Chapter 10 - The Woman at the Pharmacy.
Mark did not ask Margaret to explain immediately.
He simply stared at her until she looked away.
That frightened Sarah more than shouting would have.
Daniel spoke first.
"What instructions?"
Margaret folded her arms.
"Thomas was vindictive when he felt betrayed."
Nathan shook his head.
"I drafted the amendment."
"There was another letter."
Nathan's expression changed.
"What letter?"
Margaret gave him a thin smile.
"You were never the only attorney Thomas trusted."
Mark stepped closer.
"Stop performing and tell me what he wrote."
Margaret's composure cracked slightly.
"He wrote that if genetic evidence ever established you were not his biological son, your voting shares would transfer into a charitable foundation."
Mark's face went still.
Jessica whispered, "That cannot be legal."
Nathan answered cautiously.
"It depends on the structure and whether such a provision actually exists."
Margaret pointed toward the amendment.
"That is why I kept this family from tearing itself apart."
Sarah felt disgust rise in her throat.
"You strapped my daughter outside to keep Mark from asking for a DNA test."
"I did not strap her."
"You told her to stay there."
"She was being dramatic."
Sarah took one step forward.
Daniel moved beside her, not to restrain her but to stand with her.
Margaret noticed.
Something in her face changed.
For years, she had counted on Daniel choosing peace.
Now peace had stopped meaning obedience.
Mark turned to Nathan.
"Find the letter."
"I will."
Margaret laughed softly.
"You think facts will make this easier?"
Mark looked at her.
"They will make it mine."
That sentence silenced her.
The next morning, Sarah took Lily to school late.
Lily had asked to stay home.
Sarah nearly agreed.
Then Lily said, "I don't want Grandma to make me scared of normal things."
Sarah knelt in the school parking lot and hugged her.
"You do not have to be brave for anyone."
"I know."
Lily considered that.
"But I want to go draw."
Sarah watched her walk into the building holding the stuffed puppy.
On the way back to her car, Sarah's phone rang from an unknown number.
"Mrs. Hale?"
"Yes."
"My name is Rebecca Sloan."
Sarah stopped.
"Nathan Cole tried to reach me last night."
"We found the amendment."
"I know."
Rebecca's voice was tense.
"But there is something else you need to know about Margaret's paternity campaign."
Sarah sat in the car.
"What?"
"Six months ago, I saw her at a pharmacy across from Mark's office."
"That does not sound unusual."
"It was when she asked the pharmacist to hold a discarded coffee cup from the employee seating area."
Sarah frowned.
"What?"
"I thought I had misunderstood until I saw her hand cash to a courier in the parking lot."
Sarah remembered the warehouse invoice.
"Why did you not say anything?"
"I confronted her later."
"And?"
"She told me she was testing Mark for a hereditary condition."
Sarah's pulse quickened.
"That is how she got his DNA."
"I believe so."
Rebecca paused.
"But that is not why I called."
Sarah waited.
"Thomas did leave a separate instruction concerning Mark."
"Did it remove his inheritance?"
"No."
Sarah closed her eyes.
Margaret had lied again.
Rebecca continued.
"Thomas wrote the opposite."
"He said Mark remained his son regardless of biology and must never be punished for the circumstances of his birth."
Sarah gripped the steering wheel.
"So Margaret lied to Mark about losing everything."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Rebecca's answer was immediate.
"To keep him afraid of the truth."
Then her voice lowered.
"And Sarah, there is another reason she needed Daniel to doubt Lily."
"What reason?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"Thomas transferred a private block of company shares to the first grandchild born before his death."
Sarah's heart thudded.
"That was Lily."
"Yes."
"How much?"
Rebecca gave the number.
Sarah thought she had misheard.
Rebecca repeated it.
Fifteen percent of Hale Industries.
May you like
Enough to decide the board vote Margaret had controlled for four years.
The Child Outside the Glass | Page
