Chapter 5 - THE SISTER WHO DISAPPEARED
Margaret Cole had supposedly been dead for eight years.
Yet someone had just sent me proof that she was alive.
We spent the next twenty-four hours searching for her.
The sender gave us only one clue.
A motel address in Pennsylvania.
Diana insisted I stay behind while she went.
I refused.
"If Margaret knows what happened to my father, I'm going."
By sunset, we were standing outside a small roadside motel.
Room 214.
The door opened before we knocked.
An elderly woman stood there.
Gray hair.
Thin face.
Eyes that immediately filled with tears when she saw me.
"Sofia."
I froze.
"You know me."
"I've known about you since before you were born."
Diana stepped forward.
"Are you Margaret Cole?"
The woman nodded.
"Yes."
"Why did you fake your death?"
Margaret looked down.
"Because my sister wanted me dead."
I felt a chill.
"Evelyn?"
Margaret nodded.
"She killed your father."
I stared at her.
"Tell me everything."
Margaret invited us inside.
She told us that my father and Evelyn had once built a legitimate investment company together.
Then Evelyn began moving money.
At first, small amounts.
Then millions.
My father discovered it.
He threatened to report her.
Evelyn retaliated.
But there was a complication.
My father had created the trust.
He had moved his remaining assets into it.
And he had named me as the beneficiary.
Evelyn couldn't access the money.
So she needed control of me.
"How?"
Margaret looked at me.
"By marrying you to Nathan."
I felt sick.
"Nathan knew?"
"Not at first."
"Then when did he find out?"
"Three years ago."
That was when our marriage had begun changing.
Nathan had become obsessed with my finances.
He had encouraged me to combine accounts.
He had convinced me to move investments.
He had insisted his family's attorney review my estate plan.
I had thought he was protecting me.
He had been mapping the vault.
Margaret continued.
"Evelyn told Nathan that if he stayed married to you until you turned thirty-five, everything would eventually be under his control."
"But the trust says I'm the beneficiary."
"Yes."
"Then how?"
Margaret looked at Diana.
"The trustee."
Charles Walsh.
I suddenly understood.
"If I die before thirty-five, Charles gets everything."
"Correct."
"And Nathan has been paying him."
Margaret nodded.
"Charles agreed to help Evelyn."
"What about Iris?"
Margaret's expression hardened.
"Iris is not the mistress you think she is."
I stared at her.
"Then who is she?"
"Charles's daughter."
"I know."
"No."
Margaret shook her head.
"She is also Evelyn's granddaughter."
My stomach dropped.
"That means..."
"Nathan and Iris are related."
Diana's eyes widened.
"What?"
Margaret nodded.
"Evelyn's son had Iris with Charles's daughter."
I couldn't process it.
"Then why would Nathan..."
Margaret interrupted.
"Because Iris wasn't supposed to be his mistress."
"Then what was she supposed to do?"
"Destroy you."
I sat down.
The wine at the gala.
The accusation.
The planted evidence.
The police report.
All of it.
Iris wasn't simply jealous.
She had been assigned a role.
Margaret handed me a file.
Inside were photographs of Iris entering my home.
She had been there dozens of times.
Sometimes while I was away.
Sometimes while I was sleeping.
"She planted the medication."
I stared at the photographs.
"Why?"
"To make you look unstable."
Margaret looked at me.
"And then Nathan would seek emergency guardianship."
I felt my blood run cold.
"Guardianship?"
"He would control your finances."
"And if I resisted?"
Margaret didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
Diana stood.
"We need to get you somewhere secure."
Margaret nodded.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
She reached into a drawer.
"I have one final piece of evidence."
She placed a USB drive on the table.
"This contains the original records of your father's company."
I took it.
"Where did you get this?"
Margaret looked toward the window.
"Your father gave it to me the night before he disappeared."
I stared at her.
"Then why didn't you expose Evelyn?"
"Because she had someone inside the police department."
Diana's expression changed.
"Who?"
Margaret looked at me.
"Your husband's attorney."
My heart sank.
"The same attorney who's handling Nathan's divorce?"
Margaret nodded.
"He has been protecting the Cole family for twenty-five years."
Then her phone rang.
She answered.
Her face turned white.
She handed me the phone.
A man's voice whispered:
"Margaret is dead."
I looked at Margaret.
She was standing right in front of me.
The voice continued:
May you like
"And Sofia..."
"You're next."
