Chapter 9 - hawthorne house
David left before sunrise.
The transmitter moved north along the highway.
Richard and Maya followed in a separate vehicle while Sarah remained home with Emma.
At seven, Margaret arrived carrying two suitcases.
One belonged to Sarah.
The other belonged to Emma.
“We are not going anywhere,” Sarah said.
Margaret entered without invitation.
“David told me you agreed to a family weekend.”
“He lied.”
Margaret placed the suitcases beside the stairs.
“You have been under pressure.”
“I am not going to Hawthorne House.”
The name struck its target.
Margaret’s face became still.
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Then why did Northbridge pay them?”
“I have no idea.”
Sarah took out her phone.
“I recorded that answer.”
“You have become paranoid.”
“And you have become predictable.”
Margaret closed the front door.
“Where is Emma?”
“Upstairs.”
“I’m taking her with me.”
“No.”
“David has authorized it.”
“David does not own her.”
“He is her father.”
“And I am her mother.”
“For now.”
Sarah looked at Margaret.
The mask finally slipped.
“What does that mean?”
“It means the court may soon decide that Emma needs stability.”
“Stability with the people stealing from her mother?”
Margaret laughed softly.
“You have no proof.”
“Then why are you afraid of Maya Chen?”
Margaret’s eyes sharpened.
“I knew I recognized her.”
“She recognized you too.”
“From where?”
“Meridian Stewardship.”
Margaret’s confidence weakened.
Sarah continued.
“My father is following David to Hawthorne House. By now, he has probably photographed every person David meets.”
Margaret looked toward the driveway.
Sarah saw the calculation.
Should she warn David?
Should she leave?
Should she continue pretending?
Her phone rang.
She answered without taking her eyes off Sarah.
“What?”
David’s voice was loud enough for Sarah to hear.
“Richard is here.”
Margaret turned away.
“Then leave.”
“I can’t. Pierce has the paperwork.”
“Destroy it.”
“It has already been filed.”
Sarah began recording.
David continued.
“If Sarah does not arrive by noon, the petition expires.”
“Then I’ll bring her.”
“And Emma?”
“I have her.”
“No, you don’t,” Sarah said loudly.
Silence followed.
Margaret ended the call.
“You should not have done that.”
“What?”
“Humiliated him.”
“I told him the truth.”
“You never understood David.”
“No. I understood him too late.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“When he was thirteen, his father abandoned us. We lost everything. Our home, our friends, our place in society.”
“So you taught him to steal other people’s homes?”
“I taught him never to be powerless.”
“You taught him that love is ownership.”
“I taught him to survive.”
“By destroying my mother?”
Margaret’s expression changed.
“Eleanor destroyed herself.”
“Dr. Pierce found her competent.”
“You have been speaking to Richard.”
“I found the evaluation.”
That was a lie, but Margaret believed it.
“Then you also know Eleanor accused us of taking money from the foundation.”
“Was she right?”
Margaret looked toward the staircase.
Sarah moved between her and Emma’s room.
“You will not go near my daughter.”
“Do you know why Eleanor placed the trust outside your marriage?”
“To protect it.”
“No. To punish David.”
“She barely knew David when she created it.”
Margaret smiled.
“The trust existed before you met him. But the restrictions were changed six months before your wedding.”
Sarah had never known that.
“What restrictions?”
“Ask your father.”
“What did my mother discover?”
Margaret’s confidence returned.
“She discovered that Richard Hale was not the honest man everyone believed.”
Before Sarah could respond, Margaret reached into her handbag.
Sarah tensed.
But Margaret removed only a folded document.
It was a copy of the Eleanor Blackwell Trust amendment.
A handwritten note appeared beneath her mother’s signature.
Protect Sarah from the Hales and the Mercers.
Sarah read the sentence twice.
“The Hales?” she whispered.
Her own family name.
Margaret leaned closer.
“Your mother was not only afraid of us.”
A car door slammed outside.
Margaret looked through the window.
May you like
Dr. Pierce was walking toward the house.
Two attendants followed him.
