Chapter 8 - Daniel's MemoryDaniel sat on the sofa, staring at nothing.
I watched him struggle to assemble a life from broken pieces.
“My father trusted me?”
Victor nodded.
“He knew Margaret was manipulating everyone.”
Richard sat beside Daniel.
“Thomas tried to protect you.”
Daniel looked up.
“Then why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because you were a child.”
“I wasn't a child.”
“You were sixteen.”
“That was enough to understand.”
Richard looked away.
“And enough to be destroyed.”
Victor placed the cassette on the table.
“The truth is on there.”
We played it.
Static.
Then Thomas's voice.
“I know my time is short.”
Margaret's breathing could be heard in the background.
Then Thomas said:
“Daniel knows where I hid the documents.”
Margaret's voice appeared.
“Your son?”
“Yes.”
“You trust him?”
“With my life.”
That sentence broke Daniel.
He covered his face.
The recording continued.
“If I die, my daughter inherits the house.”
Margaret said something I couldn't hear.
Thomas answered:
“She deserves security.”
“She'll never understand the finances.”
“She doesn't need to.”
Then another voice.
Peter.
“You should think carefully before making threats.”
Thomas replied:
“I am not threatening you.”
A pause.
“I am warning you.”
The tape crackled.
Then Thomas spoke again.
“If anything happens to me, Richard will protect Emily.”
The recording ended.
Daniel looked at Richard.
“You promised.”
Richard's eyes filled with tears.
“I tried.”
“You hid the truth for twenty-seven years.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You protected them.”
Richard looked broken.
But before anyone could respond, the front door slammed.
Margaret was gone.
Victor stood.
“She is going after the papers.”
I turned to Richard.
“What papers?”
“The originals.”
“Where are they?”
Richard looked at me.
“I don't know.”
Victor's expression changed.
“I do.”
He walked toward the stairs.
“There is another room.”
We followed him.
He stopped outside Margaret's bedroom.
“She keeps a locked box under the floor.”
Daniel broke the lock.
Inside were bank records.
Old passports.
Photographs.
And one envelope addressed to Margaret.
Richard opened it.
Inside was a letter from Peter.
If Emily ever learns the truth, we lose everything.
My heart pounded.
The next line was worse.
Daniel must be removed from the inheritance before he becomes suspicious.
Daniel stared at the letter.
“What inheritance?”
I looked at Richard.
He had gone pale.
“What isn't Margaret telling us?”
Richard didn't answer.
Victor pulled out a second document.
“Your grandfather left another estate.”
“How much?”
“Enough to explain why people have been willing to lie and kill.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
Victor gave me a number.
I couldn't process it.
“Millions?”
“Many millions.”
Daniel looked stunned.
“But Dad inherited the business.”
“Not all of it.”
“Then who did?”
Victor looked at me.
“Thomas.”
My head spun.
“My father?”
“He was supposed to inherit the controlling shares.”
“Until he died.”
“Yes.”
I looked at Richard.
“You knew.”
He nodded.
“And Margaret knew.”
Victor added:
“She also knows the shares will transfer to Emily when she turns thirty.”
My stomach dropped.
I was twenty-nine.
Three months from my thirtieth birthday.
Margaret had not been trying to get rid of me because of the house alone.
She had been trying to prevent me from becoming the legal owner of the Collins family empire.
Daniel suddenly stood.
“What happens when she turns thirty?”
Victor answered:
“She becomes majority owner.”
Silence.
Three months.
That was all.
Then the front door opened.
Margaret's voice echoed through the house.
“You're all making a terrible mistake.”
May you like
We turned.
She stood there holding a gun.
