Chapter 81: The Woman's Voice

The city kept moving, indifferent to the private disaster gathering inside one family.

Daniel identifies the woman as Margaret Reed, Naomi's estranged mother and former Vale legal counsel.

Adrian understood that the next choice would be remembered long after the explanation. They had become unusually honest since the divorce began. Honesty did not make the choices easier, but it stopped them from pretending that ease was the same thing as peace.

Naomi is devastated to learn her mother drafted the original shell contracts.

"I built Claire's case while my own family was inside the crime."

Neither of them called it forgiveness. Forgiveness was too large for one night and too fragile to demand.

Margaret requests a secret meeting and says Marcus is alive.