Chapter 13 - Margaret’s Final Bargain
Andrew stepped between Margaret and Mariana.
“Put the gun down.”
Margaret’s hands trembled.
“Move.”
“No.”
“You do not understand.”
“I understand that you framed my wife.”
“I understand that you helped hide the truth about her mother.”
“I understand that every lie in my life passed through you.”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“I did it for you.”
Andrew laughed bitterly.
“You did it for the Whitmore name.”
Tomas collapsed behind them.
Security officers disarmed the remaining gunmen.
Rafael dropped his weapon.
Margaret still aimed at Mariana.
Isabel stepped forward.
“She is not your enemy.”
Margaret looked at her.
“You promised Richard that Andrew would inherit everything.”
“I promised that Andrew would receive a fair opportunity.”
“You gave it to your daughter.”
“My daughter saved his company repeatedly.”
Margaret’s face twisted.
“She made him weak.”
“No.”
Mariana spoke from behind Andrew.
“She allowed him to hide his weakness.”
Andrew closed his eyes.
The truth no longer angered him.
It exposed him.
Margaret tightened her grip.
“If Mariana lives, Andrew loses everything.”
Andrew took another step toward her.
“I already lost everything.”
“I lost it before the accounts were frozen.”
“I lost it when I became the kind of man who could strike the woman who loved me.”
Margaret shook her head.
“She controlled you.”
“She protected me.”
“She humiliated our family.”
“I humiliated our family.”
Margaret’s weapon lowered slightly.
Andrew moved closer.
“You taught me that love was ownership.”
“You taught me that apology was weakness.”
“You taught me that money made cruelty acceptable.”
Margaret began crying.
“I wanted you to be powerful.”
“You made me empty.”
The gun slipped from her hand.
Security officers moved in.
Before they reached her, Margaret removed a small vial from her pocket.
Isabel recognized it.
“Do not.”
Margaret swallowed the contents.
Andrew caught her as she collapsed.
Doctors rushed forward.
The vial contained a powerful sedative, not poison.
Margaret survived.
Tomas also survived the gunshot.
He was taken into custody under armed guard.
Elias was arrested.
Rafael surrendered.
The church crisis ended before noon.
But the financial battle continued.
The preservation trust had frozen the empire for ninety days.
During that period, investigators would determine the lawful ownership structure.
Andrew sat alone outside the hospital room where Margaret was being treated.
Mariana approached him.
“How is she?”
“Alive.”
He looked at the bruise fading on Mariana’s face.
“I kept expecting you to destroy her.”
“I do not need to destroy people who have already destroyed themselves.”
Andrew nodded.
“I will confess publicly.”
“To everything?”
“The assault.”
“The affair.”
“The false accusation.”
“The hidden company losses.”
“You may go to prison.”
“I know.”
Mariana studied him.
“Why now?”
“Because the truth should cost me something.”
Before she could answer, Daniel entered the hallway.
He carried his hidden ownership certificate.
“I found the second certificate.”
Andrew looked up.
“I thought mine was in the company seal.”
“That was a copy.”
Daniel placed two originals on the table.
“One belongs to me.”
“The other belongs to Andrew.”
Mariana examined the documents.
Together, they represented a claim worth billions.
Andrew could use his certificate to fight her.
Instead, he tore it in half.
Daniel stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
“What I should have done years ago.”
Andrew tore it again.
“This money was never ours.”
Daniel reached for his own certificate.
A red laser dot appeared on his chest.
Mariana saw it first.
“Down.”
The window shattered.
Daniel fell.
Andrew dragged him behind the wall.
Security officers rushed into the stairwell.
Mariana looked across the street.
A figure disappeared from a rooftop.
On the floor beside Daniel’s hand was the certificate.
A bullet had torn through the document.
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Written beneath the damaged paper was a message that had not been visible before.
THE TRUE HEIR IS NOT MARIANA.
