Chapter 13 - the mother before margaret
Margaret was taken into custody for questioning.
This time, she did not ask for a family attorney.
She asked for Claire.
They met in a guarded interview room before sunrise.
Margaret sat with both hands around a paper cup of water.
Claire remained standing.
“Start at the beginning.”
Margaret looked at the purple logo printed on the cup and pushed it away.
“Evelyn Cross was a research assistant at Vale Life Sciences. She was brilliant, ambitious, and completely devoted to the Violet program.”
“Andrew’s biological mother.”
“Yes.”
“Who was his father?”
“My older brother, Charles.”
Claire remembered Charles Vale only from photographs. He had died before Andrew’s official birth.
“Andrew was your nephew.”
“Biologically.”
“But you raised him as your son.”
“My father arranged it. Charles was married, and Evelyn was considered unsuitable. The company needed access to Andrew’s medical data without questions.”
“So they gave him to you.”
Margaret’s eyes hardened.
“They did not give him to me. They placed him in my arms and told me he would die unless I cooperated.”
Claire sat across from her.
“What was wrong with him?”
“A genetic disorder connected to the Vale bloodline. The Violet treatment stabilized him.”
“At the cost of six other children?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“I did not know about the others until years later.”
“Did Evelyn?”
“She helped design the program.”
“Then why threaten Harper?”
“Because Evelyn believes Andrew’s biology produced a second success.”
“Harper.”
“Yes.”
Claire thought of the phrase paternal markers.
“They wanted Harper’s sample to confirm that she inherited whatever made Andrew survive.”
Margaret nodded.
“What happens if she did?”
“They will use her to restart the program.”
Claire’s hands curled into fists.
“They will not touch her.”
“You cannot protect her with anger.”
“And you protected her by making her collapse?”
Margaret looked ashamed.
“The drink was supposed to contain only the marker. Mercer added the fruit concentrate.”
“Why?”
“To force a medical response and obtain samples at the hospital.”
“Then you knew Mercer had changed the plan.”
“I realized too late.”
“You still tried to take Nolan’s phone.”
“I needed Evelyn to believe the recording would be destroyed.”
“Why?”
“Because she was watching.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Did Evelyn steal the data drive from the vault?”
“Probably.”
“What was on it?”
“Records linking the Violet program to judges, hospitals, adoption agencies, and private clinics. Andrew spent years collecting evidence.”
“Why did he tell me none of this?”
“He was planning to.”
“Before Mercer killed him?”
Margaret looked at the mirrored window.
“I don’t know whether Mercer caused the crash.”
“Sabrina saw him return with blood on his shirt.”
“He claimed he tried to pull Andrew from the car.”
“Do you believe him?”
“No.”
The answer came quietly.
Claire asked, “Why did the woman at the bank look like me?”
Margaret’s face tightened again.
“That was Evelyn.”
“She disguised herself as me before Andrew and I were even together.”
“Andrew had already met you.”
Claire shook her head.
“That photograph was taken eleven years ago. I met Andrew nine years ago.”
“No.”
Margaret looked directly at her.
“You met him when you were nineteen.”
Claire searched her memory.
At nineteen, she had been recovering from a car accident that left several weeks of her life confused and fragmented. She remembered college, Nolan visiting the hospital, and long headaches.
She did not remember Andrew.
Margaret continued.
“You and Andrew met at Northbridge University. You were together for almost a year.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You discovered part of the Violet program. Evelyn arranged the accident.”
Claire could hear her own heartbeat.
“Why don’t I remember?”
“You were treated at a Vale clinic.”
“What did they do to me?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Andrew believed your memory loss protected you. He stayed away.”
“Until we met again two years later.”
“He called it a miracle.”
Claire remembered Andrew’s surprise the first time they met at a charity concert.
She had thought he was simply awkward.
Now she understood.
He already knew her.
“Why did Evelyn disguise herself as me at the bank?”
“To place a second trust inside box 417.”
“The bait document.”
Margaret nodded.
“Andrew wanted Evelyn to believe she controlled his inheritance plan.”
“Which trust is real?”
“The trust signed by you.”
“I never signed it.”
Margaret stared at her.
“You did.”
Claire felt the room go cold.
“Before the accident.”
“Then why is my signature on the vault record from after the accident?”
“Because Evelyn copied it.”
Claire pressed both hands against the table.
“Where is the real trust now?”
Margaret’s voice lowered.
“Not in box 417.”
“Where?”
“Andrew hid it inside something Evelyn would never destroy.”
Claire thought of the birthday room.
The gifts.
The photographs.
The silver moon bracelet.
“What?”
May you like
Margaret’s eyes met hers.
“Harper’s purple unicorn cup.”
