Chapter 10 - MARGARET’S BARGAIN
Margaret refused to speak unless Claire entered the interrogation room.
Nora objected.
Claire insisted.
Margaret sat behind a bolted metal table wearing a gray detention uniform. Without her tailored clothes and expensive jewelry, she appeared smaller, but no less dangerous.
A bruise darkened one side of her face.
Claire remained standing.
“You wanted me here.”
Margaret studied her stomach.
“The twins survived.”
It was not a question.
“No thanks to you.”
Margaret looked away.
For the first time since Claire had known her, shame appeared briefly in the older woman’s eyes.
It vanished almost immediately.
“I lost control.”
“You picked up a bat.”
“You provoked me.”
Claire turned toward the door.
“Wait.”
Margaret’s handcuffs struck the table.
“Adrian will come for your children.”
Claire stopped.
“Why?”
“Because of the trust.”
“He wants the money?”
“He wants to destroy the Hale bloodline.”
“They are your granddaughters. You nearly killed them yourself.”
Margaret’s lips tightened.
“I never intended to strike your stomach.”
Claire stared at her.
“You swung twice.”
“The first blow was meant for your arm.”
“And that makes you innocent?”
“No.”
The word surprised them both.
Margaret lowered her voice.
“I am not asking forgiveness.”
“Good.”
“I am offering information.”
“In exchange for what?”
“Protection.”
Claire almost laughed.
“You spent months creating records to make me appear unstable.”
“I did not alter your medical file.”
“You prepared guardianship papers.”
“To protect the trust from Adrian.”
“You wanted control of my children.”
“I wanted him kept away from them.”
Claire leaned over the table.
“Tell me who I am.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
So the secret was real.
“You already know enough.”
“I know I was exchanged at birth.”
“You were not exchanged.”
“Then what happened?”
Margaret looked toward the mirrored wall.
“Richard’s foundation operated a program for mothers who could not safely keep their children. At least, that was how it began.”
“And later?”
“Money attracted people without conscience.”
“Including you?”
Margaret said nothing.
Claire’s voice hardened.
“Who were my biological parents?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“I know only your mother’s first name.”
Claire waited.
“Evelyn.”
“Last name?”
“She used several.”
“Why was I given to Helen and Samuel?”
“Because Richard trusted Samuel.”
“Trusted him with what?”
Margaret leaned forward until the chain between her wrists tightened.
“With the only child who could expose everything.”
Claire felt cold despite the warm room.
“What does that mean?”
“Your biological mother kept records. Names, payments, dates. Before she disappeared, she hid them.”
“Inside the trust?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
“Richard believed she encoded their location in something connected to you.”
Claire thought of the drawing in the hidden room.
The black bird.
The changed birthday.
The numbers in Samuel’s letter.
“Why is Adrian hunting me?”
“He believes Evelyn was his mother too.”
Claire stared at her.
“Adrian may be my brother?”
“He believes you are the key to proving it.”
“Is he?”
Margaret’s face gave nothing away.
“You’re still lying.”
“I am choosing which truths will keep me alive.”
Claire turned toward the door.
Margaret called after her.
“Ask Ethan where he was the night your father died.”
Claire stopped.
Through the mirrored glass, she could see Ethan standing in the observation room.
His face had gone pale.
May you like
Margaret smiled.
“He remembers more than he told you.”
