Chapter 5: The Eyes He Kept on Us
Marcus reached for the tablet, but Dana pulled it back.
“That recording was obtained legally,” Grace said.
“Try again, and we end this conversation at the courthouse.”
Marcus looked at Graham.
“Tell them it’s meaningless.”
Graham kept his hands on his closed case.
“Who made the recording?”
“My former investigator,” Dana said.
“He contacted us after learning four children stepped out of that helicopter.”
I faced Marcus.
“You knew about my appointments?”
“I needed to know whether you were telling the truth.”
“You already had the ultrasound.”
“Images can be altered.”
“You knew enough to pay someone.”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“I was protecting my family.”
Noah looked toward Patricia.
“Aren’t we his family?”
Patricia reached for him.
Noah stepped behind me.
Her hand remained in the air before falling to her side.
Vanessa touched his shoulder.
“You asked a fair question.”
Marcus’s phone vibrated.
He read the message and slipped it into his pocket.
“Let’s stop performing for the children.”
“You started this performance,” I said.
“Why invite me now?”
“The divorce records are being audited.”
Grace unfolded the petition.
“Because of the Reynolds trust?”
Marcus looked at her.
“That is private.”
“The trust gives a former spouse a financial interest if children were born during the marriage.”
Patricia stood.
“Arthur put that clause in place after Marcus’s uncle abandoned his first family.”
“And you helped Marcus hide mine,” I said.
“I thought he would correct it after the vote.”
“Did you ever ask whether my babies had food?”
Patricia’s chin trembled.
“Every day.”
“You should have asked me.”
“I was ashamed.”
“No.
You were comfortable.”
Patricia gripped the table as tears ran down her face.
Marcus moved between us.
“Leave my mother alone.”
“You used her silence when it suited you.
Don’t pretend to protect her now.”
He leaned close enough that only the table separated us.
“What do you want?”
“The truth spoken in front of our children.”
“They don’t need details.”
“They needed a father.”
“I can be one now.”
Olivia looked up at him.
“Because of the trust?”
Marcus opened his mouth, but no answer came.
Grace laid the handwritten page beside the petition.
“You knew at least one child existed, concealed the pregnancy, intercepted support payments, and filed for control of assets before meeting them.”
Marcus pulled out a chair.
“Name a number.”
Vanessa stared at him.
“You’re offering her money?”
“I’m offering stability.
She returns to Austin, withdraws these accusations, and I establish a private arrangement.”
“No,” I said.
“Five million.”
“No.”
“Ten.”
Ethan whispered, “Mama said no.”
Marcus’s smile vanished.
“Then I’ll request full financial discovery.
Every account.
Every investor.
Every business decision.
Your quiet little success will become public property.”
Dana laughed softly.
Marcus turned.
“Something amusing?”
“She doesn’t have a quiet little business.”
Dana opened a financial news page and placed the tablet in front of him.
The headline named my medical transport company as the buyer in a pending acquisition worth hundreds of millions.
Marcus read it, then looked at me.
“You own Northstar Air Medical?”
“All of it.”
Graham sat down without being invited.
Marcus’s phone vibrated again.
This time Grace noticed the court seal on the screen.
“What did you file?”
Marcus held up the phone.
“A judge signed the temporary travel restriction.
Until tomorrow’s hearing, those children stay in Colorado.”
The front door opened behind him.
An elderly man entered with a cane and looked from the children to Marcus.
May you like
“No,” Arthur Reynolds said.
“Tonight, it is you who stays.”
