“Our grandfather’s trust gives controlling shares of Albright Technologies to whichever heir has established a legally recognized household before Arthur is declared medically incapable of voting.
Regina needed a spouse for twelve continuous months.
Without one, the shares revert to a family committee controlled by me.”
“That is enough,” Regina said.
“No, I think Matthew deserves to know what his mother’s surgery purchased.”
The words landed exactly where Patrick intended.
I looked at Regina, remembering every quiet breakfast, every cup of coffee, every night she had rested her head against my chest.
“Was any of it real?” I asked.
Pain crossed her face.
Before she could answer, Patrick reached for the red envelope.
Evelyn slapped his hand away.
“My son asked that question too,” she said.
Patrick’s expression hardened.
Evelyn continued.
“Julian was not in love with Regina.
He was her oldest friend.
When Arthur’s health began failing, Regina asked him to help her keep Patrick from taking the company.
Julian agreed because he had discovered money disappearing through Patrick’s shell corporations.
He thought the marriage would give Regina enough voting power to order an audit.”
She tapped the laptop.
“Three weeks before the contract ended, Julian recorded Patrick tampering with his car.
He sent me a copy and told me to go to the police if anything happened.
The next morning, his brakes failed on the canyon road.”
Regina flinched.
Patrick shook his head slowly.
“A grieving mother and an edited video.
That is your grand accusation?”
“The original file contains metadata,” Evelyn said.
“And the mechanic who repaired the car is ready to testify.”
For the first time, Patrick lost control.
He grabbed the laptop.
I caught his wrist.
He swung at me with his other hand.
The blow struck my cheek, but I did not release him.
Regina backed toward the wall, breathing too quickly.
Her fingers pressed against her chest.
The medication.
The trembling.
Her hidden illness was not just stress.
“Regina,” I said, “where are your pills?”
Patrick looked at her and smiled.
“There it is,” he said.
“The other secret.”
He twisted free and straightened his coat.
“My sister has an inherited arrhythmia.
She concealed it from the board, from the trust physicians, and apparently from her husband.
Tomorrow morning, I am requesting an emergency vote declaring her medically unfit.
Once that happens, her marriage will not matter.”
Regina slid down the wall.
I crossed the room and knelt beside her.
Her pulse fluttered beneath my fingertips.
“Kitchen floor,” she whispered.
“Blue box.”
I retrieved the medication and gave it to her with water.
Evelyn watched Patrick while I stayed beside Regina until her breathing slowed.
