Chapter 14 - What Margaret Finally Confessed
Margaret refused to leave.
After Henry was escorted from the building, she sat in Olivia's office staring at her hands.
For once, the elegance seemed gone.
No performance.
No contempt.
Just exhaustion.
Olivia closed the door.
"Tell me."
Margaret whispered:
"I loved you."
Olivia felt anger rise.
"That isn't an answer."
"I need you to understand that."
"No. You need me to forgive you before you've confessed."
Margaret looked up.
Tears filled her eyes.
"You were seven weeks old when I first held you."
Olivia waited.
"Henry brought you home."
"From Eleanor?"
Margaret nodded.
"She needed help."
"That's the story Mercer told."
"It's true."
"For six months?"
Margaret looked away.
"She came back after six weeks."
Olivia's breath caught.
"Six weeks?"
"She wanted you."
"And you refused."
Margaret began crying.
"I had lost Rebecca."
The stillborn child.
"I couldn't sleep. I couldn't eat. Then you came into the house and..."
She covered her mouth.
"I became alive again."
Olivia's voice softened only slightly.
"So you stole me."
Margaret flinched.
"I told myself Eleanor wasn't stable."
"Was she?"
"She was grieving."
"That's not the same thing."
"I know that now."
"No. You knew it then."
Margaret looked down.
Olivia continued.
"Who was my biological father?"
"I don't know."
"Don't lie."
"I'm not."
"Thomas Avery?"
"Possibly."
"Edward Vale?"
Margaret closed her eyes.
"Possibly."
Olivia laughed in disbelief.
"Wonderful."
"Eleanor was married to Edward."
"And having an affair with Thomas."
"Yes."
"Did either know who fathered me?"
"No."
"Did Henry?"
"No."
"Then why did he tell me Thomas wasn't my father?"
"To hurt you."
That sounded painfully believable.
Olivia walked toward the window.
"Why does Edward say Charles stole me?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Because Edward wanted custody."
"After Eleanor?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"After she died."
Olivia turned.
"Eleanor died twelve years ago. I was twenty-four."
Margaret nodded.
"So why would he have custody of an adult woman?"
"He didn't mean legal custody."
Olivia went still.
"What did he mean?"
Margaret's hands shook.
"Eleanor left something to you."
"What?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Money?"
"Not just money."
"Then what?"
"Shares."
Olivia remembered Charles's language.
Beneficial successor.
Conditional control.
"Shares in what?"
"Avery-Vale Group."
Olivia frowned.
"Never heard of it."
"It didn't operate under that name publicly."
"What did it own?"
Margaret looked toward the skyline.
"Pieces of everything."
The phrase made Olivia uneasy.
"How much?"
"I don't know."
"Who controls it now?"
"Nobody entirely."
Olivia sat across from her.
"Explain."
Margaret swallowed.
"Thomas and Edward built an investment network together. Charles provided early capital."
"And Eleanor?"
"She inherited Thomas's interests after his death."
"Because they were lovers?"
"No."
Margaret shook her head.
"Because Thomas had already transferred them to her."
Olivia stared.
"Then when Eleanor died..."
"They passed to her child."
"Me."
Margaret nodded.
Olivia felt dizzy.
"So Charles wasn't leaving me his empire."
"Not exactly."
"He was protecting an inheritance from my biological family."
"Yes."
"And Henry wanted it."
Margaret did not answer.
"Say it."
"Yes."
Olivia stood.
"How long did he know?"
"From the beginning."
There it was.
Every pressure campaign.
Every demand.
Every attempt to place himself inside Olivia's businesses.
Henry had not merely been possessive.
He had been waiting.
Waiting for assets tied to Olivia to become reachable.
"Why didn't those shares come to me when Eleanor died?"
"Charles blocked the transfer."
"Why?"
"He believed Edward would manipulate you."
"Was he right?"
"I don't know."
"Then where are the shares?"
Margaret whispered:
"Locked behind a succession condition."
"What condition?"
"I don't know."
Olivia stepped closer.
"You spent thirty-six years lying about my mother. Don't tell me you don't know."
Margaret suddenly looked frightened.
"Henry searched for years."
"For what?"
"The original Avery-Vale partnership certificate."
"And?"
"Without it, nobody can prove which class of shares Eleanor held."
"Where is it?"
"Charles hid it."
"Second ledger?"
Margaret shook her head.
"Different."
Olivia's phone buzzed.
A message from Edward.
MIDNIGHT.
OLD REED INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT THE CERTIFICATE.
Olivia showed Margaret.
All color left her mother's face.
"No."
"You recognize the place."
"Don't go."
"Why?"
"Because that's where Thomas died."
Olivia froze.
"The official record says car crash."
Margaret began shaking.
"It wasn't."
"What happened?"
"I don't know everything."
"Tell me what you know."
Margaret looked toward the closed office door.
Then whispered:
"Thomas met Henry there the night before his death."
Olivia's blood went cold.
"Why?"
"Because Thomas had discovered something."
"What?"
"I never knew."
"What happened at the warehouse?"
May you like
Margaret's voice broke.
"Henry came home covered in blood."
