Chapter 14 - A Marriage Built on Two Lies
Lauren contacted Daniel through her attorney.
She wanted to meet.
Detective Shaw advised against it unless the conversation occurred in a controlled setting.
So they met in a private conference room at the attorney’s office.
Lauren sat across from Daniel.
No makeup.
No jewelry.
No wedding ring.
Daniel noticed that last.
“You wanted to talk.”
Lauren looked at him for a long time.
“I didn’t plan to push her.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“You’ve moved from denying it.”
“I’m tired of lying.”
“Good. Start with the hill.”
Lauren looked down.
“She told me she was signing the trust paperwork.”
“And?”
“I panicked.”
“So you pushed her.”
“I wanted the chair to roll a few feet.”
Daniel stared.
“That road drops half a mile.”
“I know.”
“You stood there every summer.”
“I know.”
“You checked that I wasn’t looking.”
Lauren began to cry.
“Stop.”
She looked up.
“Stop what?”
“Using tears when you don’t have an answer.”
Her face hardened.
“That’s what your mother says.”
“My mother nearly died.”
Lauren wiped her cheek.
“I hated her in that moment.”
“Why?”
“Because she looked at me like my entire life was filth.”
“You were stealing from her company.”
“My father died for that company.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“No. Your father died on one project twenty-seven years ago. That was a tragedy. It does not turn every employee at Hale Ridge into your enemy.”
“My mother never recovered.”
“Then punish my father.”
“He was already dying when I found him.”
“So you punished me.”
“At first.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Tell me when it changed.”
Lauren did not answer.
“When did you stop pretending?”
“The night you proposed.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I went home and threw up.”
“Romantic.”
“I had spent three years imagining humiliating you. Then you got down on one knee and told me I was the safest place you had ever known.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
Lauren whispered, “And I realized I loved you.”
“Then why didn’t you stop?”
“Because loving you didn’t make my father less dead.”
“Did stealing three million dollars?”
“No.”
“Did pushing my mother?”
“No.”
“Then what were you trying to do?”
Lauren stared at her hands.
“Make something balance.”
Daniel felt a strange sadness.
Not sympathy.
Grief.
“You built your life around an equation that can never balance.”
Lauren looked at him.
“Your father knew that.”
“What do you mean?”
“He met with me.”
Daniel froze.
“When?”
“Two weeks before he died.”
Margaret had never told him that.
“What happened?”
“He apologized.”
“For Samuel?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him apology was cheap.”
“He offered money?”
“No.”
That surprised Daniel.
“He offered me the truth.”
“What truth?”
“He said the Mesa Vista accident was his fault morally, even if lawyers could argue otherwise.”
Daniel swallowed.
“He said he had pushed the schedule.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He told me I could release the recording.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Lauren looked away.
“Because by then it would hurt you more than him.”
Daniel stared.
“So Dad gave you the weapon, and you chose not to use it?”
“Yes.”
“Because you loved me?”
“Yes.”
“Then who sent those documents to the bank?”
Lauren looked genuinely confused.
“What documents?”
Daniel watched her closely.
She was either an extraordinary actress—
Or she truly did not know.
“The package accusing Hale Ridge of fraud.”
Lauren shook her head.
“I didn’t send it.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I stole money. I pushed Margaret. I lied to you for years. Why would I deny one more thing?”
Daniel had no answer.
Lauren leaned forward.
“Mark told you Garrison is behind Meridian?”
“Yes.”
“He’s lying.”
“How?”
“Garrison is involved.”
“But?”
“They didn’t create Meridian.”
“Who did?”
Lauren hesitated.
“Mark.”
Daniel stared.
“He says you thought it was yours.”
“He told me it was his contingency plan.”
“For what?”
“If the theft was discovered, Hale Ridge would be vulnerable. He wanted to make sure the company had a buyer.”
“That sounds exactly like Garrison.”
Lauren shook her head.
“You still don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Mark wasn’t helping me steal from Hale Ridge.”
Daniel frowned.
May you like
Lauren looked him directly in the eye.
“He was using me to weaken it.”
