“That ruined everything.”
I looked at Hayes.
“So your revenge plan failed because Russell loved me?”
“Partly.”
“Then why poison him?”
“Because I discovered what he planned to do with the archive.”
Margaret looked at Russell.
“What did you plan?”
Russell took a slow breath.
“Release it.”
Everyone stared.
“All of it?” Daniel asked.
“Everything that could prove criminal conduct.”
Claire shook her head.
“You’d destroy hundreds of lives.”
“I’d expose hundreds of crimes.”
“You’d destroy yourself too.”
Russell smiled sadly.
“I know.”
That was when I finally understood.
Russell hadn’t faked his death just to escape an assassin.
He had prepared to disappear because he intended to destroy the empire that had made him wealthy.
Margaret turned toward me.
“He changed the plan after marrying you.”
Russell looked embarrassed.
“What plan?”
“He was going to vanish alone.”
“And after?”
“He created a trust.”
Hayes’s face hardened.
