Chapter 8 - What Marcus Said in the Dark
The recording arrived anonymously at the board the next morning.
By noon, it was online.
Marcus heard his own voice through a television in Claire’s kitchen.
“I don’t know how to love her without seeing Rachel die all over again.”
The clip ended.
News anchors repeated it.
Social media did the rest.
GRIEVING FATHER OR NEGLECTFUL MILLIONAIRE?
Marcus’s board suspension became indefinite.
Three directors demanded his resignation.
He switched off the television.
Claire stood behind him.
“Tell me the rest.”
“What?”
“That isn’t a whole conversation.”
Marcus rubbed his face.
“The rest doesn’t matter publicly.”
“It matters to me.”
He remembered Fairhaven’s library.
Bianca beside him.
Whiskey.
Rachel had been dead exactly one year.
Lucy had spent the evening asking why heaven didn’t have phones.
Marcus had broken.
“I said Lucy looked like Rachel.”
Claire waited.
“I said sometimes I avoided breakfast because when Lucy smiled at me I saw Rachel.”
His voice cracked.
“I said I didn’t know how to love my daughter without feeling like I was losing my wife again.”
Claire sat beside him.
“And Bianca?”
“She told me she could help.”
That had been the beginning.
Not of their relationship.
Of his dependence.
He had married Bianca four months later.
Amelia called.
“The full recording may exist.”
“If Bianca has it.”
“She does.”
“Then why release an edited version?”
“Because context helps you.”
Marcus laughed without humor.
“Of course.”
That afternoon, he attended his first court-mandated anger management session related to the assault investigation.
He could have fought the requirement.
He didn’t.
The counselor, Dr. Aaron Mills, asked him why he hit Bianca.
“My daughter was tied to a fence.”
“That explains the emotion.”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t answer the question.”
Marcus looked irritated.
Dr. Mills waited.
Finally Marcus said, “I wanted her to hurt.”
There it was.
Not protection.
Punishment.
The truth made him nauseous.
“And did hurting her protect Lucy?”
“No.”
“Did it create problems for Lucy’s case?”
“Yes.”
“Then your anger worked for Bianca.”
Marcus stared at the floor.
That sentence stayed with him.
Meanwhile Detective Nolan found the source of the leaked recording.
A media consultant retained by Victor Sloan.
Bianca had authorized the release.
It was legal enough to be ugly.
But the leak created a new problem for her.
The full audio became discoverable.
When prosecutors obtained it, the missing seventeen minutes changed everything.
Marcus listened with Amelia.
Recorded Bianca said, “You need someone who can take care of Lucy when you disappear into work.”
Marcus answered, “I need to stop disappearing.”
“You won’t.”
“I have to.”
“No. You need someone who doesn’t resent you for being who you are.”
Later, Marcus said, “Promise me something.”
“What?”
“If I ever start using work to hide from Lucy, tell me.”
Bianca laughed softly.
“I promise.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
She had not merely broken that promise.
She had built her entire strategy around making him hide more.
The full recording hurt.
It also saved him publicly.
The board withdrew its demand for immediate resignation, though the investigation continued.
One victory.
Then Nolan called with the reversal.
“We searched Owen’s office.”
“What did you find?”
“A second financial ledger.”
Marcus waited.
“It shows unauthorized transfers going back almost three years.”
“Before Bianca knew about Fairhaven?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Just over eleven million.”
Marcus went silent.
That was not Bianca’s scheme.
It predated her involvement.
“Owen’s been stealing from Hale Meridian since Rachel was alive.”
“Yes.”
Rachel had suspected him.
The trust.
The land.
His judgment.
Marcus stood.
“What else?”
“One transfer is labeled R.H.”
His stomach tightened.
“Rachel Hale?”
“We don’t know.”
The payment was $600,000.
Sent to a medical consulting firm six weeks before Rachel’s death.
Marcus felt the room tilt.
“No.”
Nolan spoke carefully.
“We’re looking at it.”
“What medical firm?”
“Northbridge Patient Advocacy.”
Marcus knew the name.
They had helped arrange Rachel’s final surgery.
Owen had recommended them.
Marcus could hear his heartbeat.
“What are you suggesting?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Detective.”
“Marcus, don’t build a story before we have facts.”
Rachel had died after postoperative complications.
The death had been ruled natural.
There had been no suspicion.
No mystery.
No crime.
Marcus sat down.
His phone slipped slightly in his hand.
“Did Owen have anything to do with my wife’s death?”
May you like
Nolan did not answer.
And that was worse than no.
