Chapter 15 - The Visit Natalie Requested
Ethan agreed to the visit only after consulting Maya and his attorney.
He met Natalie in a secure interview room.
She wore county-issued clothing.
Her hair was tied back.
Without makeup or expensive clothes, she looked smaller than Ethan remembered.
“You came,” she said.
“I came for answers.”
Natalie’s eyes filled with tears.
“I never wanted your mother hurt.”
“You locked her in a basement.”
“Harlan said the medication was safe.”
“You tied her to a bed.”
“She tried to run into the road.”
“There is video of Heather dragging her down the stairs.”
Natalie looked away.
Ethan placed a copy of the target list on the table.
“You chose me because of my mother.”
“At first.”
The answer struck harder than a denial.
“At first?” he repeated.
Natalie’s voice shook.
“Harlan sent me to the event. He wanted information. But then I fell in love with you.”
“You expect that to make this better?”
“No.”
“Did you marry me for the trust?”
“I married you because I wanted our life.”
“Then why did you destroy it?”
Natalie pressed both hands against the table.
“I owed Harlan money. He threatened to expose everything I had done before meeting you.”
“So you gave him my mother.”
“I thought we could move the money and put her somewhere safe.”
“A locked psychiatric facility.”
“She would have been cared for.”
“She would have been silenced.”
Natalie began crying.
She said Harlan controlled judges and doctors.
She claimed resisting him would have endangered Ethan.
Ethan listened without interrupting.
Then he asked the only question that mattered.
“When my mother begged to call me, why didn’t you let her?”
Natalie had no answer.
She could blame Harlan for forged documents.
She could blame fear for the offshore transfer.
She could not blame anyone else for standing at the top of the basement stairs while Ruth cried for her son.
Ethan rose.
“I hope you testify.”
“Will you ask the prosecutor to help me?”
“No.”
Natalie looked stunned.
“You said you wanted the truth.”
“I do. Tell it because it is the truth, not because I promise to rescue you.”
He walked toward the door.
“Ethan, I loved you.”
He stopped without turning.
“You knew what love meant. That is why you knew exactly how to use it against us.”
He left.
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Later that day, Natalie signed a cooperation agreement without Ethan’s support.
👉 Natalie finally began naming the people behind the scheme, and the most powerful name on her list belonged to someone no investigator had suspected.
