Chapter 12 - For several seconds, I could not speak.Derek had switched the glasses.
The implication was obvious.
One had contained poison.
The other had not.
My husband had died.
But Derek had survived.
“Why?” I asked.
Derek looked at the ground.
“Because Dad knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That Gideon was going to poison him.”
“So you switched them?”
“Yes.”
“Then how did your father die?”
Derek's face crumpled.
“I switched them back.”
My heart stopped.
“Why?”
“Gideon threatened Amanda.”
I closed my eyes.
Twelve years.
Twelve years of believing my husband had died from a heart attack.
Twelve years of believing Derek had grieved.
And all those years, my son had carried the knowledge that he had helped choose the glass.
I couldn't touch him.
I couldn't even look at him.
Gideon walked into the warehouse.
“Now you understand.”
I turned toward him.
“You manipulated my son.”
“Yes.”
“You poisoned me.”
“Yes.”
“You killed my husband.”
“Yes.”
His honesty was almost unbearable.
“Why?”
Gideon smiled.
“Because your husband was weak.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“He refused to give me the company.”
“So you killed him.”
“He refused to give me the family.”
I stared.
“What family?”
Gideon's expression changed.
“You.”
I didn't understand.
Then he pointed toward Derek.
“Your husband believed he could protect you.”
He laughed.
“He could not.”
“You're insane.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I am patient.”
He explained.
The Harper Foundation had been created as a contingency.
If Gideon ever attacked the company, the foundation would automatically seize control of the hidden assets.
But only while I remained alive.
That meant Gideon spent years trying to control me.
The fake illness.
The financial pressure.
The medical manipulation.
The eventual murder attempt.
Everything had been designed to place me in a position where someone else could legally control the foundation.
Derek.
My son.
The perfect puppet.
Except I had survived.
And now the foundation had activated its emergency clause.
Nathan received a notification.
He looked at the screen.
“What is it?”
“Transfer complete.”
I stared.
“What transfer?”
Nathan looked at Gideon.
“The foundation has transferred all assets into an independent protection trust.”
Gideon's face changed.
For the first time, he looked frightened.
I smiled.
“You lost.”
He pulled his weapon.
Nathan raised his.
“Drop it.”
Gideon didn't move.
Then Amanda appeared behind him.
She was holding Lucinda at gunpoint.
“Back away.”
Everyone froze.
Amanda's eyes were wild.
“I'm leaving with the money.”
“There is no money,” I said.
She looked at Gideon.
He didn't answer.
“The assets are protected.”
She stared at me.
“You're lying.”
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“You were used.”
Amanda's gun shook.
“I don't care.”
“You do.”
She looked at me.
“Because Gideon promised you half.”
Silence.
“He lied.”
Gideon turned toward her.
“Amanda.”
She looked at him.
Then at me.
Then at the files.
Her expression changed.
Suddenly she understood.
She had never been a partner.
She had been disposable.
Gideon saw the realization.
“Don't be stupid.”
Amanda stepped back.
Lucinda used the moment to strike her arm.
The gun fell.
Nathan moved.
The room exploded into chaos.
Derek tackled Gideon.
Amanda ran.
Agents stormed through the warehouse.
For the first time, Gideon's empire began collapsing.
But he escaped.
Through an underground tunnel.
Again.
Nathan found a map.
The tunnel led to the northern shore.
We followed.
Outside, snow was falling heavily.
Footprints disappeared toward the lake.
I looked at the frozen water.
For the second time in my life, the lake stood between me and Gideon.
I stepped onto the ice.
Nathan grabbed my arm.
“Don't.”
I looked at him.
“He thinks water is where I almost died.”
I continued forward.
“He'll never expect me to follow him onto it.”
Then the ice cracked beneath my feet.
I fell.
Water swallowed me.
I heard Nathan shout.
Then darkness.
Again.
But this time, the lake was not my enemy.
It was my weapon.
Because Gideon had run onto the only surface in the world where I had spent my life learning how to survive.
And when I opened my eyes beneath the ice, I saw him.
Twenty yards away.
Trapped beneath the same frozen sheet.
He was drowning.
I could save him.
Or I could let the lake finish what it had started.
I swam toward him.
And that was when I saw what he was holding.
May you like
A small metal case.
Inside was the final secret my husband had died protecting.
