Chapter 174
Marcus’s POV
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The letter arrived on a Tuesday morning while Elara was giving the babies their first bath of the day. Marcus heard her singing softly in the nursery, some lullaby her mother used to sing, and the sound made him smile despite everything else happening.
Then he opened the envelope and the smile died.
He recognized the handwriting immediately. Penelope’s precise script, every letter perfectly formed like she was still trying to maintain control even from a jail cell.
Marcus almost threw it away without reading. Almost tossed it in the fireplace and watched it burn because nothing Penelope had to say could possibly matter anymore.
But something stopped him. Maybe curiosity, maybe the need for closure, maybe just the stubborn part of him that wanted to understand how someone could be so broken.
He sat down in his office and started reading.
The affair. His father and Penelope, six months before his mother died. Marcus felt his stomach turn as he processed the timeline. All those late nights his father had claimed were business meetings. All those charity galas and corporate events. Richard had been cheating on Catherine, planning to leave her, building a new life while his wife remained oblivious.
Or maybe not oblivious. Maybe his mother had known something was wrong, had sensed the distance growing between them even before she’d discovered proof.
Marcus kept reading and felt rage building in his chest.
His mother had confronted Penelope. Had threatened to expose the affair and destroy her. Had told this woman who was sleeping with her husband that she loved him too much to share him.
And Penelope had killed her for it.
Not in a moment of pure accident like she’d claimed. Not just a drunk driver who happened to hit a pedestrian. Penelope had seen Catherine step into the crosswalk, had recognized her, and had chosen not to brake as hard as she could have.
Murder. Not legally maybe, but morally absolutely. Penelope had seen an obstacle and removed it, then built a life on the foundation of that choice.
Marcus wanted to throw something. Wanted to scream or punch walls or drive to the jail and confront Penelope through the bars. Wanted to make her feel even a fraction of the pain she’d caused.
But he just sat there, the letter trembling in his hands, while tears he didn’t know he was crying ran down his face.
His mother had been forty-two years old. Young, healthy, with decades of life ahead of her. She’d threatened to expose an affair and died for it less than a month later.
17:09 Mon, May 11
Chapter 174
And his father had married her killer.
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Marcus’s phone was in his hand before he consciously decided to call. Richard answered on the second ring.
“Marcus? Is everything alright with the babies?”
“Did you know?” Marcus’s voice came out raw and broken. “About the affair with Penelope before Mom died. Did you know she’d confronted Penelope?”
Silence on the other end. Long enough that Marcus knew the answer before his father spoke.
“How did you find out?”
“Penelope sent me a letter from jail. Explained everything. The affair, Mom threatening to expose her, the hit and run that wasn’t quite an accident.” Marcus felt fresh rage building. “So I’m asking you again. Did you know?”
“Not about the confrontation. Not about Penelope threatening your mother. I knew Catherine had discovered the affair, she’d told me she knew and that we needed to talk. We had a dinner planned for the night she died. I was going to end things with Penelope and try to save my marriage.”
“And then Mom died and you married Penelope anyway.”
“I was destroyed. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Penelope was there and she was patient and she helped me through the grief and by the time I realized what was happening we were already engaged.”
Marcus laughed bitterly. “She helped you through grief she caused. She comforted you for losing a woman she’d murdered. And you never suspected anything?”
“No. God help me, I never suspected. If I had known, if I’d had even the slightest hint that Penelope was involved in Catherine’s death, I would have gone to the police immediately.”
“Would you? Because from where I’m sitting it looks like you were pretty comfortable with the arrangement. You got your young new wife, got to move on from your marriage, got fifteen years of happiness built on my mother’s grave.”
“That’s not fair.”
“None of this is fair! Mom died because she loved you too much to let you go. Penelope killed her to clear the way to you. And you married her killer because you were too self-absorbed to ask hard questions.” Marcus was shouting now, past caring if Elara could hear. “You failed Mom. You failed me. You failed everyone who trusted you to honor her memory.”
“I know. Marcus, I know. There’s nothing you can say to me that I haven’t already said to myself a thousand times. I failed Catherine in every way that mattered. I’m sorry doesn’t begin to cover it but I am. I’m sorry for the affair, for being blind to what Penelope was, for letting her poison our family for so many years.”
Marcus wanted to hang up. Wanted to cut his father out of his life the way he’d cut out Penelope and Luca and everyone else who’d caused damage.
Thought about legacy and family and whether the sins of the father should condemn future relationships.
17:09 Mon, May 11 D
Chapter 174
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“I need time.” Marcus said finally. “I need to process this and figure out how I feel about you and about everything that happened. Don’t call me, don’t visit. Just give me space.”
“Of course. Whatever you need.”
Marcus hung up and sat in silence for a long time. The letter lay on his desk, Penelope’s poison spread across three pages of precise handwriting.
Victim blaming from beyond the grave. One final manipulation to shift responsibility away from Penelope’s choices.
Marcus picked up the letter and walked to the fireplace. He watched it burn, watched Penelope’s words turn to ash and smoke.
She didn’t get to define his mother’s legacy. Didn’t get to rewrite history to make herself the victim of circumstance rather than the architect of tragedy.
Catherine Thorne had been a good woman who’d fought for her marriage. She’d confronted her husband’s mistress with strength and dignity. And she’d died because someone else had made a choice to value convenience over human life.
That was the truth. The only truth that mattered.
Elara appeared in the doorway holding Catherine, their daughter wrapped in a soft blanket and making small contented sounds.
“I heard shouting,” Elara said quietly. “Are you okay?”
“No. But I will be.” Marcus stood and crossed to his wife, wrapping both of them in his arms. “Penelope sent a letter from jail. It was her version of events from fifteen years ago.”
“Do I want to know what it said?”
“Probably not. But the short version is she was having an affair with my father, my mother confronted her, and the hit and run was semi-intentional. Penelope saw her chance to eliminate an obstacle and took it.”
Elara’s face went pale. “Marcus….Jesus”
“I’m okay. Or I will be. I burned the letter and I’m choosing to focus on what matters instead of letting her poison affect my future.”
“What matters?”
Marcus looked down at his daughter, then over at the nursery where Alexander was starting to fuss. “This. You and our children and the life we’re building together.
Elara kissed him softly.
“They stood there for a moment, just breathing togethen Then Catherine started rooting against Elara’s chest and the spell broke.
:09 Mon, May 11 M…
Chapter 174
“Someone’s hungry.” Elara said with a smile.
“I’ll get Alexander. Feeding time waits for no existential crisis.”
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Marcus was halfway to the nursery when his phone rang. Unknown number again but he answered anyway
“Marcus Thorne.”
“Mr. Thorne, this is Dr. Harrison. I have wonderful news. We’ve completed all final assessments and both Alexander and Catherine are thriving. They’ve gained appropriate weight, their vitals are stable, and they’re feeding well.
Marcus felt his heart lift. “Really?”
“Really. Come by this afternoon and we’ll do the paperwork.”
Marcus looked at Elara who’d clearly heard enough to understand.
“We’ll be there in two hours,” Marcus said.
He hung up and pulled Elara into another embrace, careful of the baby between them.
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17:09 Mon, May 11 M
