Chapter 6 - What Ethan Knew
Ethan demanded to see the footage.
Daniel refused to show evidence casually while investigators were securing it.
That angered Ethan.
Then it embarrassed him.
For the first time, he was discovering what it felt like when his family name could not open a door.
I knew that feeling would be useful.
He walked to the window.
“I should have stopped this years ago.”
I said nothing.
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“Stopped what?”
“You.”
The word stunned her.
Ethan turned around.
“You insulted Olivia every time we visited.”
“She insulted this family by refusing to contribute.”
“She was contributing more to this country before breakfast than most people do in a month.”
Margaret stared at him.
“You knew?”
“Of course I knew.”
“You let me believe she stayed home.”
“Olivia asked for privacy.”
I looked at him.
“I asked you not to announce my position.”
He closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“I did not ask you to let your mother call me a parasite.”
“I know.”
“I did not ask you to laugh when Karen joked that I needed an allowance.”
His face tightened.
“I know.”
Margaret watched us.
Something almost like satisfaction appeared in her expression.
She had found another wound and immediately knew where to press.
“Your marriage isn't as perfect as you pretend.”
“No,” I said.
“It isn't.”
Ethan looked at me.
Margaret smiled.
Then Daniel's officer returned carrying another folder.
It had been retrieved from Ethan's office with his consent.
Inside were the documents Margaret had asked him to sign three weeks earlier.
Most concerned a legitimate Whitmore property refinance.
One page did not.
It was a blank authorization sheet with Ethan's signature at the bottom.
He stared at it.
“I never sign blank pages.”
The officer pointed to faint indentations across the paper.
“It may not have been blank when you signed it.”
A document examiner would later determine that the original text had been chemically removed.
Ethan sat down slowly.
Margaret remained expressionless.
“You copied my signature.”
She said nothing.
“You used me.”
“For your own family.”
“You tried to take my son.”
“Our family needed an heir.”
No one spoke.
The words hung in the room.
I looked at her.
“An heir to what?”
For the first time, Margaret seemed to regret speaking.
Ethan turned toward her.
“What is she talking about?”
Margaret looked at the floor.
Daniel watched her carefully.
Then Karen whispered from across the room.
“The Whitmore Trust.”
Ethan looked at his sister.
“What about it?”
May you like
Karen wiped her face.
“Mom said Noah changes everything.”
