Chapter 7 - THE LIE HIDDEN INSIDE MARCUS’S VOICE
Federal agents traced Victor’s call to a temporary cellular relay near Albany.
Chloe was still inside her Central Park apartment when officers reached her. Victor had never gone there.
The threat had been another distraction.
Chloe agreed to enter protective custody after learning Victor had used her name to rent the relay equipment. She was taken to a secured federal building, where she finally agreed to speak without her private attorney.
Evelyn watched the interview through one-way glass with Nora.
Marcus remained in another room.
Chloe looked smaller without the expensive clothes, makeup, and public confidence that had protected her for years. She wore a plain gray sweater provided by investigators and held a paper cup with both hands.
Hart placed a recording device on the table.
“Did Victor Vale instruct you to create the appearance of an affair with Marcus?”
Chloe stared at the cup.
“He told me Evelyn was using Marcus.”
“That does not answer the question.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn’s breath caught.
Chloe continued.
“Victor said Marcus planned to marry Evelyn and give her control of the family trust. He said once that happened, she would abandon me and sell the company. I owed money because of the investment fund Victor recommended. He promised to erase the debt if I made Marcus question Evelyn’s loyalty.”
“How were you supposed to do that?”
“I was supposed to claim Evelyn had been meeting another man.”
“Who?”
“Adrian Moretti.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Victor had known Adrian was her father.
“He gave me photographs of Adrian watching Evelyn from across the street,” Chloe said. “I thought they were having an affair. Victor said Marcus would end the engagement if he saw them together.”
“But you changed the plan.”
“Marcus refused to believe the photographs. He said Evelyn would never betray him.”
Even after everything, the statement hurt Evelyn in a different way.
“So Victor instructed you to enter the study?” Hart asked.
“He told me to make Evelyn believe Marcus was unfaithful. He knew she was coming to tell Marcus about the babies because I saw the ultrasound at her apartment that afternoon.”
“You opened her medical envelope?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know she would arrive at a specific time?”
“I texted her from Marcus’s house and said he was alone.”
Evelyn remembered the message.
I think he is planning something romantic. Come quickly.
She had believed Chloe was helping Marcus surprise her.
Instead, her sister had directed her toward the exact moment that would destroy her.
“What happened in the study?” Hart asked.
“I drank because I was scared. Marcus refused to give me money and told me to leave Evelyn alone. I grabbed him. When he pushed me away, I saw Evelyn’s reflection in the hallway mirror.”
“You continued?”
Chloe began to cry.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought if I stopped, she would enter and ask questions.”
“So you pressed yourself against Marcus knowing Evelyn was watching.”
“Yes.”
Evelyn turned away from the glass.
Nora touched her arm, but Evelyn remained standing.
Chloe’s confession confirmed the betrayal.
The scene had been staged.
The heartbreak had been real.
Hart asked about the legal declaration of death.
Chloe admitted Victor prepared every document. He told her Evelyn had left the country, abandoned the pregnancy, and wanted no connection to the family. He said the trust would otherwise remain frozen and thousands of employees would lose their jobs.
“Did you believe him?” Hart asked.
“At first.”
“When did you stop believing him?”
“When the eighty million dollars appeared.”
“Yet you kept the money.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Chloe’s answer was barely audible.
“Because by then I had done too much to admit why.”
After the interview, Chloe asked to see Evelyn.
Nora advised against it.
Evelyn entered the room anyway.
For a moment, the sisters looked at each other across the table.
“I am sorry,” Chloe said.
Evelyn sat down. “That sentence is too small.”
“I know.”
“You watched me walk away carrying twins.”
“I didn’t know you would disappear.”
“You helped erase me after I did.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
Chloe covered her face. “Victor said Marcus would forgive me if you never came back.”
“Marcus?”
Chloe lowered her hands.
“I loved him.”
Evelyn felt the final missing piece fall into place.
Not only jealousy of money.
Not only resentment.
Chloe had wanted Marcus too.
“Did he ever encourage you?”
“No.”
“Did he ever touch you willingly?”
“No.”
“Then you did not love him. You wanted what I had.”
Chloe cried silently.
Evelyn stood.
“I cannot forgive you today.”
“I understand.”
“I may never trust you again.”
“I understand.”
“But I will not let Victor use your shame to control you anymore. Tell the truth in court. Return the money. Accept whatever sentence comes.”
Chloe nodded.
As Evelyn reached the door, Chloe spoke again.
“The recording Victor mentioned is real.”
Evelyn stopped.
“Marcus did tell Rourke to stop searching.”
“When?”
“Three months after you left.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Evelyn found Marcus waiting in the hallway.
He saw the answer in her face.
“There is a recording,” she said.
Marcus nodded.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you order Rourke to stop?”
“Because I discovered he was sending Victor every search location.”
“Then why not fire him?”
“I already had. He continued using private investigators through another company.”
“Why tell him to stop searching for me?”
Marcus looked toward Hart’s office.
“Because I wanted Victor to believe I had given up.”
“You used my disappearance as part of a strategy.”
“I used the only advantage I had.”
“While I was pregnant and alone.”
“I did not know where you were.”
“That does not make it better.”
“No.”
He asked Hart to play the recording.
Rourke’s voice came first.
We found a medical inquiry in Providence. It may be her.
Then Marcus’s voice.
Stop the search. Close every active file. If she wanted to be found, she would have contacted me.
The recording ended there.
Evelyn looked at him.
“That is exactly what Victor promised.”
“It is incomplete.”
Marcus provided the original call log from his personal archive.
Hart’s technicians recovered the full conversation.
After the sentence Victor preserved, Marcus continued speaking.
Do not contact Providence. Do not send anyone near the hospital. Victor is monitoring you. Close every file he can see and move the real search outside the Vale network. If Evelyn is there, approaching her may place her in danger.
Evelyn listened twice.
Marcus had not abandoned her.
He had tried to protect her without knowing whether she wanted protection.
“Why did the search still fail?” she asked.
“Because Providence was another false lead. Victor’s investigator created the medical inquiry to see whether I was still looking.”
Adrian entered the hallway.
“Helen Bennett’s clinic was eighty miles from Providence,” he said. “Evelyn’s records never used her legal surname.”
Marcus looked at her. “I came closer than I ever knew.”
For the first time in six years, Evelyn allowed herself to imagine a different past.
If she had opened the study door.
If Marcus had seen her.
If Chloe had confessed.
If either of them had trusted love enough to ask one question before walking away.
But regret could not raise the children Marcus had missed.
It could not return six birthdays, first steps, first words, or nights of fever and fear.
Hart interrupted them.
“Victor has released the edited recording to the press.”
Televisions throughout the federal building displayed Marcus’s voice ordering the search stopped.
The news banner called it proof that he knowingly abandoned his pregnant fiancée.
Vale Harbor stock began falling within minutes.
Then another report appeared.
Victor had filed documents accusing Adrian of murder, extortion, and witness tampering connected to Lillian’s death.
Adrian watched without emotion.
Evelyn looked at him. “Are the accusations true?”
“Some are false.”
“And the others?”
May you like
Her father met her eyes.
“The others are the reason I may not leave the courthouse as a free man.”
