Chapter 10 - MARGARET’S REAL PLAN
Margaret had always lived like a wealthy woman.
The house outside Boston.
The charity dinners.
The designer clothes.
The country club.
The Mercedes.
I assumed Ethan’s father had left her comfortable.
He hadn’t.
By the time he died, the estate was nearly empty.
Margaret had debts approaching two million dollars.
She had borrowed against the house.
Against investments.
Against Ethan.
Against people I had never met.
She had been surviving on appearances.
When Ethan’s company began collapsing, mother and son made an arrangement.
He would gain temporary control of my trust.
He would rescue his company.
Margaret would receive enough money to erase her debts.
Simple.
Except Margaret didn’t trust Ethan.
And Ethan didn’t trust Margaret.
Rebecca discovered a second set of documents hidden in Martin Cole’s old files.
They transferred control not to Ethan—
but to Margaret if Ethan became unavailable.
“She planned for him to disappear too,” Rebecca said.
I stared at her.
“Unavailable?”
“That language can mean death, incapacity, abandonment.”
I remembered the blood in Ethan’s car.
Maybe Ethan wasn’t only running from police.
Maybe he was running from his mother.
Lucas confirmed it during his second interview.
Margaret had asked him two weeks earlier:
“If Ethan becomes a problem, would you choose family over your brother?”
Lucas thought she was being dramatic.
Now nobody did.
At noon, Margaret’s attorney requested a meeting.
I refused.
Then he said she was willing to identify Ethan’s location.
I agreed to listen with Ramirez present.
Margaret appeared through a video call from the detention center.
No pearls.
No makeup.
No perfect hair.
She looked smaller.
But not sorry.
“Where is Ethan?” I asked.
“Safe.”
“Answer me.”
“You should worry about your daughter.”
I nearly lunged toward the screen.
Ramirez put a hand on my shoulder.
Margaret smiled faintly.
“You always were easy to provoke.”
“What do you want?”
“The charges reduced.”
“That’s between you and the prosecutor.”
“You have influence.”
“Not that kind.”
“You have money.”
There it was.
The thing underneath everything.
Money.
She leaned closer.
“Ethan didn’t understand what he was doing.”
“He planned to steal my daughter.”
“He wanted a life.”
“He had one.”
“With you?”
Her contempt was almost casual.
“You made him feel small.”
I laughed.
“Because I had my own career?”
“Because everything was yours.”
“I never held money over him.”
“You didn’t have to.”
That told me more about Margaret than it did about me.
Then she said:
“Ethan is going to come for Sophie.”
Ramirez stiffened.
“How do you know?”
“Because he believes she is the only thing that can save him.”
“From prison?”
Margaret smiled.
“No.”
May you like
“From me.”
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