Chapter 16 - Margaret’s Final Confession
The night before the deposition, Claire had sent Viktor Vance to the state-assisted care facility in San Antonio where Margaret Rowan lay bedridden in her final days.
Faced with her own mortality, Margaret had broken down and recorded a video confession on Viktor’s tablet.
Claire pulled out the tablet and placed it on the conference table, pressing play.
Margaret’s fragile, hollow face appeared on the screen.
"If you are watching this," Margaret’s voice trembled on the recording, "it means Arthur Pendelton’s lies have finally caught up with him. Thirty years ago, my late husband Richard discovered that I was having an affair with Arthur. When Richard threatened to expose us, Arthur altered Richard's medication, causing his death."
Arthur’s face drained of every drop of color. He stood up abruptly. "This video is forged! It's inadmissible!"
"Arthur forced me to stay silent," Margaret continued on the video, tears streaming down her hollow cheeks. "He told me Evan was his biological son from our affair. He promised that if I helped him manipulate Harrison Sterling, he would make Evan the richest man in Texas. But Arthur never cared about Evan. He used my son as a pawn to get closer to Harrison’s wealth... and when Harrison discovered Arthur was stealing from the trust, Arthur poisoned him too."
Evan stared at Arthur, his eyes burning with a lifetime of betrayal and sorrow.
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"You let me believe I was a Rowan," Evan whispered, his voice shaking with intense pain. "You let me treat Claire like garbage because you told me I had to be a ruthless patriarch! You destroyed my marriage, my pride, and my life... and you were my real father all along!"
Arthur sank back into his leather chair, his arrogant posture collapsing into dust.
