Chapter 9 - Three MonthsNo one moved.
Margaret's hand shook around the gun.
I had never seen her frightened like that.
Not once.
Even when she had slapped me.
Even when Richard exposed the deed.
But now she looked cornered.
“Put it down,” Richard said.
She laughed.
“You think this is about revenge?”
Victor slowly raised his hands.
“Margaret.”
“Stay where you are.”
Daniel stepped toward her.
“Mom.”
“Don't.”
“Please.”
“You don't understand what happens if Emily gets control.”
I stared at her.
“What happens?”
She looked at me.
“We lose everything.”
“You already stole everything.”
“No.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“We were surviving.”
“On my father's money?”
“Yes!”
The admission echoed.
Margaret lowered the gun slightly.
Then she spoke.
“Your father was going to destroy us.”
“Because you stole from him.”
“Because he wanted to take everything from us.”
“It was never yours.”
She looked at Daniel.
“He was going to leave you with nothing.”
That hit Daniel.
“Did Dad really?”
Margaret nodded.
“He wrote you out.”
Silence.
Richard looked shocked.
“That was not final.”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
Margaret looked at me.
“Everything changed when Thomas made the new will.”
I felt dizzy.
“What will?”
Victor answered.
“The one naming Emily as sole heir.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“The house was only part of it.”
I realized then that this had never been a family argument.
It had been a war.
And I had unknowingly walked into the middle of it.
“Where is the will?”
Margaret smiled.
“You'll never see it.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because I destroyed it.”
Richard stepped forward.
“You didn't.”
She stared at him.
“You always underestimate me.”
Richard froze.
Then Margaret pulled a document from her coat.
She waved it.
“The original will.”
I stared.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“What do you want?”
She smiled.
“Your signature.”
“On what?”
“A transfer agreement.”
Daniel looked horrified.
“You want her to sign away the house?”
“No.”
Margaret looked at me.
“I want her to sign away everything.”
My heart raced.
“You planned this.”
“Of course.”
“When?”
“The day Daniel proposed.”
I felt sick.
She had been waiting all those years.
Then I realized something else.
“Why did you encourage Daniel to marry me?”
Margaret smiled.
“Because I believed I could make you sign.”
“How?”
“By convincing you that you weren't worth anything without us.”
The room went silent.
Every insult.
Every criticism.
Every dinner.
Every time she told me Daniel could do better.
It had all been deliberate.
Daniel looked devastated.
“You used me.”
Margaret's expression hardened.
“I protected you.”
“No.”
He stepped away.
“You used me.”
Margaret pointed the gun toward me.
“Sign.”
I looked at the document.
There was a pen on the table.
My heart pounded.
Richard whispered:
“Don't.”
Margaret's finger tightened.
“Sign, Emily.”
I picked up the pen.
Then I smiled.
Margaret frowned.
“What?”
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You thought I was alone.”
She looked around.
The front door opened.
Two police officers entered.
Behind them was an older woman in a gray suit.
She walked directly toward me.
“Emily Carter?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Laura Bennett.”
“Who are you?”
She looked at Richard.
Then at Margaret.
Then at the document in my hand.
“I was Evelyn Hart's legal assistant.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
She smiled faintly.
“Your father left one final instruction.”
She turned to Margaret.
“If Emily ever came into this house wearing a wedding ring, I was to wait.”
Margaret's face went white.
Laura looked at me.
“But if Emily ever removed that ring…”
She paused.
“…I was to come immediately.”
Daniel looked at my empty finger.
Laura opened her briefcase.
Inside was a sealed envelope.
“This was never destroyed.”
She handed it to me.
May you like
On the front, in my father's handwriting, were the words:
Open only after your marriage has ended.
