman made him above the law.
That mattered to Margaret.
It also seemed to frustrate Victoria, who had expected Ethan to hide behind money.
By two in the morning, everyone had been allowed to leave pending further action.
Victoria took the USB drive with her.
Ethan tried to stop her.
Rebecca stopped Ethan.
“If that recording relates to Daniel’s death, we handle it through counsel or law enforcement.”
Victoria smiled.
“Smart.”
She left.
Margaret went home with Ethan.
Not to her apartment.
To his.
She had never seen it before.
That realization hurt.
Ethan lived in a penthouse overlooking Manhattan.
Margaret stood inside the enormous living room and turned slowly.
“You told me you rented a place in Midtown.”
“I do.”
“This is not ‘a place.’”
Ethan removed his jacket.
“Mom.”
“How much did this cost?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
He gave her a number.
Margaret sat down.
“Oh my God.”
Ethan almost smiled.
She did not.
“How long have you been rich?”
His smile disappeared.
“Define rich.”
“Don’t.”
He sighed.
“Five years.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I didn’t want things to change.”
“Things changed anyway.”
She looked around.
“You built an entire life I knew nothing about.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“From this.”
He gestured vaguely.
“Money?”
“Questions.”
Margaret stared.
“What questions?”
“Where it came from. Why I was doing it. Why I stayed inside Halcyon.”
She understood.
Revenge had required secrecy.
“What was Ravenwood originally?”
“A small fund.”
“Whose money?”
“Mine. Some early investors.”
“Charles?”
“He introduced two.”
“Did you know what he did to your father?”
“No.”
“When did you find out?”
“Tonight.”
Margaret watched him.
For the first time, Ethan looked tired rather than powerful.
She stood.
“Sit.”
He obeyed.
She sat across from him.
“You have spent years investigating Daniel.”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever find anything suggesting he stole?”
Ethan hesitated.
Margaret saw it.
“Ethan.”
“There were transfers.”
Her stomach dropped.
“To him?”
“To an account associated with him.”
“How much?”
“Three hundred thousand.”
Margaret stared.
“That is impossible.”
“I thought so too.”
“When?”
“Over eighteen months before he died.”
“Where did the money go?”
“Most of it disappeared.”
Margaret looked away.
Daniel had handled their finances.
She had trusted him completely.
“How did we never see it?”
“The account wasn’t joint.”
“Then whose?”
“Dad’s.”
She shook her head.
“He would have told me.”
“Maybe.”
Margaret looked at him.
“You believe he stole?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I think someone used him.”
“How?”
“His consulting company received payments. Then the money moved elsewhere.”
“Who moved it?”
“We don’t know.”
Margaret thought of Victoria’s USB drive.
“What did he say to her?”
Ethan stood.
“I’m going to find out.”
“Not tonight.”
He looked at her.
“Mom—”
“Not tonight.”
She touched her cheek.
“Tonight I watched you punch a woman because of me.”
“Because she—”
“I know what she did.”
Her voice softened.
“But anger is already running too much of this family.”
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“You think I should have let her humiliate you?”
“No.”
“I walked in and saw you on your knees.”
“I know.”
“She threatened me like I belonged to her.”
“I know.”
“I lost control.”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked away.
Margaret reached for his hand.
“You have every right to protect me.”
He looked at her.
“You do not have the right to destroy yourself protecting me.”
His face changed.
The sentence landed.
Margaret continued.
“Your father spent his life believing silence protected us.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I do.”
She squeezed his hand.
“And you spent years believing secrecy protected me.”
Ethan said nothing.
“Victoria believes power protects her.”
Silence.
“Charles believes money can repair guilt.”
Ethan looked down.
“Everyone is protecting something.”
Margaret stood.
“Maybe that is why everything is broken.”
The next morning, Ethan woke to fourteen missed calls.
One from Rebecca.
Three from Charles.
Ten from an unknown number.
He called Rebecca first.
She answered immediately.
“Victoria is missing.”
Ethan sat up.
“What?”
“She didn’t return home.”
“Where is she?”
“We don’t know.”
“What about the USB?”
“That’s the problem.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
Rebecca continued.
“Someone broke into her apartment at four-thirteen this morning.”
Margaret appeared in the doorway.
Ethan put the call on speaker.
Rebecca’s voice filled the room.
“The apartment was searched.”
“For what?”
“We assume the recording.”
“Was anything taken?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca paused.
“Victoria’s laptop.”
“And the USB?”
“We don’t know.”
Margaret felt cold.
May you like
Then Rebecca added one more detail.
“Ethan, there was blood in the apartment.”
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