Chapter 17 - The Last Witness
Marcus Pierce was found before dawn.
He had been hiding in a motel near Newark.
Unlike Margaret, he surrendered quietly.
Charlotte watched his interview through a secure monitor.
Marcus looked exhausted.
He admitted driving Margaret and Evelyn to Meridian Medical Center.
He also admitted moving Evelyn’s body back to the Valle estate after midnight.
“Why?”
“Margaret paid me.”
Charlotte’s stomach tightened.
Marcus claimed he did not know Evelyn had been poisoned when he agreed.
Later, once he learned the truth, Margaret had too much evidence against him.
She used him for years.
He watched Charlotte.
Entered apartments.
Sabotaged jobs.
Reported every attempt Charlotte made to contact the family.
“Why burn the archive?”
“Margaret ordered it.”
Daniel leaned closer.
“From where?”
Marcus hesitated.
Then he provided a number.
Investigators traced the last signal to the Valle Grand Hotel.
Charlotte stared at the screen.
Margaret was inside the building.
Daniel immediately locked down every floor.
Security searched suites, offices, kitchens, mechanical rooms, and service corridors.
Nothing.
Charlotte remembered the hidden elevator in Nathaniel’s penthouse.
“There are old passages everywhere.”
Sebastian nodded.
“Some aren’t on modern plans.”
They retrieved original blueprints from 1978.
Behind the ballroom existed an unfinished apartment.
It had been built for Sebastian’s late wife but sealed after her death.
A private staircase connected it to the executive floor.
Security opened the wall.
Inside they found Margaret.
She sat calmly at a dining table.
A suitcase rested beside her.
She did not resist.
Charlotte entered with Daniel.
Margaret smiled.
“So the little runaway finally became brave.”
Charlotte remained near the door.
“You watched me for eight years.”
“I protected the family.”
“You poisoned my mother.”
Margaret’s smile disappeared.
“She was weak.”
Charlotte felt every muscle in her body tighten.
Daniel quietly recorded.
Margaret continued.
“Evelyn would have handed the company to a girl who knew nothing.”
“She handed me responsibility.”
“She handed you billions.”
Margaret stood.
“And you would have wasted it.”
Charlotte looked at the woman who had manipulated her life.
For years she imagined this confrontation ending with screaming.
Instead, she felt strangely calm.
“You know what you misunderstood about me?”
Margaret waited.
“I survived without any of it.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Charlotte stepped closer.
“So imagine what I can do now that you failed to take it from me.”
Police entered.
Margaret was arrested.
As she passed Charlotte, she whispered, “Nathaniel still has one card left.”
Charlotte turned.
Margaret smiled.
May you like
“He changed Sebastian’s will.”
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