Chapter 9 - CHARLES CAME TO THE HOSPITALCharles did something almost unbelievable.
He came voluntarily.
Arthur saw him through the hospital-room glass.
His brother.
Seventy-one.
Gray suit.
Same calm expression he wore at funerals and board meetings.
Police stopped him before he reached Julian.
He asked to speak with Arthur.
Against advice, Arthur agreed.
With lawyers present.
Charles sat.
Arthur stared at him.
“You buried my son.”
Charles flinched.
“We did not bury him.”
Arthur nearly stood.
His attorney touched his arm.
Charles continued.
“He was kept alive.”
“That is your defense?”
“No.”
Then:
“I am explaining.”
Arthur laughed once.
“Try.”
Charles said Julian was reckless.
Young.
Threatening to expose private genetic information based on documents he did not understand.
“The trust could have collapsed.”
“So you staged his death?”
“We needed time.”
Three years.
Time.
Arthur heard himself breathing.
Charles said:
“It was supposed to be months.”
That sentence was becoming a family tradition.
Abuse expanded.
Plans changed.
The victim stayed hidden.
Then Charles made the mistake that destroyed any remaining sympathy.
“If Julian had simply agreed to leave the founder issue alone, he could’ve come back under another explanation.”
Arthur stared.
“You wanted my son to negotiate for his own existence.”
May you like
Charles said nothing.
Exactly.
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