Chapter 4 - What Rachel Hid
Daniel stared at Margaret.
“Outside the office how?”
She looked at Ethan.
“Not here.”
Daniel followed her gaze.
He understood.
Whatever she was about to say did not belong in front of a seven-year-old.
Claire stood.
“I’ll take Ethan upstairs.”
The reception was being held inside the Fairmont Hotel.
Their honeymoon suite was on the twenty-second floor.
Daniel looked at Ethan.
“You okay going with Claire?”
The boy immediately grabbed his hand.
“You’re coming too?”
“I’ll be there soon.”
“How soon?”
Daniel saw panic in his eyes.
He crouched.
“Ten minutes.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
Ethan held up his pinky.
Daniel almost broke.
He hooked his finger around his son’s.
“Promise.”
Ethan looked at Claire.
“Can I take the cake?”
Claire smiled through tears.
“Absolutely.”
They left.
Daniel watched until the ballroom doors closed.
Then he turned back.
“Talk.”
Margaret sat slowly.
Sophie stood opposite her.
“I don’t understand.”
Margaret stared at the tablecloth.
“Richard and Rachel became close.”
Daniel’s hands curled.
“He was her psychiatrist.”
“I know.”
“How close?”
Margaret’s silence answered before she did.
Sophie whispered.
“No.”
Daniel felt pressure building behind his eyes.
“Were they having an affair?”
Margaret shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I truly don’t know.”
“Then what do you know?”
Margaret looked at him.
“Rachel told me she had feelings for him.”
Daniel turned away.
Marcus lowered his eyes.
James stayed silent.
Sophie sat down as if her legs had failed.
“When?”
Daniel asked.
“About six months before she died.”
He looked back.
“You knew for six months?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me.”
“She begged me not to.”
Daniel laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“Of course she did.”
“She was ashamed.”
“Did Richard know?”
“Yes.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Did he encourage it?”
Margaret hesitated.
“I think so.”
“Why?”
“Because he told her you were part of the reason she was unhappy.”
Daniel stared.
“He told his psychiatric patient that?”
“He told her your marriage might be emotionally unsafe.”
“Based on what?”
“I don’t know.”
Sophie looked at her mother.
“You defended him.”
Margaret’s face twisted.
“I thought he was helping her.”
“You brought him into our family.”
“I was desperate.”
Daniel spoke.
“You introduced them?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
Daniel stopped.
That changed everything.
“How?”
“He spoke at a grief and depression seminar.”
“Rachel had been struggling after Ethan was born.”
“She didn’t want to see anyone.”
“I convinced her.”
Daniel remembered.
Margaret had recommended Richard repeatedly.
Daniel had been grateful.
He had thought she was trying to help.
Margaret continued.
“At first, Rachel improved.”
“She slept.”
“She ate.”
“She started painting again.”
Daniel nodded slowly.
“That part is true.”
“Then things changed.”
“How?”
“She started questioning everything.”
“Her marriage.”
“Motherhood.”
“Whether she loved you.”
Daniel looked down.
Sophie shook her head.
“Rachel loved Daniel.”
Margaret snapped.
“You weren’t married to her.”
“No.”
“But I was her sister.”
“And I watched her light up whenever he walked into a room.”
Margaret closed her mouth.
Daniel said, “Did Richard ever contact you without Rachel?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“A few times.”
“About her treatment?”
“Yes.”
“That was illegal without consent.”
“She had signed paperwork.”
Daniel frowned.
“What paperwork?”
Margaret hesitated.
Sophie whispered.
“Oh, no.”
Daniel stared.
“What paperwork?”
“Medical release forms.”
“Giving you access?”
“Yes.”
“Rachel never told me.”
“She didn’t want you involved.”
Daniel felt a fresh cut open inside him.
“Was that her decision or Richard’s suggestion?”
Margaret looked away.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel’s phone buzzed.
James glanced at the screen.
“Marcus, can you check with hotel security?”
“See whether Dr. Hale came here tonight.”
Marcus nodded and left.
Daniel turned back to Margaret.
“Why was Richard helping you get Ethan?”
“Because he said Daniel would repeat the same emotional neglect with him.”
James finally spoke.
“That phrase appears in the petition.”
Margaret nodded.
“He told me Ethan needed stability.”
“He told me Daniel was moving on too quickly.”
“He said Claire represented replacement behavior.”
Daniel stared at her.
“And you believed him.”
“I wanted to.”
The honesty hurt worse.
Daniel leaned against a chair.
“At least that’s true.”
Margaret began crying.
“I hated you.”
Daniel looked over.
“After Rachel died, I needed somebody to blame.”
“You were there.”
“You had money.”
“You had work.”
“You had your life.”
“My daughter had nothing.”
“She was gone.”
Daniel’s voice became rough.
“You think I had my life?”
“You went back to work.”
“I went back because if I stayed inside that house another week, Ethan was going to watch his father fall apart.”
Margaret wiped her face.
“You never showed it.”
“I cried in the shower.”
“I cried in my car.”
“I cried in hotel bathrooms between meetings.”
“I slept on Rachel’s side of the bed because her pillow still smelled like her.”
The room went still.
Daniel swallowed.
“You didn’t see it because I didn’t let Ethan see it.”
Margaret looked shattered.
“I thought you didn’t care enough.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“I almost died from caring.”
Sophie reached across the table and took Margaret’s hand.
Margaret let her.
Daniel continued.
“You made my silence evidence.”
“You made my work evidence.”
“You made Claire evidence.”
“And Richard gave you permission.”
Margaret whispered.
“Yes.”
James tapped the court order.
“Then we need to know how involved Richard was in the legal process.”
“Did he recommend the attorney?”
Margaret’s expression changed.
“Yes.”
James looked up.
“Who?”
“Alan Pierce.”
James swore.
Daniel frowned.
“You know him?”
“He’s been disciplined twice.”
“For what?”
“Improper ex parte communication.”
“And once for submitting altered exhibits.”
Daniel stared at Margaret.
“You hired him?”
“Richard said he was effective.”
Sophie gave a hollow laugh.
“That’s one word.”
Marcus returned.
His expression was grim.
“Hotel security has footage.”
Daniel turned.
“Of Richard?”
Marcus nodded.
“He was here.”
“When?”
“Forty minutes before the ceremony.”
Margaret looked shocked.
Daniel saw it.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
Marcus continued.
“He entered through the service corridor.”
“Met someone near the west elevators.”
“Who?”
Marcus looked at Margaret.
“A man who arrived with you.”
Her face went blank.
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“Who?”
Margaret whispered.
“Alan.”
“The attorney?”
“Yes.”
James stood.
“They met here tonight?”
Marcus nodded.
“For six minutes.”
“Then Richard left.”
Daniel looked at the empty ballroom.
“What were they doing at my wedding?”
Nobody answered.
Then Sophie slowly opened her purse.
She pulled out her phone.
“I might know.”
Daniel looked at her.
“What?”
“Yesterday, after I confronted Richard, he said something strange.”
“What?”
“He asked whether I knew Daniel and Claire were getting married at the Fairmont.”
Daniel stared.
“What did you say?”
“I asked why he cared.”
“And?”
“He said, ‘Sometimes public events create necessary leverage.’”
James went still.
Daniel looked toward the ballroom entrance.
“Leverage for what?”
Sophie shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Daniel remembered Margaret grabbing Ethan.
The panic in her face.
“You didn’t want Ethan here because you were afraid he would expose you.”
Margaret whispered.
“Yes.”
“But Richard didn’t know Sophie was bringing him.”
“No.”
“So what leverage was he expecting?”
Margaret’s breathing changed.
Daniel saw it.
“You know.”
“No.”
“Yes, you do.”
Margaret stood.
“I need to go home.”
Daniel blocked her path.
“What was supposed to happen tonight?”
“Nothing.”
“Margaret.”
“Move.”
“What was Richard planning?”
She started shaking.
Sophie stood.
“Mom.”
Margaret looked around the room like someone searching for an exit.
Then she whispered.
“He said if you challenged custody, he had proof that would destroy you.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What proof?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“He said tonight I would understand.”
Marcus’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed almost immediately.
He looked at Daniel.
“We’ve got a problem.”
“What?”
“Hotel security found a package taped under the head table.”
Daniel went still.
“What kind of package?”
“A padded envelope.”
“Addressed to you.”
“From?”
Marcus swallowed.
“Rachel.”
No one spoke.
Daniel stared toward the table where he and Claire had been scheduled to sit.
May you like
A place where a package from his dead wife had apparently been waiting for him all evening.
And suddenly Daniel understood why Richard Hale had come to the wedding.
