Chapter 13 - What Margaret Wanted)
Margaret returned on a Thursday morning.
She walked into a police station two counties away and surrendered.
No disguise.
No lawyer.
No weapon.
She carried a brown leather ledger against her chest.
Within hours, Daniel was sitting across from her in an interview room separated by glass.
Margaret looked older than he remembered.
Tired.
Her gray hair had escaped its usual neat style.
For twenty nine years she had been Margaret Sloan.
Now Daniel could only see Rebecca Hartwell.
"You hurt my daughter."
Margaret lowered her eyes.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I thought Evelyn would be blamed."
"That's not an answer."
"It is the truth."
"You put a loop around Lily's wrist."
"I planned to catch her."
"You removed the weight."
"Yes."
"The balloons lifted her."
"They weren't supposed to."
"You sound exactly like my mother."
Margaret flinched.
Daniel leaned closer.
"Nothing permanent. Is that what you told yourself?"
Tears appeared in her eyes.
"I have no excuse."
"No."
"I spent thirty years believing everything was justified if it exposed Evelyn."
Daniel's face hardened.
"Then you became her."
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Yes."
That single answer removed some of Daniel's anger.
Not because it forgave her.
Because she did not defend herself.
He looked at the ledger.
"Is that my father's?"
Margaret nodded.
"Where did you find it?"
"Rosewood."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What is Rosewood?"
"A children's home."
"Where?"
"It closed eighteen years ago."
"David?"
Margaret's face changed.
"He lived there for seven months."
"Then where did he go?"
"I moved him."
"Where?"
"He was adopted privately."
"By whom?"
"I won't tell you."
Daniel stood.
"You nearly killed my daughter and now you think you get to protect secrets?"
Margaret looked at him.
"David made me promise."
"David is alive."
"Yes."
Daniel gripped the table.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know anymore."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I lost contact with him fourteen years ago."
"Why?"
"Because he learned the truth."
"About my mother?"
"About you."
Daniel stared.
Margaret continued.
"David believed Richard chose you."
"What?"
"He believed your father sent him away so you could inherit everything."
"That's not what happened."
"I know."
"Did you tell him?"
"Many times."
"Then why would he believe it?"
Margaret's voice dropped.
"Because Evelyn found him."
Daniel froze.
"When?"
"After Richard died."
"How?"
"I don't know."
"What did she tell him?"
"That you remembered him and chose not to look for him."
Daniel stepped back as if struck.
"I was seven."
"I know."
"She told a child I abandoned him."
Margaret nodded.
"She sent him photographs of you growing up at the mansion."
Daniel closed his eyes.
Birthday parties.
Private schools.
Vacations.
Every photograph could have looked like proof that one twin had been chosen while the other disappeared.
Margaret continued.
"David became obsessed with reclaiming what he believed was stolen."
"The company?"
"His identity."
Daniel sat again.
"Was he involved in the garden party?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Did he send me messages afterward?"
"I don't know."
"Did he call me?"
Margaret looked frightened.
"What call?"
Daniel explained.
Her face drained of color.
"He contacted you?"
"Yes."
"What did he say?"
"Don't trust Victor. Don't go to the Mercer house."
Margaret looked toward the observation window.
"You need protection."
"From my brother?"
"From everyone."
Daniel almost laughed.
"That's becoming repetitive."
Margaret pushed the ledger toward the glass.
"Your mother's crimes are all in there. Fraud. Bribery. Illegal transfers. Payments after Thomas died. Payments after Richard died."
"Proof she killed them?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"Proof she had reasons to want them gone."
Daniel stared at the ledger.
Margaret's eyes filled.
"I thought destroying Evelyn would make everything right."
"Did it?"
"No."
"What made you stop?"
Margaret looked through the glass directly at him.
"Lily."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"When she fell, she looked at me."
Margaret wiped her eyes.
"She didn't understand why an adult she trusted had hurt her."
Daniel looked away.
Margaret whispered, "I knew that look."
"From David?"
"From myself."
She sat straighter.
"I will testify."
"Against Evelyn?"
"Against myself too."
Daniel looked at her.
"I removed the weight. I tied the balloons. I endangered Lily. Whatever happens to me is deserved."
For the first time since the garden party, Daniel felt something close to justice.
Not revenge.
Responsibility.
Margaret could not undo what she had done.
But she could stop pretending her cause excused it.
Before Daniel left, he asked one final question.
"If David hates me, why warn me?"
Margaret looked at the table.
"I don't know."
"Guess."
She hesitated.
"Because hate is rarely pure when it begins as love."
That night federal investigators executed warrants at Mercer Holdings.
Evelyn was removed from her office in front of cameras.
She was not handcuffed.
Not yet.
But the board suspended her.
The trust amendment was frozen.
Claire's professional complaint was dismissed after investigators traced the forged reports to a consulting firm paid by a Mercer subsidiary.
Daniel's financing returned when the bank reversed its review.
For the first time, Evelyn's power appeared to be shrinking.
Daniel came home after sunset.
Claire stood in the kitchen with Lily.
Lily held a pink balloon.
Daniel stopped.
Claire explained.
"She saw it at the grocery store."
Daniel crouched slowly.
Lily smiled.
"No scary."
He swallowed.
"No, sweetheart."
She handed him the string.
"Daddy hold."
Daniel took it.
Lily released her hand.
The balloon floated above them.
She did not cry.
Claire did.
May you like
So did Daniel.
For the first time since the party, the balloons were only balloons.
