Chapter 9 - SCARLETT’S CONFESSION
Scarlett requested to speak with Mia.
Noah refused.
Mia accepted.
They met inside a police interview room separated by a table bolted to the floor.
Scarlett wore no makeup.
No red gown.
No diamonds.
No artificial smile.
She looked younger.
And older.
Both somehow.
Mia sat opposite her.
“Why did you push me?”
Scarlett looked at her hands.
“Because I hated you.”
“At least that’s simple.”
“No.”
Scarlett lifted her eyes.
“That’s the problem. None of it was simple.”
She told Mia about growing up beside Noah.
About her father repeatedly telling her that one day the Hale and Vale families would become one.
About being praised whenever Noah liked her.
Punished whenever he pulled away.
By thirteen, Scarlett believed marrying Noah was not romance.
It was duty.
By twenty-two, after Daniel died, Grant told her the future of their family depended on it.
When Noah eventually proposed, Scarlett felt she had completed the purpose assigned to her since childhood.
Then he ended the engagement.
Her father did not comfort her.
He called her a failure.
Mia listened.
It explained Scarlett.
It did not excuse her.
“You had eighteen years to become someone else.”
Scarlett nodded.
“I know.”
“Instead you threatened me.”
“Yes.”
“Helped create fake medical records.”
“I drafted the legal petition.”
“Why?”
“Because my father told me Noah would eventually return to me if you were removed from the trust.”
Mia stared at her.
“And you believed that?”
“For longer than I want to admit.”
Scarlett’s voice cracked.
“Then I found the old recordings.”
“What recordings?”
“The ones proving my father had been involved in Daniel’s death.”
Mia went still.
“You know he killed Noah’s father?”
“I know he covered something up.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
Scarlett wiped her eyes.
“I started recording Dad because I wanted insurance.”
“The silver rattle.”
“Yes.”
“You were warning me?”
“Sometimes.”
“Threatening me other times.”
“Yes.”
Mia almost laughed from disbelief.
“You expect gratitude?”
“No.”
Scarlett finally looked directly at her.
“I expect prison.”
The honesty surprised Mia.
Scarlett continued.
“The night of the gala, I had decided to tell Noah everything.”
“Then why attack me?”
“Because before I could, you told me you were going to ask Noah about Dr. Parker.”
Mia remembered.
During their argument she had mentioned that Parker’s name seemed familiar from an old Hale foundation document.
Scarlett panicked.
“I thought if you started digging that night, my father would know I had betrayed him.”
“So you pushed a pregnant woman.”
“I wanted to scare you.”
“You shoved me on marble.”
“I know.”
“Your intention doesn’t change gravity.”
Scarlett lowered her eyes.
“No.”
Mia stood.
“One more question.”
Scarlett looked up.
“Did your father kill Daniel?”
A long pause.
“I heard them arguing the night before Daniel died.”
“About the stolen money?”
“Yes.”
“Then?”
“My father came home after midnight.”
Scarlett’s hands began trembling.
“There was blood on his shirt.”
Mia froze.
“Daniel’s?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I was twenty-two.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I’ve spent eighteen years wishing twenty-two was young enough to make cowardice understandable.”
Silence filled the room.
Then Mia said:
“It wasn’t.”
Scarlett nodded.
“I know.”
Before Mia reached the door, Scarlett spoke again.
“Mia.”
She turned.
“My father has one weakness.”
“What?”
“He never destroys the original.”
“Original what?”
“Anything.”
Scarlett’s eyes hardened.
“He believes copies are vulnerable and originals are power.”
“Where does he keep them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then that isn’t helpful.”
“Yes, it is.”
Scarlett leaned forward.
“Because Daniel’s real autopsy report still exists.”
Mia stared at her.
“Somewhere?”
“Yes.”
“And if you find that report…”
May you like
Scarlett swallowed.
“You’ll find the person who signed it.”
