Chapter 7 - EVELYN’S CHOICE
Evelyn arrived at the publishing office believing she was meeting Margot to finalize the anniversary documents.
Instead, she found Margot, Miriam, and Detective Foster waiting inside the conference room.
Evelyn stopped at the door.
“What is this?”
Margot placed the revised will on the table.
Evelyn saw her name.
Her face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“Lucas’s study.”
“He told me he destroyed it.”
“So you knew?”
Evelyn remained silent.
Margot pushed the document toward her.
“You helped him forge my signature. You helped him move company money. You helped him create evidence that I was mentally unstable.”
Evelyn closed the door behind her.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then explain it.”
Evelyn looked toward Detective Foster.
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not at this moment,” Lena replied.
Evelyn sat.
The confidence Margot had seen two nights earlier was gone.
“Lucas said the company was failing,” Evelyn began. “He said you were refusing to make necessary decisions.”
“You knew that wasn’t true.”
“He showed me reports.”
“Reports he created.”
Evelyn looked at the will.
“He promised we would leave after the acquisition.”
“Together?”
Evelyn nodded.
Margot felt surprisingly little pain.
The friendship she had mourned no longer seemed real enough to lose.
“How long?” she asked.
Evelyn stared at the table.
“Before you met him.”
“You introduced us.”
“Lucas needed access to the company. I needed money.”
The honesty was worse than another lie.
“My father trusted you.”
“I know.”
“I trusted you.”
“I know.”
Margot placed the enhanced image of the erased name beside the will.
Evelyn read it.
“Who is Nora Sloan?”
“A woman Lucas targeted before you became the beneficiary.”
Evelyn’s eyes moved across the page.
“He said the will named only me.”
“It did.”
Margot pointed to the indentation.
“After Nora refused him.”
For several seconds, Evelyn did not speak.
Then she whispered, “There are others.”
Detective Foster leaned forward.
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn explained that Lucas kept encrypted records on a private server. She had helped him prepare documents but had never been given complete access.
“He said it was for security.”
“It was to keep you from seeing that you were replaceable,” Margot said.
Evelyn looked toward the window.
“What happens now?”
“That depends on whether you help us.”
Miriam placed a cooperation agreement on the table.
Evelyn read every line.
Margot noticed the irony.
At last, they were all reading the fine print.
Evelyn agreed to provide access codes, emails, and recordings. She also agreed to attend the anniversary dinner and behave as though nothing had changed.
Before leaving, she paused beside Margot.
“I did care about you.”
Margot did not answer immediately.
Perhaps Evelyn believed what she had said.
Perhaps betrayal was easier to live with when mixed with a small amount of affection.
“You cared about me when it was convenient,” Margot said. “That is not the same thing.”
Evelyn lowered her eyes.
“Will you ever forgive me?”
“Forgiveness is not part of Friday’s agreement.”
Evelyn left.
Miriam watched Margot carefully.
“You handled that well.”
Margot picked up the cooperation agreement.
“No. I handled it late.”
She looked toward the city beyond the window.
May you like
“But not too late.”
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