Chapter 3 - WHAT MARGARET KNEW
Emma's hands shook.
Daniel's words echoed in her mind.
You should have stayed out of this.
Margaret gently touched her arm.
"Emma, listen to me."
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"She has been filling your head with lies for years."
Emma turned.
"What lies?"
Margaret's face tightened.
"About your father."
Emma stopped breathing.
Her father had died twelve years earlier.
For most of her life, Margaret had refused to discuss him.
Daniel knew that.
Everyone knew that.
"What does Dad have to do with this?"
Margaret looked at Daniel.
"He knew Daniel's father."
Daniel's face became expressionless.
Emma frowned.
"My father knew your father?"
"Yes," Margaret said.
Daniel shook his head.
"That's irrelevant."
"No," Margaret replied.
"It is the reason all of this started."
Emma looked between them.
"Someone explain."
Margaret slowly sat on the couch.
"Your father worked with Daniel's father."
Emma listened.
"They were partners in a construction company."
"I knew that."
"You knew they were partners," Margaret said.
"You didn't know what happened afterward."
Daniel interrupted.
"Your mother is rewriting history."
Margaret's voice rose.
"Your father discovered money was disappearing."
Daniel's jaw tightened.
"He accused Daniel's father of stealing."
Emma stared at him.
"And?"
"They fought."
"What happened?"
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"Your father died three weeks later."
Emma felt cold.
"Are you saying..."
"I am saying I never believed it was an accident."
Daniel stepped forward.
"Enough."
Margaret stood.
"You knew what your father did."
"I was nineteen."
"You knew."
"I knew nothing."
"You knew enough to keep quiet."
Daniel slammed his palm against the table.
Emma flinched.
Margaret did too.
That sound was enough.
Emma stepped between them again.
"Don't touch anything."
Daniel stared at her.
"You don't understand what you're doing."
"Then explain it."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because once you know the truth, you can't go back."
Emma's eyes narrowed.
"Maybe I don't want to go back."
Daniel looked at her for a long moment.
Then he reached into his pocket.
He placed a small key on the table.
"Your father left something behind."
Emma stared at it.
"What?"
"A storage unit."
Margaret gasped.
Daniel walked toward the door.
"I suggest you open it before someone else does."
The door closed.
Emma looked at her mother.
"What is inside?"
May you like
Margaret whispered the answer.
"The reason your father died."
