Chapter 8: Margaret's Last Recording
Daniel stood beneath the staircase, staring at his bloody hands.
Harrison rushed toward him.
“Are you hurt?””
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
“Then whose blood is that?””
Daniel looked down.
“I don't know.””
Harrison took the blue box.
It was open.
Inside was a small digital recorder.
And beneath it, an old photograph of Margaret.
Daniel stared at the recorder.
“Mom left this.””
Victor came down the stairs, pressing his sleeve against his wounded arm.
“Don't play it yet.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because once you hear it, there is no going back.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“That's what everyone keeps saying.””
He picked up the recorder.
Harrison stopped him.
“Daniel.””
His son looked at him.
“What?””
“There are things about your mother I should have told you.””
Daniel stared.
“You had six years.””
“I know.””
“You had six years to tell me.””
“I was afraid.””
“Of what?””
Harrison looked toward the shattered attic window.
“Of losing you.””
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“You already lost me.””
That hurt more than the slap.
Harrison looked down.
“I deserved that.””
Mia came slowly down the stairs.
Daniel turned toward her.
“Don't.””
She stopped.
“I just wanted to—”
“Don't.””
Mia lowered her head.
Daniel held up the recorder.
“Did Mom make this for me?””
“Yes.””
“Did you know about it?””
“Yes.””
“Did you hear it?””
“No.””
“You're lying.””
Mia looked at him.
“I heard part of it.””
“What part?””
“The beginning.””
“What did she say?””
Mia swallowed.
“She said she was sorry.””
Daniel's expression changed.
“For what?””
Mia shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Victor stepped closer.
“Play it.””
Harrison looked at him.
“Are you sure?””
Victor nodded.
“It's time.””
Daniel pressed the button.
Static filled the room.
Then Margaret's voice.
Older.
Tired.
But unmistakable.
“Daniel, if you're hearing this, then something has happened to me.””
Daniel's eyes filled immediately.
He sat down.
Margaret continued.
“I don't know whether your father will be beside you when you hear this. I hope he is.””
Harrison covered his mouth.
“I hope he understands why I kept this from him.””
A pause.
Then Margaret whispered,
“Thomas is alive.””
Harrison closed his eyes.
Daniel looked at him.
“You knew.””
“I suspected.””
The recording continued.
“Thomas is not the man you think he is.””
A faint rustling sound.
“He has spent twenty years building a network inside our family business.””
Victor looked down.
Margaret's voice became softer.
“He didn't come back because he wanted money.””
The recording crackled.
“He came back because he wanted Daniel.””
Daniel froze.
Margaret continued.
“Your father thinks he has been protecting our family by keeping secrets.””
Harrison's eyes filled with tears.
“But secrets are what put us in danger.””
Daniel looked at him.
The recording continued.
“If I die, you must know this: your father did not kill me.””
Harrison shut his eyes.
Daniel exhaled shakily.
“He didn't.””
Margaret's voice trembled.
“He saved me once.””
The recording stopped.
Daniel looked at the recorder.
“That's it?””
Victor shook his head.
“No.””
A second recording began automatically.
Margaret's voice returned.
“I know you will wonder why I married your father.””
Harrison stared at the recorder.
“I married him because he was the only man who ever refused to join Thomas.””
Daniel looked at his father.
Margaret continued.
“Thomas was my brother's business partner.””
Harrison whispered,
“Brother.””
Victor looked at him.
“Thomas wasn't your brother.””
“No.””
Harrison shook his head.
“He was Margaret's.””
Daniel looked stunned.
“What?””
The recording continued.
“Thomas is my half-brother.””
Harrison sat down.
Margaret's voice became quieter.
“Our father abandoned him when he was young. Thomas blamed me for it. He believed I inherited everything while he inherited nothing.””
A pause.
“He spent years convincing himself that my family owed him.””
The recording crackled.
“He began stealing from the company.””
Daniel listened.
“I discovered it.””
Margaret's breathing became audible.
“I confronted him.””
Then another voice appeared faintly in the background.
A man's voice.
Thomas.
“You should have stayed out of it.””
Margaret whispered,
“I recorded everything.””
Thomas laughed.
“You think anyone will believe you?””
The recording suddenly became distorted.
Then Margaret cried out.
Daniel stood.
“What happened?””
The sound of something hitting the floor came through the speaker.
Then silence.
The recording resumed.
Margaret's voice was barely audible.
“If you're hearing this part, then he found me.””
Harrison stared at the recorder.
“He was in the room.””
Victor nodded.
“That's why I heard the struggle.””
Daniel looked at him.
“You were there?””
Victor nodded.
“I arrived after Thomas left.””
“Then why didn't you save her?””
“I tried.””
“You were her attorney!””
“I tried!””
Victor's voice broke.
“She was already dying.””
Daniel turned away.
Margaret's voice continued.
“There is one thing I need Daniel to know.””
The recording became clearer.
“Your father did not know about Thomas's final plan.””
Harrison frowned.
“What plan?””
Margaret answered from the recorder.
“He wanted Daniel to inherit everything.””
Daniel looked confused.
“Why?””
Margaret's voice dropped.
“Because Daniel was the only person Thomas could control.””
A click.
Then another voice.
Mia.
Much younger.
Terrified.
“I don't want to do this.””
Thomas answered.
“You will.””
“I can't marry him.””
“You can.””
“What if he finds out?””
“He won't.””
Mia began crying.
“And if he does?””
Thomas said,
“Then you know what happens.””
The recording ended.
Daniel stared at Mia.
“You were ordered to marry me.””
Mia nodded.
“Yes.””
“You were supposed to get close to me.””
“Yes.””
“Then what changed?””
Mia looked at him.
“Your mother.””
“How?””
“She showed me who Thomas really was.””
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
“He killed people who tried to leave him.””
Daniel looked toward the broken window.
“Then why are you still alive?””
Mia whispered,
“Because your mother made a deal.””
Harrison looked at her.
“What deal?””
“She promised Thomas the ledger.””
“But she never gave it to him.””
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because she gave it to me.””
Harrison frowned.
Mia nodded.
“She told me to hide it.””
Daniel looked at the blue box.
“But it's here.””
“The box isn't the ledger.””
Harrison's eyes narrowed.
“What?””
Mia pointed at the empty compartment beneath the recorder.
“The blue box was only a key.””
Victor stepped closer.
“To what?””
Mia looked at Harrison.
“Your wife's final account.””
Harrison's face went pale.
“What account?””
“The account Thomas never knew about.””
Daniel looked at Victor.
“You knew?””
Victor shook his head.
“No.””
Mia reached inside the box.
Her fingers found a small metal tab hidden beneath the lining.
She pulled.
A tiny compartment opened.
Inside was a memory card.
Harrison stared.
“What is that?””
“Everything.””
Mia handed it to Victor.
He examined it.
“There are encryption markings.””
Daniel looked at him.
“Can you open it?””
“Yes.””
Victor's phone suddenly buzzed.
A message appeared.
*YOU HAVE TEN MINUTES.*
Then another.
*BRING THE CARD TO THE OLD MILL.*
Then a third.
*COME ALONE.*
Daniel looked at Victor.
“Who sent that?””
Victor's face went pale.
Thomas had sent another message.
But then Harrison noticed something.
There was no number.
Only a name.
*MARGARET.*
Harrison stared at the screen.
“That's impossible.””
Victor looked up.
“I agree.””
Mia stepped backward.
“That's not him.””
“Who, then?””
Mia's face had gone white.
“I know that number.””
Daniel looked at her.
“Whose?””
She whispered,
“My mother's.””
Harrison froze.
“Your mother?””
Mia nodded.
“My mother died when I was twelve.””
Victor looked at the message.
Then at Harrison.
“This isn't Thomas.””
A second message appeared.
*HARRISON KNOWS WHERE TO GO.*
Daniel stared at his father.
“Dad?””
Harrison couldn't speak.
Because he knew exactly what place Margaret had meant.
The old mill.
The place where he and Margaret had first met Thomas.
Twenty-two years ago.
And the place where Harrison had watched a man fall into the river.
A man everyone believed was dead.
Harrison whispered,
“Thomas wasn't the only one who survived.””
The back door opened.
Mia screamed.
A woman stepped inside.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Holding a gun.
She looked directly at Mia.
“My daughter.””
Mia's face collapsed.
“Mom?””
Harrison stared at the woman.
Then at Victor.
Victor whispered,
“She died twelve years ago.””
The woman smiled.
“No.””
May you like
She raised the gun.
“I was hiding.””
