Chapter 4 - My Mother’s Hands
My mother had always been elegant.
Perfect hair.
Perfect posture.
Perfect smile.
Even when she said cruel things, she said them softly enough to make you wonder whether you were overreacting.
That night, the camera stripped away the softness.
The footage showed her clearly.
7:21 p.m.
Mom entered a service corridor with Vanessa’s diamond bracelet in her hand.
Ethan met her near the kitchen doors.
Mom gave it to him.
Then she pointed toward the ballroom.
Toward Sophie.
Detective Reyes paused the video.
Mom stared at the floor.
I stared at her.
“Say something.”
She folded her arms.
“We never intended for Sophie to be hurt.”
“That’s your defense?”
“The accusation was supposed to last twenty minutes.”
“You framed your granddaughter for theft.”
“Preston needed leverage.”
“She is eight!”
Dad stepped in.
“Helen made a mistake.”
I rounded on him.
“And what did you do?”
His face tightened.
“Evelyn—”
“What was your part?”
“We all agreed the sale had to happen.”
“Why?”
Silence.
I looked from Dad to Mom.
“You keep saying the company needs this deal. Why?”
Dad glanced at Detective Reyes.
“This is not the place.”
“Then where is the place, Dad? The ballroom where my daughter bled? Or maybe the hospital where you brought blackmail papers?”
Mom began to cry.
For once, I didn’t comfort her.
Detective Reyes closed the tablet.
“We’ll continue these interviews separately.”
Dad immediately straightened.
“Are we under arrest?”
“Not at this moment.”
“At this moment?”
“You participated in a conspiracy to plant stolen property on a minor. I suggest you stop acting surprised.”
Dad’s face turned red.
“You don’t understand our family.”
Reyes gave him a cold look.
“I understand evidence.”
After they left, I called the only person in our family Preston truly hated.
Margaret Shaw.
My grandmother’s attorney.
She answered on the second ring.
“Evelyn?”
“I need to know why Hartwell wants Whitmore Holdings so badly.”
There was a pause.
“How bad is it?”
“Preston framed Sophie for theft and hit her.”
The silence lasted three seconds.
Then Margaret’s voice changed.
“Do not sign anything.”
“I’m not.”
“Do not let Charles access your accounts.”
“Why?”
“And do not leave Sophie alone with anyone from your family.”
My stomach dropped.
“Margaret, what do you know?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for three days.”
I checked my phone.
Nothing.
Then I remembered Ethan had replaced my phone after mine supposedly stopped charging.
“Tell me.”
“I received documents from an outside auditor.”
“What documents?”
“Eighteen million dollars is missing.”
I sat down.
“From where?”
“Whitmore Holdings.”
My heart hammered.
“Who took it?”
“We don’t know yet.”
“But you suspect Preston.”
“I suspect several people.”
I glanced through the glass toward the hallway.
My father was speaking angrily into his phone.
Margaret continued.
“Hartwell’s purchase price would cover the shortfall before the annual audit.”
“So the sale isn’t about growth.”
“No.”
“It’s a cover-up.”
“Yes.”
I felt sick.
“And they needed my thirty-four percent.”
“Exactly.”
I closed my eyes.
That was why Sophie had been chosen.
Not because she was convenient.
Because I would burn down the world to protect her.
Preston knew it.
My parents knew it.
Ethan knew it.
“Margaret, send me everything.”
“I will.”
Her voice lowered.
“But there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The missing money wasn’t transferred directly to Preston.”
A document arrived in my inbox.
I opened it.
Six shell companies.
Four offshore accounts.
One domestic transfer.
Recipient: Brooks Development Group.
Ethan’s company.
Amount:
$1,870,000.
I looked toward the hall.
Ethan had told me he owed Preston $250,000.
But Preston had sent him nearly two million.
And suddenly I understood.
Ethan hadn’t been trapped by Preston.
He had been working with him.
May you like
For much longer than one night.
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