Chapter 9 - MARGARET’S FINAL GAME
No one moved.
Margaret stood twenty feet away.
Her pistol remained low.
Rebecca’s remained raised.
Hayes shifted slightly to the side.
Margaret noticed.
“Daniel.”
Hayes stopped.
Emma looked at him.
Margaret smiled.
“So you’re still pretending to be a good man.”
Hayes’s face hardened.
Rebecca laughed quietly.
“I told you.”
Nathan looked between them.
“You know Hayes?”
Margaret’s smile widened.
“Oh, Nathan.”
She almost sounded affectionate.
“You have no idea how many people in your life I know.”
Nathan stared at his mother.
“What did you do?”
Margaret looked toward the locked room.
Evelyn stood behind the glass.
“Your sister became emotional.”
Evelyn shouted.
“You hit me!”
Margaret barely glanced at her.
“And you became stupid.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“You locked your own daughter underground.”
Margaret looked at him.
“I protected the family.”
“From what?”
“From weakness.”
Emma stared at her.
Margaret met her eyes.
“You.”
Emma did not flinch.
Margaret continued.
“You walked into this family with nothing.”
“No name.”
“No connections.”
“No understanding of what it takes to protect something valuable.”
Emma’s voice remained calm.
“I had one thing you didn’t.”
Margaret raised an eyebrow.
“A conscience.”
Margaret laughed.
“So dramatic.”
Emma stared.
“You pushed a woman into hiding for decades.”
Margaret’s smile faded.
“You really believe Rebecca’s version?”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Try me.”
Margaret looked at her.
“You always were emotional.”
Rebecca’s hand tightened around the gun.
“You had me locked under this house for eleven days.”
Margaret shrugged.
“And you lived.”
Rebecca’s face changed.
Nathan looked sick.
“Mom.”
Margaret turned.
“What?”
“You’re not even denying it.”
“No.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You tried to kill her.”
Margaret sighed.
“Richard tried.”
Nathan froze.
“Uncle Richard?”
“Yes.”
“He panicked.”
“He thought Rebecca had the ledger.”
“He caused the crash.”
Rebecca stared.
“And you protected him.”
“Of course.”
Rebecca’s voice shook.
“He killed my father.”
Margaret tilted her head.
“No.”
Rebecca stopped.
Margaret smiled faintly.
“Samuel’s death had nothing to do with Richard.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret looked at Hayes.
Hayes’s expression changed.
Rebecca noticed.
“Daniel.”
Hayes said nothing.
Margaret continued.
“You never told her?”
Rebecca slowly looked toward him.
Hayes’s face went pale.
“What?”
Hayes looked at Margaret.
“Don’t.”
Margaret smiled.
“Why?”
“After all these years?”
Emma looked between them.
“What is she talking about?”
Hayes’s jaw tightened.
Margaret answered for him.
“Samuel Bennett was not killed by a Whitmore.”
Rebecca’s voice lowered.
“Then who?”
Margaret stared at Hayes.
“His father.”
Rebecca froze.
Emma looked at Hayes.
Nathan did too.
Hayes said nothing.
Margaret continued.
“Daniel’s father was Detective Michael Hayes.”
Rebecca’s face turned white.
Hayes closed his eyes.
Margaret looked delighted.
“He was investigating Samuel’s political payments.”
“Samuel threatened to expose every officer who took money.”
“Michael Hayes was one of them.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
Hayes spoke.
“Rebecca.”
“No.”
She looked at him.
“You knew?”
Hayes said nothing.
Rebecca’s hand trembled.
“You knew your father killed mine?”
“I found out later.”
“When?”
Hayes did not answer.
Rebecca shouted.
“When?”
“After you disappeared.”
Rebecca stared at him.
Hayes continued.
“I found his old files.”
“I found the payment records.”
“I found notes about Samuel.”
Rebecca’s eyes filled.
“And you never told me.”
“I was ashamed.”
“You let me spend twenty-three years blaming the Whitmores for my father’s death.”
Hayes looked at Margaret.
“They stole everything afterward.”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“So that made the lie acceptable?”
“No.”
Rebecca pointed the gun toward him.
“You are exactly what she said.”
Hayes slowly lifted his hands.
“Rebecca.”
“Don’t.”
Emma stepped forward.
“Mom.”
Rebecca looked at her.
Emma’s voice was steady.
“Put the gun down.”
Rebecca’s face tightened.
“He lied to me.”
“I know.”
“He used me.”
“I know.”
“He knew.”
Emma nodded.
“And if you shoot him, Margaret wins.”
Rebecca looked toward Margaret.
Margaret’s smile disappeared.
Emma continued.
“She wants this.”
“She wants us angry.”
“She wants us divided.”
“She wants someone to do something unforgivable so she can point at everyone else.”
Rebecca stared at Emma.
Slowly, she lowered the gun.
Margaret’s expression hardened.
Emma looked at her.
“You’re losing control.”
Margaret laughed.
“No.”
She raised her pistol.
Nathan stepped in front of Emma.
Margaret stared at her son.
“Move.”
Nathan did not.
“Nathan.”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You don’t understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“You think she loves you?”
Nathan looked at Emma.
Then back at Margaret.
“This isn’t about whether she loves me.”
Margaret looked confused.
Nathan continued.
“It’s about what you did.”
Margaret’s face hardened.
“I gave you everything.”
Nathan stared.
“You gave me a life built on crimes.”
“I gave you security.”
“You put criminal accounts in my name.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Evelyn had told him.
Nathan saw it.
“You did.”
Margaret remained silent.
Nathan stepped forward.
“You planned to sacrifice me.”
“Nathan—”
“You used my identity.”
“To protect the company.”
“You were going to send me to prison.”
“No.”
“You were.”
Margaret’s voice sharpened.
“I would have fixed it.”
Nathan laughed.
“When?”
“After I took the fall?”
“You are being emotional.”
Nathan stared.
For the first time, he recognized the phrase.
The same phrase Margaret used whenever Emma challenged her.
Emotional.
Confused.
Overreacting.
Unstable.
Words designed to erase people.
Nathan shook his head.
“You did this to all of us.”
Margaret’s face went cold.
“Move.”
“No.”
She pointed the gun at him.
Emma grabbed Nathan’s coat.
“Don’t.”
Nathan stayed.
Margaret’s eyes filled with something strange.
Not love.
Possession.
“You are my son.”
Nathan answered.
“Then lower the gun.”
Margaret’s finger moved toward the trigger.
Hayes raised his weapon.
“Margaret.”
She turned slightly.
“Put it down.”
Margaret laughed.
“You?”
Hayes kept the gun trained on her.
“Yes.”
She stared at him.
“You think Rebecca will forgive you?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Emma?”
“No.”
“Nathan?”
“No.”
Hayes swallowed.
“But I can still stop you.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Then she smiled.
“You should be more worried about what’s behind you.”
Hayes froze.
A click sounded.
Everyone turned.
One of the corridor doors had opened.
A man stepped out.
Tall.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Nathan stared.
“Uncle Richard?”
Emma’s eyes widened.
Rebecca looked as though she had seen a ghost.
Richard Whitmore smiled.
The uncle everyone believed had been dead for twelve years.
The man Charles said had died from a heart attack.
The man Nathan remembered being buried.
Richard stood alive beneath the mansion.
He held a gun.
And it was pointed directly at Hayes.
Nathan whispered.
“You’re dead.”
May you like
Richard smiled.
“Apparently not.”
