Chapter 12 - THE SISTERS
Margaret's voice was calm.
Almost amused.
"You've always been terrible at keeping Ethan safe."
Celeste gripped the phone.
"Where are you?"
"Close enough."
I took the phone.
"Why are you trying to kill me?"
Margaret laughed softly.
"Straight to the dramatic conclusion. You really are Charles's son."
"Owen works for you."
Silence.
Then: "Owen works for whoever pays him."
"Did you pay him?"
"Ask Julian."
The call ended.
Mara immediately traced it.
Signal bounced through three relays.
Useless.
Celeste sat down.
"You need to know what happened between Margaret and your father."
"Now would be a great time."
My father had not merely pushed Margaret off the board.
He accused her husband of stealing from the company.
Her husband later died by suicide.
Margaret always believed Charles fabricated the evidence.
"Did he?"
Celeste looked away.
"I don't know."
"You always don't know."
She flinched.
Rebecca searched old files.
Adrian had investigated that case too.
His blue ledger referenced a folder called M.W. ORIGINAL AUDIT.
We found it encrypted on the estate server.
The documents showed Margaret's husband was innocent. My father had taken the money.
He used the missing funds to secretly buy controlling shares during the company's early expansion.
Then blamed his brother-in-law.
Celeste began crying.
"Oh, God."
Margaret's hatred suddenly made sense.
But not Noah.
Not the tower.
Not murder.
Mara searched the audit trail.
The file had been opened recently.
Three users.
Grant.
Julian.
And Adrian, four years earlier.
Adrian discovered the truth before he died.
Which meant Margaret may have believed Adrian was about to expose my father.
Why kill him?
Unless she didn't.
Then Julian walked into the library with his hands raised.
"I can tell you who killed Adrian," he said.
Grant reached for his weapon.
Julian looked directly at him.
"It was Owen Kane."
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Then he added:
"But Margaret didn't order it."
