Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Knew Everything
Margaret Hale lived alone in a townhouse near the river.
Nathan had not spoken to her in more than a year.
When Charles died, Margaret had handled the estate.
Afterward, she quietly retired.
Nathan had assumed she was finished with Cole family business.
Now he knew she had never truly left it.
They drove directly to her house.
The lights were on.
Her front door was unlocked.
Ethan entered carefully.
“Margaret?”
No response.
The living room was immaculate.
A cup of tea still steamed on the table.
Nathan saw an open laptop.
Beside it sat a photograph of Charles Cole.
Someone had cut Nathan and Ethan out of the picture.
Vanessa noticed too.
“That’s strange.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You seem surprised by a lot tonight.”
“I am surprised.”
They heard movement upstairs.
Nathan moved toward the staircase.
A woman appeared at the landing.
Margaret Hale was seventy-two, silver-haired and usually perfectly composed.
Tonight she looked exhausted.
“Stop.”
Nathan froze.
Margaret descended slowly.
She looked at Vanessa first.
Then Ethan.
Then Nathan.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Where is Mercer?”
Margaret gave a tired smile.
“Already asking the wrong question.”
“You took Box C-17.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To stop Adrian Mercer from opening it.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“He already had authorization.”
Margaret looked at her.
“Authorization you helped him obtain.”
Vanessa’s face tightened.
Nathan raised a hand.
“Enough.”
He looked at Margaret.
“What is inside the box?”
Margaret studied him.
“Something your father spent twenty-seven years trying to bury.”
“The ledger?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“So Adrian told Vanessa about the ledger.”
Nathan nodded.
Margaret walked toward the window.
“There is a ledger.”
Vanessa exhaled.
Margaret continued.
“But that is not what Adrian wants.”
Ethan frowned.
“What does he want?”
Margaret looked at Nathan.
“A birth certificate.”
Silence filled the room.
Nathan almost laughed.
“Whose?”
Margaret did not answer immediately.
Instead, she opened a drawer beneath the coffee table.
She removed an old photograph.
Two young women stood beside Charles Cole.
One was Nathan’s mother.
The other was someone Nathan had never seen.
Margaret placed the photograph in his hand.
“Her name was Evelyn Mercer.”
Vanessa slowly sat down.
Ethan looked toward her.
“You knew that name.”
Vanessa nodded.
“Adrian’s mother.”
Nathan looked back at Margaret.
“What does Adrian’s mother have to do with my father?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with regret.
“Almost everything.”
Nathan felt cold.
Margaret pointed to the photograph.
“Before your father married your mother, Evelyn Mercer was part of his life.”
Nathan waited.
Margaret continued.
“And according to the document in Box C-17, she had his child.”
Nathan’s eyes moved toward Ethan.
Ethan stared back.
May you like
Margaret delivered the final words.
“Adrian Mercer believes Charles Cole was his father.”
