Chapter 18 - RICHARD COMES HOME
Federal agents spread through the mansion.
Ethan remained near the nursery.
A voice came from the dark hallway.
“Still letting other people fight for you?”
Richard.
Ethan turned.
Richard stood near the staircase.
His suit was dirty.
His face was exhausted.
He held no visible weapon.
Agents shouted from below.
Richard raised both hands.
“Relax.”
“I came to talk.”
Ethan stared at him.
“You came to surrender.”
Richard laughed.
“To them?”
“No.”
“I came because I knew you’d eventually return here.”
“This house was always your weakness.”
Ethan stepped into the hallway.
“You put my daughter inside your plan.”
Richard’s expression barely changed.
“I never intended for Sophie to be hurt.”
“You intended to erase her life.”
“Temporarily.”
Ethan felt disgust.
“She is a child.”
“She is an asset worth nearly a billion dollars.”
That sentence destroyed whatever remained of the man Ethan had once known.
“You really believe that.”
Richard looked confused.
“Of course I do.”
“That’s what you never understood.”
“Claire did.”
“Margaret did.”
“Even Marianne did.”
“They all had access to power and treated it like something shameful.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“They understood something you never could.”
Richard smiled coldly.
“Which is?”
“People matter more.”
For the first time, Richard’s composure cracked.
He stepped forward.
Agents immediately raised their weapons.
Richard stopped.
“You think Claire loved you enough to tell you everything?”
“She hid half her life.”
“She hid me.”
“She hid Samuel.”
“She hid the trust.”
Ethan’s expression remained calm.
“She hid things because she was scared of you.”
Richard’s face hardened.
Then Sophie’s voice came from the lower landing.
“Daddy?”
Ethan spun around.
Sophie had not been supposed to be there.
Daniel’s wife stood behind her, horrified.
Their safe location had been compromised after media gathered outside.
Agents had moved them to the mansion without knowing Richard was inside.
Richard looked at Sophie.
Everything stopped.
Sophie stared back.
Then she took Claire’s photograph from her coat pocket.
“You scared my mom.”
Richard’s face changed.
Just slightly.
Sophie continued.
“She wrote your name because she knew Daddy would stop you.”
Richard took one step toward her.
Agents moved instantly.
Ethan stepped between them.
Richard suddenly reached into his jacket.
Several weapons were aimed at him.
“Don’t!”
Agent Shaw shouted.
Richard slowly pulled out a folded document.
Not a weapon.
He dropped it on the floor.
“You want the truth?”
Ethan looked down.
It was a handwritten letter from Claire.
Richard smiled bitterly.
May you like
“She wrote that to me.”
“And you might want to read what your perfect wife was planning to do before she died.”
