Chapter 4 - The Uncle at Breakfast
Marcus Hale arrived for breakfast the next morning at eight fifteen, wearing a navy suit and the relaxed expression of a man who believed the world still belonged to him.
I did not tell him about the break-ins.
Not yet.
He poured coffee while Mother sat across from him in her wheelchair.
Clara served toast.
Marcus barely glanced at her.
That bothered me more than if he had stared.
"You look tired," he told me.
"Long night."
"Business?"
"Family."
His hand stopped for half a second over the sugar bowl.
There.
Small.
But real.
Mother saw it too.
"Marcus," she said, "do you remember Rose Reed?"
Clara nearly dropped the plate.
Marcus looked at Mother with mild confusion.
Perfect confusion.
Too perfect.
"Should I?"
"Henry did."
He leaned back. "Eleanor, you're tired."
"I'm dying, not senile."
"I didn't say—"
"You didn't have to."
I watched him.
"Rose was Father's mistress."
Marcus turned to me slowly.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Is it true?"
He sighed as if disappointed in all of us.
"Henry made mistakes. Most men do. Bringing old ones into a sickroom helps no one."
Not denial.
"Did Rose have a child?"
Clara's breathing changed.
Marcus finally looked at her.
For one second, the mask slipped.
Recognition.
Then it was gone.
"I wouldn't know."
Clara set the plate down.
"You came to my mother's apartment when she was pregnant."
Marcus laughed softly. "Young lady, I met hundreds of people on your father's behalf."
"You threatened her."
"Careful."
His tone changed the room.
Clara did not back down.
"You told her you could make sure her baby grew up with nothing."
I leaned forward.
"Did you?"
Marcus looked at me.
"Bennett, your father built an empire while sleeping with people he should not have slept with. I cleaned up his disasters. That was my job."
"Was Clara one of the disasters?"
Mother slammed her palm on the table.
"She is a person."
Marcus ignored her.
"This family owns companies, property, voting interests. If anyone with a sad story can walk in and claim blood, you will lose control of everything your father built."
Clara's eyes flashed. "I don't want your money."
"Everyone says that before the attorneys arrive."
I stood.
"Breakfast is over."
Marcus looked up at me.
"You're making a mistake."
"Maybe."
He rose, adjusted his cuff, and moved toward the door.
Then he stopped beside Clara.
"Rose was offered a chance to walk away quietly. She should have taken it."
Clara went white.
I stepped between them.
"Get out."
Marcus smiled at me.
"You always were too much like your mother."
He left.
The moment the front door closed, Mother whispered, "He knew."
"Yes."
Leo entered from the hallway holding a tablet.
"We found something on the street camera outside Miss Reed's apartment."
He turned the screen toward me.
A black sedan had parked outside Clara's building thirty minutes before the break-in.
May you like
The license plate belonged to Hale Legal Services.
Marcus's private firm.
