Chapter 5
Richard did not accuse Mark of killing Anna.
Not yet.
That would have been easy.
And reckless.
He had spent fifty-eight years watching men turn suspicion into blood before facts arrived.
He refused to do it in front of Lily’s future.
Instead, he ordered an independent review of Anna’s crash.
Mark laughed.
“There it is.”
Richard looked at him.
“You finally found a crime dramatic enough to justify hating me.”
Richard’s expression barely moved.
“Do you think I hate you?”
Mark’s eyes sharpened.
“You’ve never respected me.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Silence.
Mark looked away first.
Richard saw something beneath the arrogance.
A son who had spent decades measuring himself against a father he could not escape.
That motive could explain theft.
Resentment.
Even cruelty.
It did not explain Lily in snow.
Richard returned to the birthday incident.
“Why punish her tonight?”
Claudia rolled her eyes.
“She ruined Ethan’s gift.”
Richard turned.
“What?”
Mark’s nephew Ethan—no Ethan not in cast. User cast only family guests, no cousin. We should not invent named children unless okay, but not needed. Claudia corrected herself? Better avoid. Let's shift: “She ruined a gift box” maybe. Need internal consistency. We'll say "She opened one of Mark's gifts" not Ethan. Let's continue carefully.
Claudia said Lily had opened one of Richard’s birthday gifts earlier.
A silver desk clock.
She claimed the child scratched it.
Richard looked at the table.
“Show me.”
Nobody moved.
The desk clock was brought in.
No scratch.
Claudia’s hand tightened around her bracelet.
Richard noticed.
“Try again.”
She exhaled sharply.
“She was snooping.”
“Where?”
No answer.
Richard looked toward Mark.
Then understood.
“The hidden room.”
Mark’s eyes shifted.
Lily had apparently followed Mark downstairs that morning.
She saw the red trunks.
She later drew them in Richard’s birthday picture.
Mark discovered the drawing before the party.
He told Claudia to get rid of it.
Claudia tried.
Lily refused.
So they put her outside.
Not initially as punishment for being spoiled.
To separate her from Richard until they could destroy the picture.
Richard’s breathing slowed.
“Why break the bicycle?”
Mark answered.
“You bought it.”
Richard frowned.
Mark’s eyes hardened.
“She worships everything you give her.”
There.
The emotional core surfaced.
Not discipline.
Competition.
Mark looked toward his father.
“She barely knows me, but she talks about Grandpa all day.”
Richard remained silent.
Mark continued.
“You walk in once a week with gifts and she looks at you like you hung the moon.”
His voice cracked.
“I live with her.”
Richard stared.
Then Claudia whispered:
“Mark.”
He ignored her.
“I’m the one who gets the tantrums. The nightmares. The crying for Anna. And then you appear and suddenly I’m the bad father.”
Richard’s voice softened slightly.
“Were you?”
Mark looked at him.
The question landed harder than accusation.
Then the accountant arrived with a new finding.
The twelve-million-dollar insurance payment from Anna’s death had not gone into Mark’s businesses.
Most of it had been transferred into an account held in Lily’s name.
Richard looked toward Mark.
Mark’s expression changed.
May you like
He had been hiding something.
But perhaps not what Richard thought.
