Chapter 12
My father’s car went off an icy road five years earlier.
That was the official story.
He died two months before Christian and I went public.
Christian had sung at the memorial.
He held my hand at the burial.
He said Dad would want me to keep living.
Now a folder on his drive was titled The Accident.
Eleanor did not let me open it alone.
Jonah came.
Dr. Chen stayed close.
Gabriel sat in the corner looking like he might be sick.
The first file was a photo of my father’s car.
Before the crash.
Brake line exposed.
Cut clean.
The second file was an audio note.
Christian’s voice.
“Margaret says once Hart is gone, Genevieve will be easier to guide.”
My world narrowed.
The third file was Margaret.
“If you want the girl, remove the father. Robert Hart will never let you near the trust.”
I could not breathe.
Dr. Chen placed oxygen under my nose.
Eleanor’s face had gone white with rage.
The fourth file was a payment to a mechanic.
The fifth was a nondisclosure agreement.
The sixth was a video of Christian drunk, laughing.
“Robert never liked me anyway.”
I screamed then.
Not loudly at first.
Then louder.
A raw sound.
A sound from under skin.
Eleanor held my hand until it passed.
“My father knew,” I whispered.
“He suspected.”
“And Christian killed him.”
“Margaret ordered it,” Jonah said carefully. “Christian participated.”
Same difference to my heart.
The police reopened my father’s death investigation that night.
Margaret was arrested before sunrise.
She wore diamonds when they took her.
May you like
She asked if she could change clothes.
The detective said no.
