“Why?”
“So you’d move your assets.”
“To where?”
“Somewhere accessible.”
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“You wanted him frightened enough to consolidate the archive.”
Hayes looked at me.
“And
then I wanted Emily to inherit access.”
My stomach turned.
“Why me?”
“Because Russell trusted you.”
“You used me.”
His expression twisted.
“At first.”
I stepped closer.
“Do not say you loved me.”
He flinched.
“I wasn’t going to.”
That somehow hurt worse.
He continued.
“I didn’t know how to be your father. Margaret disappeared. Russell became untouchable. I spent years imagining revenge.”
“So you arranged for Russell to meet me.”
“Yes.”
“You thought he’d marry me?”
“No.”
A strange smile touched his face.
“I thought he’d investigate you. I thought your resemblance to Margaret would make him curious.”
Russell closed his eyes.
“It did.”
“And then you fell in love with her,” Hayes said.
Russell said nothing.
