Chapter 3 - Grace Was Never Supposed to Survive
Daniel called Grace.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Daniel?”
He put the phone on speaker.
“Where are you?”
“Home.”
“Which home?”
Silence.
Daniel’s eyes closed.
“Grace, Marcus plans to kill you.”
“What?”
“Tonight.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
I stepped closer.
“It isn't.”
“Evelyn?”
I heard her breathing change.
“Marcus has documents listing all three of us as dead tonight.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It makes perfect sense,” Ethan said. “With Daniel dead, Marcus absorbs his holdings. With Evelyn dead, he gets hers. With you dead, nobody contradicts his version of events.”
Grace whispered, “Oh God.”
Daniel asked, “Did you know?”
“No.”
“Did you know he wanted Evelyn dead?”
Another silence.
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Answer me.”
“I knew he wanted her gone.”
“Gone?”
“I thought divorce. Exile. Something.”
“You helped him lure me there.”
Grace began crying.
“He said he wanted photographs. Something compromising he could use against you.”
Daniel looked away.
“I loved you.”
“I love you.”
“No. You loved what you thought Marcus could give you.”
A sound came through the phone.
A door opening.
Grace stopped breathing.
Then Marcus spoke.
“Who are you talking to?”
The call disconnected.
Daniel moved toward the exit.
Ethan blocked him.
“Move.”
“No.”
“That’s my wife.”
“That’s Marcus’s trap.”
Daniel shoved him.
Ethan didn't move.
I stepped between them.
“We’re not leaving her.”
Ethan looked at me.
“Evelyn—”
“She betrayed us. She doesn't deserve to die for it.”
Daniel stared at me.
“You'd save her?”
“I’m saving myself from becoming Marcus.”
That ended the argument.
Ethan took out his phone.
“Then we do this differently.”
He called someone.
“Send the recording.”
“To who?” I asked.
“Everyone.”
Minutes later, phones across Chicago began receiving the same audio file.
Marcus discussing payments to officials.
Marcus ordering the elimination of associates.
Marcus describing exactly how he intended to kill Daniel and me.
Not police first.
His captains.
His financial partners.
His political connections.
His entire empire.
Daniel stared at Ethan.
“You just declared war.”
“No,” Ethan replied. “Marcus did. I just let everyone hear it.”
My phone rang.
Marcus.
I answered.
“Hello, husband.”
His voice was ice.
“What did you do?”
“I listened.”
“You have no idea what you've started.”
“You were going to murder me.”
“I built everything you have.”
“My inheritance existed before you.”
“And I protected it.”
“You tried to steal it.”
Silence.
Then Marcus said:
“Bring me the drive.”
“Why?”
“Because Grace is standing beside me.”
A muffled voice came through.
“Evelyn!”
Grace.
Marcus continued.
“You have thirty minutes.”
The line went dead.
Daniel looked at me.
“We go.”
Ethan shook his head.
“We don't trade evidence.”
“We’re not leaving her.”
“I didn't say we were.”
He removed the drive.
“This is a copy.”
I stared at him.
“Where's the original?”
“Somewhere Marcus will never find it.”
Daniel gave a humorless laugh.
“I’m beginning to understand why my brother hates you.”
Ethan looked at me.
“I need one thing from you.”
“What?”
“Marcus still believes you’re emotional.”
“I am emotional.”
“Good. Use it.”
Twenty-three minutes later, we returned to the Whitmore estate.
Marcus stood in the grand ballroom.
Grace was beside him.
Her makeup was streaked.
Daniel stopped when he saw her.
Grace whispered, “Daniel…”
He didn't answer.
Marcus looked at me.
“The drive.”
I held it up.
“Grace first.”
“You’re negotiating with me in my house?”
“It was my house before I married you.”
His jaw tightened.
That had always bothered him.
The estate had belonged to my father.
The money that financed Marcus’s first legitimate businesses had come from my family trust.
Marcus had spent years making everyone forget that.
I hadn't.
“Give me the drive,” he said.
“Tell me why.”
“Why what?”
“Why kill me?”
Marcus stared at me.
Then something ugly finally appeared beneath the polished mask.
“Because everything still has your name on it.”
There it was.
Not love.
Not Grace.
Ownership.
“You could control men,” I said. “You could control politicians. You could control half this city.”
I stepped closer.
“But you could never stand that you couldn't control me.”
Marcus smiled.
“Evelyn, I controlled you for seven years.”
“No.”
I looked toward the ballroom doors.
“You just convinced me you did.”
The doors opened.
Men began entering.
Marcus’s own captains.
His attorneys.
Two board members from Whitmore Holdings.
And people Ethan trusted.
Marcus looked around.
“What is this?”
I placed the drive on a table.
May you like
“A succession meeting.”
His smile disappeared.
