Chapter 8 - Someone Returns to the Mansion
Police reached the mansion before the family did.
Henry insisted on going.
Daniel refused to leave Olivia alone, so she stayed home under guard with Vanessa.
Margaret went with Henry.
Daniel joined them.
The mansion looked peaceful from outside.
Lights glowed through tall windows.
Pool water reflected blue against the stone patio.
Nothing suggested that hours earlier the family had nearly shattered there.
Inside, the library safe stood open.
Nothing obvious was missing.
Because nothing important had been inside.
But the intruder had searched aggressively.
Drawers dumped.
Books pulled from shelves.
Desk panels removed.
On the carpet lay one object.
A photograph.
Daniel picked it up.
It showed him at age five between Margaret and Richard.
Richard’s face had been cut out.
A note was written across the back.
Ask your mother what she promised me.
Daniel turned toward Margaret.
She stared at the note.
“I never promised him anything.”
Henry’s face hardened.
“Not recently.”
Margaret looked at him.
Daniel said, “What does that mean?”
Henry did not answer.
Margaret closed her eyes.
“After the divorce, Richard threatened to take Vanessa.”
Vanessa had been two.
Daniel was fourteen.
Richard claimed Margaret’s affair made her unfit.
He demanded money to walk away.
“How much?” Daniel asked.
“Two million.”
“You paid him?”
Margaret nodded.
“Where did you get two million dollars?”
She looked at Henry.
Daniel did too.
Henry sighed.
“I gave it to her.”
Daniel’s anger rose again.
“You paid Dad to disappear.”
“I paid to protect two children from a custody war.”
“And nobody thought to mention this?”
Margaret said, “You were fourteen.”
“I’m thirty-eight now.”
Henry accepted that.
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at the note.
“What did Mom promise?”
Margaret’s eyes filled.
“That if he left us alone, I would never pursue the paternity issue.”
Daniel went still.
“So Dad knew I might not be his.”
“Yes.”
“And he still legally remained my father.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Because despite everything, he loved you once.”
That answer was the cruelest.
Because it meant Richard had not always been a villain.
People rarely began as one thing.
They became themselves through choices.
A detective found a partial fingerprint on the safe.
The print matched Richard’s old military records.
He was alive.
That was now certain.
Daniel called Olivia.
She answered immediately.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Did they find him?”
“No.”
“What did he take?”
“Nothing.”
A pause.
Then Vanessa screamed in the background.
Daniel’s blood turned cold.
“Olivia?”
The line went dead.
He ran.
At the house, the guard posted outside had been found unconscious in the side yard.
Not seriously hurt.
The kitchen door stood open.
Vanessa was in the hallway, shaking.
Olivia was safe.
She sat against the wall with both hands around her belly.
Daniel dropped beside her.
“What happened?”
“A man came in.”
“Richard?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he touch you?”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“He didn’t come for me.”
Daniel looked around.
“Then why?”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“He took Mom’s phone.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
“Mom left it here before going to the mansion. He knew.”
Olivia added, “He said one thing.”
“What?”
She looked at Daniel.
“Tell Margaret I kept my side of the bargain.”
Daniel felt the room go cold.
The old agreement was not over.
May you like
It had never been over.
And Richard had just stolen the one device that might prove exactly what Margaret had done for him.
