Chapter 10 - What His Father Knew
Ethan stared at his mother.
“What are you talking about?”
Margaret opened the lake house door. “Come inside.”
“No games.”
“Then stop asking questions you’re afraid to hear answered.”
Inside, the living room smelled of cedar and old smoke. Family photographs covered the walls. Ethan’s father, Richard, smiled from half of them.
Emily had met him only twice before his sudden death from a heart attack.
Margaret placed her wine on the mantel.
“Your father discovered Grant had been moving money through the charitable foundation.”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed. “How much?”
“Millions.”
“And you knew?”
“I learned later.”
Emily almost laughed. “You expect us to believe that?”
Margaret ignored her. “Richard planned to remove Grant and restructure the company. The trust was part of it. He wanted the next generation protected from what he called the old guard.”
“Meaning you,” Ethan said.
Margaret’s face tightened.
“He was angry.”
“He was right.”
“He was dying.”
Ethan stepped closer. “He had a heart attack at fifty-nine.”
Margaret looked toward the windows.
Emily caught it.
“What?”
Margaret said nothing.
“What aren’t you saying?” Emily pressed.
A car door slammed outside.
Grant entered without knocking.
He stopped when he saw Emily.
“I told you she shouldn’t be here.”
Margaret snapped, “I told you not to come.”
Their eyes met.
The power shifted in the room.
Emily saw it clearly now. Margaret might have started the paternity scheme, but Grant had his own reasons to keep the trust from activating.
Ethan held up the invoice. “You forged my signature.”
Grant shrugged. “That would be difficult to prove.”
“We have Nora.”
“Nora has a history of prescription theft and a suspended license. A jury may not love her.”
Emily’s stomach turned.
Grant had prepared for every witness.
Then Ethan said, “What happened to my father?”
Grant went very still.
Margaret whispered, “Ethan, stop.”
“No.” He looked at Grant. “What happened?”
Grant’s smile disappeared.
From outside came the crunch of tires.
The detectives.
Grant glanced toward the back door.
May you like
Then Margaret said the sentence that shattered Ethan’s face.
“Your father didn’t die at home like I told you.”
