Chapter 9 - Two Million Reasons
Detective Ruiz questioned Ethan alone.
Rebecca insisted.
“Whatever he says, I don’t want him shaping his answers around me.”
Ethan sat in a small interview room at the police station.
Ruiz placed the insurance application in front of him.
“Is that your signature?”
“It looks like it.”
“Did you apply for a two-million-dollar policy on your wife?”
“No.”
“Could you have signed it without understanding what it was?”
The question humiliated him because the answer was obvious.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“I don’t remember.”
The application was dated two months before Rebecca vanished.
The policy was owned by Hale Restoration Group, allegedly as key-person coverage because Rebecca handled financial records.
But Rebecca had never been important enough to company operations to justify two million dollars.
Ruiz tapped a paragraph.
“The policy pays after legal death, not disappearance. No claim was filed.”
“So it wasn’t about money from the policy.”
“Maybe not.”
“Then why create it?”
“To create motive.”
Ethan stared.
“For me.”
Ruiz nodded.
“If Rebecca’s body had eventually been discovered, prosecutors would see a troubled marriage, possible infidelity, a large insurance policy, and your signatures on questionable financial documents.”
Ethan felt sick.
“They were setting me up.”
“Possibly.”
He laughed bitterly.
“My mother planned to frame me for my wife’s murder.”
Ruiz watched him carefully.
“Margaret may claim you were involved.”
“She already is.”
“How?”
Ruiz slid a transcript across the table.
Margaret had spoken to investigators.
Not a confession.
A counteraccusation.
She claimed Rebecca discovered Ethan’s financial misconduct and threatened divorce.
She claimed Ethan asked Margaret to “handle” Rebecca.
She claimed the cellar was originally intended to hide Rebecca temporarily while Ethan arranged a psychiatric evaluation.
It was monstrous.
It was also constructed from enough truth to be dangerous.
Ethan had believed Rebecca was becoming obsessive about company finances.
He had discussed psychiatric help with Margaret.
He had signed documents.
He had kissed Jenna.
He had benefited from Rebecca’s disappearance by avoiding divorce and scandal.
“Do you believe her?” Ethan asked.
“My job is not belief.”
“Do you think I knew Rebecca was under the house?”
Ruiz looked at him.
“No.”
He exhaled.
“But,” she added, “I think your mother spent years preparing to make sure no one could separate your negligence from her crimes.”
At the apartment, Rebecca examined the safe-deposit flash drive.
It contained scans of bank records, emails, and one audio file.
Charles Hale’s voice filled the room.
He sounded tired.
“Rebecca, if you’re listening to this, it means I didn’t get the chance to clean up my own mess.”
Ethan sat down.
His father continued.
“I made Daniel Crowe my lawyer because I thought loyalty was more valuable than scrutiny. That was a mistake.”
Rebecca listened without moving.
“Margaret and Daniel have been involved for years. I found transfers from the trust that I did not authorize. I confronted Margaret. She blamed Daniel. Daniel blamed her. I believe both.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Charles’s voice became weaker.
“I amended the trust. Ethan will control it after twelve months. Rebecca, I’m giving you a copy because my son loves his mother too much to see her clearly.”
Ethan flinched.
“He trusts too easily. That is his best quality and his most dangerous flaw.”
Rebecca looked at him.
Charles continued.
“If Margaret contests the amendment, take it to Rachel Kim. Her firm witnessed the execution.”
Rachel stared at the computer.
“My firm?”
“You knew?” Ethan asked.
“No.”
She was younger then, a junior associate.
The recording ended with one sentence.
“Protect Emily from inheriting our mistakes.”
Emily, coloring at the kitchen counter, looked up when she heard her name.
“What mistakes?”
No one answered immediately.
Rebecca closed the laptop.
“Adult ones.”
Later, Rachel contacted her former firm.
Archived records confirmed two senior attorneys witnessed Charles sign the amendment.
One was retired.
The other was dead.
The retired attorney, Martin Shaw, agreed to testify.
That gave them independent corroboration.
For several hours, the balance shifted.
Then Jenna arrived.
She looked pale.
“The board voted.”
Ethan stood.
“And?”
“Silver Birch’s restructuring proposal passed.”
“How?”
“Margaret’s voting shares.”
“Rachel filed to suspend her.”
“The hearing is next week.”
Rebecca asked, “What does the vote do?”
Jenna swallowed.
“Effective Monday, Silver Birch receives operational control unless a court stops it.”
Ethan swore.
Rachel began making calls.
Jenna remained standing.
Rebecca watched her.
“There’s more.”
Jenna looked at Ethan.
“Daniel released the old internal messages.”
Ethan’s face changed.
Rebecca already knew what she was going to see.
Jenna placed printed pages on the table.
Messages between her and Ethan from four years earlier.
I wish things were simpler.
Sometimes I think Rebecca hates me.
Meet me after work.
And one message from Ethan after the kiss.
Last night cannot happen again. But I can’t pretend I didn’t want it.
Rebecca read every line.
Then she found another.
Jenna had written:
If you leave Rebecca, I’ll be here.
Rebecca looked up.
Jenna’s eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
Rebecca folded the pages carefully.
Ethan whispered, “Rebecca…”
She stood.
“For four years underground, Margaret told me you replaced me.”
“I didn’t.”
“You wanted to.”
“No.”
“You just wanted the option.”
She walked toward the bedroom.
Ethan followed one step.
She turned.
“If you follow me, I will leave.”
He stopped.
Rebecca closed the door.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered without thinking.
Daniel Crowe said, “Now you know your husband was never worth four years of suffering.”
Rebecca went completely still.
Daniel continued softly.
“Margaret lied to you about many things.”
May you like
A pause.
“But not everything.”
