Chapter 7 - THE MARRIAGE MARGARET WANTED FOR THE WRONG REASON
I remembered the first Christmas I spent with Ethan's family.
Margaret was unusually warm.
Lauren wasn't.
At the time, I thought Margaret simply liked me.
Now I knew she liked my father's balance sheet.
She had investigated me after our third date.
Discovered Daniel Whitmore.
Discovered Whitmore Group.
Then told Ethan:
“Claire seems stable.”
Stable.
That had been her word.
Apparently it meant capitalized.
“Did she introduce us?” I asked Ethan.
“No.”
That mattered.
We met at a graduate fundraiser.
Randomly.
Our relationship was ours.
But Margaret saw opportunity afterward.
Then she forged Whitmore support behind us.
Apex expanded.
Ethan believed financing came from a syndicate impressed by company growth.
In reality, lenders thought Whitmore stood behind Apex.
My family name had been used as invisible collateral.
For seven years.
Dad looked at Ethan.
“You never reviewed the original facilities?”
Ethan's embarrassment answered.
He inherited the structure from his mother and CFO.
Trusted it.
Signed renewals.
Didn't inspect foundations.
That was his failure.
Not fraud.
Carelessness.
Then security found Lauren.
Not at the lake house.
At Austin Executive Airport.
Private jet fueled.
Two suitcases.
Cash.
She was detained before departure because Whitmore's attorneys had already filed fraud notices.
Margaret remained missing.
Then I received a text.
Mom.
Not mine.
Margaret.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND WHY SOPHIE WAS IN THAT OFFICE.
My stomach tightened.
Sophie had been at Apex because Margaret called me with an urgent errand.
Then somehow left my daughter near Ethan's office.
That had never made sense.
Now it did.
“She put Sophie there.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
Bait?
Witness?
Accident?
I called Margaret.
She answered.
“Claire.”
“You left my daughter with Vanessa.”
“No.”
Her voice sounded exhausted.
“I left Sophie in Ethan's office because I knew the blue folder would be there.”
My blood ran cold.
“You used my six-year-old child to retrieve documents?”
“I asked her to bring me a blue folder.”
I could barely speak.
“You sent a child into a corporate conspiracy.”
“I thought the office was empty.”
“And Vanessa hit her.”
Silence.
Margaret whispered:
“I never expected that.”
Nobody ever expects the worst consequence when using children as tools.
Then she said:
“I needed the folder before Lauren destroyed it.”
That changed direction.
“You aren't helping Lauren?”
“Not anymore.”
Not anymore.
So she had.
Margaret admitted supporting the plan to remove Ethan.
But she discovered Lauren intended to steal money and frame her brother criminally.
Margaret wanted him replaced as CEO, not imprisoned.
“Mother of the year,” Ethan muttered.
She ignored him.
Then she revealed why she had turned.
Lauren wasn't merely trying to control Apex.
She planned to sell it.
Buyer:
Merrick Defense Systems.
A company Ethan had repeatedly refused to work with because of regulatory investigations.
Sale value:
$3.8 billion.
Lauren's personal payout:
Nearly $140 million.
And she had already signed a secret preliminary agreement.
One signature remained required.
Mine.
Not as Ethan's wife.
May you like
As beneficiary of the Whitmore warrants.
Lauren needed my twenty-four percent to force the sale.
