Chapter 9
Marcus stopped denying it when Andrew returned to Philadelphia.
They met in Rachel Stein’s office.
Marcus had his attorney.
Andrew had Rachel.
Nobody raised his voice.
That made the meeting more dangerous.
“Elena told you she planned to leave.”
Marcus looked down.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three days before she died.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Marcus gave a humorless smile.
“She specifically asked me not to.”
Andrew leaned back.
“Yet Lucinda knew.”
Marcus did not respond.
Andrew repeated it.
“You told your mother.”
“Yes.”
There it was.
“Why?”
“Because Elena wasn't thinking clearly.”
“She wanted three days away.”
“She was taking Alex.”
Andrew watched him.
Marcus truly believed those words explained everything.
“You thought a mother taking her own child somewhere safe for a few days required intervention?”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“You don't understand what it would have looked like.”
Andrew almost laughed.
Again.
Looked like.
Every disaster in this family eventually returned to appearance.
Marcus continued.
“Elena was threatening to expose the restoration contracts. She was talking about leaving. She was angry at everybody. My mother thought if Elena walked out during the broadcast, the entire family would explode.”
“So she drugged her?”
Marcus looked toward his attorney.
“Careful,” the attorney said.
Andrew waited.
Marcus finally said:
“My mother wanted her calm until you arrived.”
The sentence chilled the room.
Andrew leaned forward.
“You knew?”
“I knew she was going to give Elena something.”
“What?”
“I didn't ask.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I thought it was something Elena had taken before.”
Andrew stared at him.
“Did you clear the service corridor?”
Marcus said nothing.
Andrew already had the answer.
“Why?”
“I didn't want donors seeing Elena if she caused a scene.”
Rachel wrote something down.
Marcus noticed.
His attorney whispered to him.
Marcus leaned back.
Andrew continued.
“What happened after Lucinda gave her the drink?”
“She got tired.”
“How tired?”
“She could barely stand.”
Andrew's face hardened.
Marcus looked away.
“Did you call a doctor?”
“No.”
“Did you tell me?”
“No.”
“Did you tell anyone she had been given something?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Marcus finally snapped.
“Because she fell before we understood how serious it was!”
Andrew stood.
Rachel said nothing this time.
Andrew walked to the window.
Marcus’s breathing filled the silence behind him.
Andrew turned.
“You understood enough to hide it afterward.”
Marcus looked pale.
But one question remained.
If Lucinda only wanted Elena calm until Andrew arrived, why had Elena been drugged on earlier nights?
The night she died was not the beginning.
May you like
It was the escalation.
And whatever Lucinda had been trying to control had started long before Elena decided to leave.
