CHAPTER THREE: His Version of the Truth
Grant’s attorney had not wasted time.
By noon, his version of the story was already spreading.
According to the statement released to the press, I had entered the Holloway home without permission, attacked Margaret, struck Grant repeatedly, and abducted Hannah while she was emotionally distressed.
There was no mention of Hannah’s swollen face.
No mention of the blood on the rug.
No mention of Margaret’s hand twisted through my daughter’s hair.
Grant told reporters he was “deeply concerned” about his wife’s safety.
Margaret appeared beside him wearing a wrist brace.
The local news replayed the footage all afternoon.
Rebecca got me released before evening.
The prosecutor declined to file immediate charges until the evidence could be reviewed, but the arrest had accomplished what Grant wanted.
My name was everywhere.
Customers gathered outside Carter’s Table.
Some came to support me.
Others came to stare.
A few reporters shouted questions while I walked from Rebecca’s car to the diner.
“Mrs. Carter, did you strike your son-in-law?”
“Did you force Hannah to leave?”
“Are you trying to extort the Holloway family?”
I stopped at the door.
“Yes, I struck him.”
Rebecca closed her eyes behind me.
I continued.
“I struck a man who watched his wife being hurt and did nothing. I will answer for my actions in the proper place. He will answer for his.”
Then I went inside.
Rebecca followed.
“You were supposed to say nothing.”
“I said what happened.”
“You said enough to become tomorrow’s headline.”
“Then make sure the headline after that is better.”
Hannah was sitting in the corner booth with a laptop.
She had pulled her hair into a loose knot, exposing the bruises on her neck.
“I checked my credit report,” she said.
Rebecca sat across from her.
“What did you find?”
“Three business loans.”
“How much?”
“Almost four million dollars.”
I stopped breathing.
“All in my name,” Hannah whispered. “And I’ve never heard of any of the companies.”
Rebecca examined the screen.
The companies had bland names: Lakeshore Consulting Group, Meridian Food Logistics, and HC Regional Development.
All three had been formed after Hannah married Grant.
All three listed her as an officer.
All three had borrowed heavily.
“If those companies collapse,” Rebecca said, “the lenders may come after Hannah.”
“Grant told me I would leave with nothing,” Hannah said.
“He was preparing to make sure of it.”
A man entered the diner carrying a flat brown envelope.
He wore a navy suit and appeared to be in his seventies.
“Evelyn Carter?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Martin Bell. I represented your husband’s estate.”
I remembered him vaguely from Samuel’s funeral.
Martin placed the envelope on the counter.
“I saw the news,” he said. “There is something I should have given you years ago.”
My chest tightened.
“What is it?”
“Samuel instructed me to deliver it only if the Holloway family ever threatened you or Hannah.”
The diner seemed to grow silent around us.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a handwritten letter from my husband.
Beneath it lay a yellowed stock certificate.
At the top were the words:
HOLLOWAY SELECT MARKETS
CLASS A VOTING SHARES
Rebecca took the certificate carefully.
“How many shares?” she asked.
Martin looked at me.
“Enough to stop the Holloways from doing almost anything they’re planning.”
I unfolded Samuel’s letter.
May you like
The first sentence made my knees weaken.
Evelyn, if you are reading this, the Holloways have finally shown you who they really are.
