Chapter 5 - REBECCA'S CONFESSION
I wanted to hate her.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I asked:
“What did you do?”
Rebecca sat down.
Her hands were trembling.
“I didn't kill Margaret.”
“Then what did you do?”
“I betrayed her.”
She explained everything.
Years earlier, Rebecca had worked for Leonard Price.
Not as a lawyer.
As an investigator.
She helped locate wealthy families with complicated estates.
Leonard identified vulnerable assets.
Thomas handled financial transfers.
Rebecca gained access to the family.
Then they slowly manipulated the target.
Margaret discovered them.
She confronted Rebecca.
But instead of reporting her, Margaret offered her a way out.
“She knew I wasn't like them,” Rebecca said.
“Were you?”
“I wanted to be.”
“Why?”
“Because I was desperate.”
Rebecca's father had died in debt.
Her younger brother needed expensive medical treatment.
Leonard offered her money.
Then he offered more.
Eventually, she became trapped.
“Margaret tried to help you?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I told Leonard.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“That was my mistake.”
Leonard ordered Thomas to scare Margaret.
The confrontation escalated.
Margaret died unexpectedly.
Rebecca insisted it wasn't planned.
But Leonard covered it up.
And Rebecca remained silent.
“For five years?” I asked.
“I was afraid.”
“Then why come after me?”
“Because Leonard found out I had kept evidence.”
The USB.
Rebecca hadn't created it.
Emily had.
But Rebecca had secretly helped her.
“Why?”
“Because I owed Margaret.”
I didn't know whether to believe her.
Then she said:
“Your grandson was taken because Leonard discovered Emily was investigating.”
I stood.
“Where is Noah?”
“I know where.”
“Take me.”
“Not yet.”
“What?”
“If you go there without understanding the truth, they'll kill him.”
Rebecca opened the blue ledger.
She pointed to Eleanor Vale's name.
“She's the one running everything.”
“Blackstone?”
“Blackstone is a front.”
“For what?”
“Estate acquisition.”
“They don't steal money.”
“No.”
Rebecca looked at me.
“They steal families.”
She explained the system.
They targeted wealthy widowers.
They manipulated inheritance structures.
They gained control through marriage.
If necessary, they eliminated heirs.
Margaret had discovered it.
Emily had become the next target.
And now Noah.
I stared at the ledger.
“How many families?”
Rebecca turned the page.
Dozens.
Some had lost fortunes.
Some had lost businesses.
Some had lost people.
Then I saw a familiar surname.
My own.
“Why did Eleanor target my family?”
Rebecca answered quietly.
“Because your father left you an inheritance nobody knew about.”
“What inheritance?”
“A trust worth nearly forty million dollars.”
I stared.
“I don't have forty million.”
“You do.”
Rebecca pointed to a line.
Whitman Family Legacy Trust.
I had never heard of it.
Margaret had.
That was why she had been investigating.
And that was why she died.
Suddenly, my phone rang.
A distorted voice.
“You have until midnight.”
I answered.
“Where is my grandson?”
“Bring the blue ledger.”
“Where?”
“Old Saint Matthew's Church.”
The line went dead.
Rebecca stood.
“I'll come with you.”
“No.”
“You need me.”
“I don't trust you.”
“You don't have to.”
She looked at me.
“You just have to trust that I want Noah alive.”
We went.
At the church, everything was dark.
A single candle burned near the altar.
Then I heard a small voice.
“Grandpa!”
Noah.
I ran.
He was tied to a chair.
Alive.
Terrified.
I untied him.
Then someone stepped from the shadows.
Leonard Price.
My attorney.
He smiled.
“You should have married Rebecca.”
I stood between him and Noah.
“You killed Margaret.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“Margaret killed herself.”
“What?”
“She trusted people.”
Leonard stepped closer.
“You made the same mistake.”
Then another figure appeared.
Eleanor Vale.
Elegant.
Older.
Calm.
She looked at Rebecca.
“You disappoint me.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“No.”
Eleanor smiled.
“You're still trying to save yourself.”
May you like
She raised her gun.
And aimed it at me.
