Chapter 6 - The Secret Beneficiary
Ethan slammed his fists onto the metal table.
"Who did you give the house to?" he demanded, his voice cracking with panic.
Before I could answer, the door to the interrogation room opened again.
A tall man in a sharply tailored charcoal suit walked in, carrying a leather briefcase.
"Step away from my client," the man commanded.
Ethan turned around, his face paling as he recognized the city's most ruthless defense attorney, Marcus Vance.
"What is he doing here?" Ethan stammered.
"Mr. Vance is my new lawyer," I said smoothly.
Marcus placed a signed release form onto the table.
"The District Attorney has dropped all charges against Claire," Marcus announced.
"That's impossible," Ethan argued. "We found the poison in her bag!"
Marcus smiled coldly.
"Arthur Cole regained consciousness an hour ago and gave a full, sworn statement to the police."
Ethan staggered backward as if he had been physically struck.
"Arthur told them Margaret poisoned him," Marcus continued. "There is a warrant out for her arrest right now."
Ethan bolted from the room, desperate to warn his mother.
Once we were alone, Marcus helped me to my feet.
"Thank you for getting me out," I said.
"Don't thank me," Marcus replied as we walked down the sterile hallway. "Thank the man who hired me."
"Arthur?" I asked.
"Yes," Marcus nodded. "He wants to see you immediately."
We drove to a private, heavily guarded wing of the city hospital.
Arthur was sitting up in bed, looking weak but remarkably sharp.
"You saved my life, Claire," the old man rasped.
"We have to stop Margaret," I said firmly. "She's trying to steal everything."
Arthur shook his head slowly.
"She isn't stealing it for herself, Claire," Arthur revealed softly.
He pulled a faded, yellowed birth certificate from his bedside drawer and handed it to me.
I read the name on the paper, and the room began to spin.
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"Ethan isn't Margaret's biological son," Arthur whispered.
"He is the son of the man she murdered twenty years ago, and he has been plotting to destroy our family since he was a child."
