Chapter 10 — The First Attempt
The photograph was dated two years before Ava’s crash.
At that time, Ava had just become chief operating officer.
Cole Automotive was preparing to launch an electric vehicle platform that would make the company one of the most valuable manufacturers in the country.
Ava had discovered irregular payments in the prototype division.
She had not yet connected them to Victor.
According to Mercer, Margaret approached him during that period and asked whether a vehicle’s steering system could be remotely disrupted.
Mercer claimed he refused.
But several weeks later, Ava’s test vehicle malfunctioned during a closed-track demonstration.
She escaped with minor injuries.
The incident was blamed on software.
Henry suspected sabotage.
He secretly met Mercer, hoping to uncover proof.
Mercer recorded the conversation.
The audio file had been stored in Henry’s deposit box.
Mercer’s voice could be heard saying, “Your wife asked how to cause an accident without leaving mechanical evidence.”
Henry replied, “Did she name Ava?”
“She didn’t need to.”
Henry asked Mercer to testify.
Mercer refused.
He wanted money and immunity.
Before Henry could go to the authorities, he suffered a fatal heart attack.
The death had always been considered natural.
Now Detective Hale ordered Henry’s medical records reviewed.
Margaret had been alone with him when he collapsed.
She told paramedics he had complained of chest pain all day.
But his personal assistant said Henry appeared healthy that morning.
A toxicology sample had been preserved because of an insurance requirement.
The sample revealed traces of a medication capable of dangerously altering heart rhythm.
The same medication had been prescribed to Margaret under a different name.
Ethan read the report in silence.
His mother might have killed his father.
Ava watched grief change him.
For years, Ethan had believed Henry died before he could resolve the family conflict.
In truth, Henry may have died because he tried.
Margaret was arrested again before sunset.
This time, bail was denied.
She entered the interrogation room wearing a gray detention uniform.
Detective Hale placed the evidence in front of her.
The forged documents.
The pills.
The garage footage.
Victor’s confession.
Mercer’s statement.
Henry’s letter.
The toxicology report.
Margaret looked through everything without visible emotion.
Then she asked to speak with Ethan.
Ava expected him to refuse.
He agreed.
They met through a glass partition.
Margaret picked up the telephone.
“You look tired,” she said.
Ethan almost laughed.
“Did you kill Father?”
Margaret’s face remained still.
“Your father was weak.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“He wanted to give away everything generations of Coles had built.”
“To Ava?”
“To outsiders.”
“Ava was his business partner’s daughter.”
“She was not a Cole.”
“She became one when I married her.”
Margaret leaned closer to the glass.
“Marriage is paper. Blood is permanent.”
“Is that why you tried to kill my wife and child?”
“I tried to protect you.”
“You destroyed me.”
“No. Ava did that when she turned you against your own mother.”
Ethan looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said, “I used to think Father’s death was the worst day of my life.”
Margaret’s eyes softened.
“It was difficult for all of us.”
“No.”
Ethan’s voice broke.
“The worst day was the day I realized the mother I loved never existed.”
Margaret’s expression changed.
Not to regret.
To anger.
“You ungrateful boy.”
Ethan placed the phone back on its hook.
She continued shouting behind the glass, but he could no longer hear her.
When he returned to Ava, she waited in the hallway.
He knelt in front of her wheelchair.
“I don’t expect forgiveness.”
Ava studied him.
“For what?”
“For leaving you alone while living in the same house.”
He looked down.
“I thought providing doctors and equipment made me a good husband. I never asked why you were disappearing.”
Ava’s anger remained.
But so did the memory of the man she had married.
“I don’t know what happens to us,” she said.
Ethan nodded.
“I understand.”
“But you can start by telling the truth in court.”
“I will.”
“Even if it destroys your family name?”
May you like
Ethan looked back toward the interrogation room.
“She destroyed it already.”
