Chapter 13 - Margaret’s Last Lie)
Margaret Cross looked smaller without diamonds.
Emma noticed that immediately.
They met in a private conference room at the detention facility where Margaret was being held pending a bond decision connected to financial fraud and obstruction allegations.
Claire sat outside.
Emma entered alone.
Margaret wore a plain beige uniform.
Her blonde gray hair was tied back.
Still, she sat straight.
Proud.
Controlled.
“You came.”
Emma took the chair across from her.
“You asked.”
Margaret studied her.
“Daniel looks terrible.”
Emma almost laughed.
“You brought me here to discuss Daniel?”
“He is my son.”
“You should have remembered that before destroying his life.”
Margaret’s eyes hardened.
“I saved his life.”
“No.”
“You know nothing about what his father left behind.”
“I know about the debt.”
“Then you know Daniel would have lost everything.”
“Businesses fail.”
“Crosses do not.”
Emma leaned back.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“The thing you love more than your children.”
Margaret’s jaw tightened.
Emma continued.
“The name.”
“You enjoyed the name when it opened doors for you.”
“I enjoyed Daniel.”
Margaret looked away.
Emma finally understood something she had missed for years.
Margaret did not hate Emma because Emma was weak.
She hated her because Daniel had loved someone more than the family identity Margaret controlled.
“You were afraid of me,” Emma said.
Margaret laughed.
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“You were.”
“I tolerated you.”
“You forged my signatures.”
“To protect assets.”
“You stole my passport.”
“To stop you making a foolish scene overseas.”
“You intercepted messages.”
“You distracted Daniel.”
“You tried to have me declared incompetent.”
Margaret leaned forward.
“Because you were destroying my family.”
Emma stared at her.
“No. I was becoming part of it.”
Margaret’s face changed.
There.
The truth.
Emma felt strangely calm.
“You couldn’t stand that Daniel built something with someone you didn’t control.”
Margaret remained silent.
“So you convinced him I was the danger.”
“You were.”
“No. I was the person who might eventually make him see you clearly.”
For the first time, Margaret’s composure completely broke.
“You think he chooses you?”
Emma did not answer.
“He always comes back to his blood.”
Emma smiled faintly.
“This was never about him choosing me.”
Margaret frowned.
Emma leaned closer.
“It was about me choosing myself.”
Margaret stared at her.
Emma stood.
“We are finished.”
“Sit down.”
“No.”
“I have not finished.”
“I have.”
Emma turned toward the door.
Margaret’s voice sharpened.
“Robert Lane was a coward.”
Emma stopped.
Very slowly she looked back.
Margaret realized she had said too much.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“You mentioned Robert.”
“He was part of this.”
“No. You called him a coward.”
Margaret looked toward the observation window.
Emma sat again.
“What happened to Robert?”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do.”
Margaret’s lips tightened.
Emma waited.
Silence became pressure.
Finally Margaret whispered, “Vale frightened him.”
Emma’s pulse accelerated.
“How?”
“He threatened Robert’s family.”
“Did Vale cause the crash?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you know he planned to?”
Margaret looked away.
Emma felt cold.
“You knew.”
“I told Vale not to do anything reckless.”
Emma stared.
“What did he say?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“That fear makes people drive badly.”
Emma stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“You knew.”
“I did not order anything.”
“But after Robert died, you kept working with Vale.”
Margaret said nothing.
Emma walked to the door and opened it.
Claire looked up.
Emma’s face was white.
“Get the investigator.”
“Why?”
Emma looked back through the glass.
Margaret sat alone beneath fluorescent light.
“Because she just gave us Robert.”
The reopened investigation moved quickly after that.
Traffic camera footage placed a vehicle associated with Vale near Robert’s car shortly before the crash.
Maintenance records showed tampering with a brake line.
A former employee of Vale’s admitted purchasing the required equipment.
Vale eventually negotiated cooperation.
He claimed Margaret had not explicitly ordered Robert’s death.
But she had concealed evidence after discovering what happened.
It was enough for additional charges.
Jennifer entered a plea on financial crimes and obstruction.
Lucas testified.
Margaret continued insisting everything had been done for the Cross family.
Daniel visited her only once.
Emma did not attend.
When he returned, he called Emma.
“How was it?”
Daniel was quiet.
“She asked me to forgive her.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her forgiveness and access are different things.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“And?”
“I said I hope one day I can stop hating what she did.”
He paused.
“But she will never control my life again.”
Emma looked through the window of her new apartment.
Dallas lights stretched beneath her.
“Daniel.”
“Yes?”
“Come over.”
He went silent.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Twenty minutes later, Emma opened the door.
Daniel stood in the hallway.
No suit.
No suitcase.
No grand entrance.
Just Daniel.
Emma stepped aside.
They sat on the floor because her furniture had not arrived.
They talked until nearly sunrise.
About Singapore.
About Robert.
About fear.
About the children they had once discussed having.
About the years they could never recover.
Daniel cried.
Emma had seen him cry only once before, at his father’s funeral.
This time she did not comfort him immediately.
He needed to feel it.
Eventually she reached for his hand.
Daniel looked down at their fingers.
“Does this mean we’re okay?”
Emma shook her head.
“No.”
He nodded.
Then Emma squeezed his hand.
May you like
“But it means we’re here.”
For now, that was enough.
