Chapter 6 - Aunt Vivian
Vivian Hale had spent most of her life appearing harmless.
She wore soft colors, donated to museums, remembered every birthday, and never raised her voice at family dinners.
She was Richard's younger sister by four years.
She was also the only other living Hale who had once possessed voting rights in the family company.
Twenty-two years earlier, she had sold those rights to Richard after a disastrous investment nearly bankrupted her.
The transaction had saved her home, paid her debts, and created a resentment she had hidden behind perfect manners ever since.
Ethan stared at the photograph again.
"Why would Aunt Vivian meet with Sophia and Daniel?"
Richard turned it over in his hand.
"That's what we're going to find out."
Officer Ramirez cautioned them not to confront anyone while the investigation was active.
Richard heard her.
He did not promise to obey.
Sophia stood in the study doorway under the watch of the second officer.
She looked less like a frightened victim now and more like a person calculating how much everyone already knew.
Ethan lifted the photograph.
"When was this taken?"
She said nothing.
"Sophia."
Her eyes moved to Richard.
"Ask him why Vivian hates him."
Richard's face did not change.
"I already know why she hates me."
"No," Sophia said.
"You know the story you tell yourself."
Ethan stepped closer.
"What story did she tell you?"
Sophia smiled without warmth.
"That your father stole the company from her."
Richard let out a slow breath.
"She sold me her shares at market value."
"After you threatened to expose her."
That landed differently.
Ethan looked at his father.
Richard's silence lasted too long.
"Expose what?"
Richard sat behind his desk.
For the first time that morning, he looked tired.
"Vivian diverted money from a pension reserve to cover private losses."
Ethan stared at him.
"She stole from employees?"
"She borrowed from an account she had no legal right to touch."
"Did she pay it back?"
"I did."
Richard's voice was flat.
"Then I gave her a choice. Sell me her voting shares or face a board investigation."
Sophia laughed quietly.
"There it is."
Richard looked at her.
"There what is?"
"The part where you decide everyone's choices for them."
Ethan's head snapped toward her.
"Do not turn this into a moral argument after you framed him for attacking you."
For a moment, Sophia looked genuinely ashamed.
Then the expression disappeared.
"You think this began with me?"
She looked toward the empty safe.
"You have no idea how long your family has been lying to you."
Officer Ramirez interrupted.
"If you have information relevant to an active financial crime, now would be a good time to share it."
Sophia pressed her lips together.
"I want a lawyer."
That ended the questioning.
The officers arranged for her to be transported to the station for a formal interview concerning the false report, suspected fraud, and possible evidence tampering.
As she passed Ethan in the hallway, she stopped.
"Ask your father about October 14, 2004."
Ethan frowned.
"What happened then?"
Sophia's eyes stayed on Richard.
"Ask him."
Richard's face lost its color.
Sophia was led away.
Ethan waited until the front door closed.
"What happened on October fourteenth?"
Richard did not answer.
Marcus, now sitting with a bandage at his temple, looked between them.
"Richard?"
Richard walked to the library window.
Outside, police lights still reflected against the fountain.
"Your mother found something in the company books that night."
Ethan's chest tightened.
His mother, Caroline Hale, had died when he was eleven.
He remembered almost nothing about the business problems surrounding that year.
He remembered hospital corridors.
He remembered Richard refusing to leave Caroline's bedside.
He remembered Vivian bringing casseroles and holding his hand at the funeral.
"What did she find?"
Richard looked at him.
"Evidence that Vivian's pension transfer wasn't the first missing money."
"Whose money was it?"
"We never proved it."
"Who did Mom suspect?"
Richard's gaze dropped to the missing space in the safe where Caroline's ledger had been stored.
"Daniel Mercer."
Ethan went still.
Daniel had been the family's attorney even then.
"And you kept him?"
The anger in Ethan's voice surprised even him.
Richard turned.
"Caroline had a suspicion, not proof."
"So you did nothing?"
"I investigated."
"And?"
"The records vanished."
Ethan stared at him.
The words sounded too familiar.
Records vanished then.
Footage disappeared now.
Documents vanished from the safe.
Different years.
Same pattern.
Richard continued.
"Your mother kept notes in that ledger because she stopped trusting the official files."
Marcus looked toward the safe.
"The ledger Sophia stole."
Richard nodded.
Ethan remembered the message on the burner phone.
DELETE THE MEDICAL FILES. LEAVE NOW.
He suddenly understood that the conspiracy might not be about stealing a few million dollars.
Someone was erasing twenty-two years of history.
His phone rang.
The caller ID showed Vivian Hale.
Everyone stared at it.
Ethan answered on speaker.
"Aunt Vivian?"
Her voice was gentle.
"Ethan, sweetheart, I just heard something terrible happened at the villa."
He looked at Richard.
"Who told you?"
A pause.
"Daniel called me."
Richard's eyes hardened.
Ethan asked where she was.
Vivian answered immediately.
"At home."
Marcus pulled out his phone and opened the exterior camera feed.
A black Mercedes had just stopped outside Vivian's townhouse across the city.
Daniel Mercer stepped out of the passenger side.
Ethan watched the live image.
May you like
Then Vivian said softly into the phone,
"I'm all alone."
