He handed it to Dr. Aaron Whitman, a longtime associate. “Can you tell if something’s wrong?”
Aaron swallowed. “If it’s contaminated—”
“No one’s drinking it,” Ethan said.
The guests were dismissed shortly after. They didn’t argue. Ethan Blackwood didn’t repeat himself.
When the room emptied, the silence felt cavernous.
Margaret stood unshaken. Julian paced. Avery hovered near Rosa, shaken.
Ethan spoke softly. “Rosa, why were you afraid to speak?”
Margaret interrupted. “Enough.”
Ethan raised a hand. She stopped.
“She said it had to look like an accident,” Rosa said, crying. “That you’d sign whatever papers Julian brought after.”
Ethan turned slowly.
“Transfer documents?” he asked.
Julian’s face collapsed.
Margaret’s eyes burned. “You’ve always controlled everything.”
Ethan’s voice dropped. “Except this.”
The truth unraveled quickly after that—about the pressure, the plan, the intention to make him sick enough to sign control away.
And finally—
The secret.
“There’s a woman in Clearwater Bay,” Ethan said. “Her name is Claire.”
Margaret smiled thinly. “And your son.”
“Yes,” Ethan said. “His name is Lucas. He’s nineteen.”
Avery staggered. Julian went rigid.