Chapter 15 - The Missing Doses
The pharmacy confirmed Catherine’s prescription.
A standard antihypertensive.
The remaining tablets in the bottle found under Damian’s bed were chemically normal.
No tampering.
No poison.
That mattered.
Ethan refused to let anyone claim otherwise.
The question became simpler.
Why did Damian remove the bottle?
Jonathan’s email archive supplied part of the answer.
Hours before Catherine collapsed, Damian had texted him:
She says she’ll tell Ethan everything tomorrow.
Later:
She’s looking for the pills again.
Then:
If she goes to hospital, corridor is dead anyway.
Ethan read the messages with his stomach twisting.
Rebecca said, “We still need context.”
Clara provided it.
That afternoon Catherine had accused Damian of taking the medication.
He claimed he moved it during housekeeping.
They argued.
Clara heard Catherine say:
“Give them back.”
Damian answered:
“You miss one dose and suddenly I’m trying to kill you?”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Clara whispered, “I should have told someone.”
“Yes,” Ethan said.
She flinched.
He immediately regretted the sharpness but did not retract the truth.
“You should have.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I know.”
Another adult had chosen silence.
Not greed this time.
Habit.
Loyalty.
Fear of family scandal.
Ethan continued more gently.
“But you didn’t cause what he did.”
Clara nodded.
The medical expert Rebecca retained explained the limits.
Missing antihypertensive medication could increase risk, particularly with uncontrolled blood pressure.
But no physician could honestly say two missed doses caused Catherine’s aneurysm to rupture.
The timeline did not support homicide certainty.
It supported reckless interference.
Potentially criminal, depending on intent.
The sheriff’s office opened a formal investigation into medication deprivation and evidence concealment.
Damian’s lawyers advised him to stop speaking.
He ignored them.
He called Ethan.
“Meet me in the stable.”
“No.”
“You want the truth?”
“I have lawyers for that now.”
“Your mother asked me to take the pills.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“She was changing medication and didn’t want Clara interfering.”
“Then why say get them out of the house?”
“Because after she collapsed, I panicked.”
“Why?”
“I knew how it would look.”
“That answer is terrible.”
“It’s true.”
“Did you return them before she collapsed?”
Silence.
“Damian.”
“No.”
Ethan’s throat tightened.
“Why?”
“I forgot.”
“You forgot.”
“I had the Trent people calling. Adrian screaming. Catherine threatening to sue me.”
“And Mom was looking for medicine.”
“I didn’t know it mattered.”
“You knew enough to hide the bottle afterward.”
Damian breathed heavily.
Then:
“I did not kill my sister.”
Ethan’s voice shook.
“I didn’t say you did.”
“You’re thinking it.”
“I’m thinking you were more concerned about how it looked than why she needed it.”
Damian hung up.
The parallel hit Ethan.
The memorial dinner.
His plate in a feed bucket.
Damian had always decided other people’s needs were theatrical.
Catherine’s medicine.
Ethan’s grief.
The horses.
Everything mattered only if it affected Damian’s objective.
That evening, Cross Meridian’s board fired Adrian as CEO.
Potomac Bank moved toward foreclosure on several development assets.
Adrian blamed Damian publicly through counsel.
Damian responded by releasing emails showing Adrian knew about the incapacity strategy.
Their alliance became open warfare.
Bennett? no, here no Bennett.
Mercer Ridge’s reputation suffered.
Sponsors withdrew from the autumn equestrian classic.
Two major breeding clients moved horses elsewhere.
Employees worried.
The conspiracy was costing the estate real money.
Ethan made a mistake.
Angry and exhausted, he gave an interview to a local television reporter without Rebecca present.
He accused Damian of “trying to kill everything my mother protected.”
The phrase was emotional.
Ambiguous.
Damian’s lawyers seized it.
They filed a supplemental motion arguing Ethan was publicly implying murder without evidence and demonstrating instability.
Rebecca was furious.
“What did I tell you?”
“I know.”
“No. You keep knowing after.”
The words cut because they sounded like Catherine.
Ethan looked down.
“I made it worse.”
“Yes.”
“What do we do?”
“We correct it.”
He issued a written statement clarifying that he was referring to the estate, trust, horse program, and conservation protections—not accusing Damian of homicide.
Still, damage remained.
The court scheduled a full evidentiary hearing in one week to determine long-term trust control and whether an independent fiduciary should replace both men.
If Ethan lost, he might retain his beneficial inheritance but lose direct control of Mercer Ridge for years.
Serious setback.
He had given Damian the instability narrative another breath.
Then Catherine’s recorder was professionally recovered.
The corrupted file returned.
Her voice:
“There is one person Damian fears more than Adrian.”
Static.
Then:
“Me.”
Ethan frowned.
Rebecca did too.
Catherine continued:
“Not because I am stronger. Because I kept the original partnership books.”
Samuel Price’s records.
Then another sentence emerged:
“If Damian forces Ethan into court, the books will show why he can never survive discovery.”
Ethan looked at Rebecca.
“What is in those books that Samuel didn’t show us?”
Rebecca called Samuel.
The old accountant went quiet.
Finally he said:
“I was hoping Catherine would never make Ethan carry this.”
“What?”
Samuel sighed.
“Damian didn’t merely lose his partnership interest.”
“He stole from the partnership before Catherine bought him out.”
“How much?”
“Six point eight million dollars.”
Ethan stared.
“Did Mom know?”
“Yes.”
“Did she report him?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because their father was dying.”
Samuel’s voice sounded tired.
“She covered the loss.”
Damian had built his entire moral authority on the claim that Catherine stole the family estate from him.
In reality, she had protected him from prosecution.
May you like
And tomorrow’s battle was no longer just about Ethan’s competence.
It was about whether Damian would allow records of his oldest betrayal to become public.
