Chapter 4 - The Woman They Never Knew
Margaret stepped into the hallway slowly.
The bruise on her cheek was now impossible to hide. Without her glasses, the room looked blurred, but Daniel's expression was clear enough.
Confusion had replaced arrogance.
Linda stood behind him, still holding the bottle of red nail polish.
Edward Hawthorne removed his hat when he saw Margaret.
“Mrs. Collins,” he said respectfully. “We came as soon as Protocol Ash was activated.”
Daniel looked from the attorney to his mother.
“What is he talking about?”
Margaret did not answer immediately.
A female doctor approached her carefully.
“My name is Dr. Helen Brooks. May I examine your injuries?”
Linda gave a nervous laugh.
“This is ridiculous. She slipped in the kitchen.”
Margaret turned toward her.
For the first time in fifteen years, Linda looked away first.
“She did not slip,” Margaret said.
The house fell silent.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Mom, think carefully about what you're saying.”
“I have been thinking carefully for fifteen years.”
The legal videographer switched on his camera. A small red light appeared.
Daniel noticed it and stepped forward.
“You cannot record inside my house.”
Edward opened the leather briefcase.
“That statement is inaccurate.”
He removed a property deed and unfolded it on the dining table.
Daniel stared at the document.
Linda moved closer.
Edward pointed to the name printed at the bottom.
MARGARET ELEANOR COLLINS.
“The property was purchased thirty-two years ago by Richard and Margaret Collins. After Mr. Collins's death, full ownership transferred to Mrs. Collins.”
Daniel's face went pale.
“No. Dad left the house to me.”
“No,” Edward replied. “Your father allowed you to believe that.”
Margaret remembered the day Daniel moved back home after his business failed. He had promised it would last only six months.
That had been fifteen years ago.
Edward continued.
“Mrs. Collins also owns every major asset connected to this property, including the land, the adjoining rental units, and the commercial building on West Harbor Street.”
Daniel laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
“My mother has no money.”
Margaret looked at him quietly.
That belief had protected her identity for years.
Now it became the first stone falling from the wall of lies around him.
Edward placed another document on the table.
“This morning, Mrs. Collins activated her legal authority over the Collins Family Trust.”
Linda's hand began trembling.
The red nail polish bottle slipped from her fingers and shattered against the floor.
Neither Margaret nor the attorney looked down.
Edward's next words were calm.
“The estimated value of the trust exceeds eight hundred million dollars.”
Daniel stared at his mother as though she had become a stranger.
May you like
But Margaret realized the opposite was true.
He had never known her at all.
