Chapter 2 - THE DINNER WITH NO WINDOWS
Margaret’s house stood behind tall iron gates in one of Boston’s most exclusive neighborhoods.
Thomas had purchased the property twenty-five years earlier. After his death, he left Margaret the right to live there for the remainder of her life, but Evelyn technically owned the estate.
Margaret behaved as though that detail did not exist.
When Evelyn arrived, she found Ryan sitting alone in the dining room.
The curtains were closed despite the early evening sunlight.
A bottle of whiskey stood open beside him.
“You look terrible,” Evelyn said.
Ryan laughed weakly.
“You always know how to make someone feel better.”
“Mother said you stole from the company.”
“I borrowed.”
“How much?”
He poured another drink.
“Eight hundred thousand.”
“She said more than two million.”
Ryan looked toward the doorway.
“She exaggerates.”
Margaret entered carrying a tray of food prepared by the household staff.
“No, I don’t.”
Ryan slammed the glass down.
“Stay out of this.”
“You dragged me into it,” Margaret replied. “You came here crying like a child.”
Evelyn remained standing.
“Where did the money go?”
Ryan rubbed his face.
“I made an investment.”
“In what?”
“A medical distribution network.”
“Which company?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters if you used Carter Biomedical funds.”
“I intended to repay it.”
“From what?”
Ryan said nothing.
Evelyn pulled out her phone.
“I’m calling legal counsel.”
Margaret grabbed her wrist.
“No.”
Evelyn looked down at her mother’s hand.
“Let go of me.”
“You can solve this without destroying your brother.”
“He stole company money.”
“He made a mistake.”
“A mistake is missing a meeting. This is fraud.”
Ryan rose from the chair.
“Don’t pretend you care about company money. You’re sitting on billions while your own family has to beg.”
“You received five million dollars from Dad’s trust.”
“It’s tied up.”
“You lost it.”
“I was building something.”
“You were gambling.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“You’ve always wanted me to fail.”
“No, Ryan. You simply resent everyone who refuses to finance your failures.”
Margaret moved between them.
“Enough.”
Evelyn pulled her wrist free.
“I want a full accounting by tomorrow morning. Every transaction. Every account. Every person involved.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“And then?”
“Then I decide whether the company reports you.”
“You decide?”
“I own the controlling shares.”
Margaret looked at her with quiet disgust.
“You enjoy saying that.”
“I didn’t ask Dad to leave them to me.”
“No,” Margaret replied. “You only made sure he believed you were the responsible one.”
“He believed what he saw.”
Ryan lifted his glass again.
“Maybe he didn’t see everything.”
Evelyn noticed something in his tone.
“What does that mean?”
He glanced at Margaret.
She looked away.
Evelyn slowly lowered her phone.
“What are you hiding?”
Margaret walked toward the window and adjusted a curtain that did not need adjusting.
“Your father changed his will two weeks before he died.”
“I know.”
“He was heavily medicated.”
“He was evaluated by two independent doctors.”
“He was confused.”
“The court disagreed.”
“The court only saw what you showed them.”
Evelyn’s patience disappeared.
“This conversation is over.”
As she turned toward the hallway, Ryan spoke behind her.
“Do you know why Dad really gave you the company?”
Evelyn stopped.
“Because he trusted me.”
Ryan laughed.
“No.”
Margaret whispered his name in warning.
Ryan ignored her.
“He gave it to you because he was afraid.”
Evelyn turned back.
“Afraid of what?”
Ryan looked directly at her.
“Of what would happen if the truth came out.”
Margaret slapped him.
The sound echoed through the dining room.
Ryan stared at her, shocked.
Evelyn had never seen Margaret strike him before.
Not once.
“What truth?” Evelyn asked.
Margaret’s face had gone white.
“Your brother is drunk.”
“What truth?”
“There is no truth.”
Ryan touched his cheek and smiled bitterly.
“Ask her about Julian Mercer.”
Evelyn knew the name.
Dr. Julian Mercer had co-founded Carter Biomedical and disappeared from public life eighteen years earlier after being accused of stealing company research.
Thomas had claimed Julian betrayed him.
Margaret claimed she barely remembered him.
Evelyn looked at her mother.
“What does Julian Mercer have to do with Dad’s will?”
Margaret walked toward the door.
“Nothing.”
Evelyn caught her arm.
“Mother.”
Margaret looked down at Evelyn’s hand with the same cold warning Evelyn had given her moments earlier.
“Let go.”
Evelyn released her.
Margaret turned to face both of her children.
“Some things stay buried because digging them up destroys everyone.”
Ryan took another drink.
“Maybe everyone deserves to be destroyed.”
Margaret’s eyes sharpened.
“You have until tomorrow morning,” Evelyn told him.
She left the dining room without touching the food.
As she walked through the dark hallway, she heard Margaret whisper behind her.
“You should never have brought her here.”
Ryan answered quietly.
“She was going to find out anyway.”
Outside, Evelyn climbed into her car.
Before starting the engine, she checked the back seat.
Empty.
She locked the doors.
Her phone vibrated.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
YOUR BROTHER IS NOT THE ONLY THIEF.
Attached was a scanned photograph dated twenty years earlier.
It showed Thomas Carter, Margaret Carter, and Julian Mercer standing together in a laboratory.
On the table between them was a silver case marked HELIX.
Evelyn enlarged the image.
Margaret was looking at Julian.
Not like a colleague.
May you like
Not like a stranger.
Her hand was resting inside his.
