part 9
Nicholas asked for one more meeting.
Not with Rachel.
With Abigail.
Rachel wanted to refuse.
Mason wanted to refuse.
Detective Pike advised against it unless it was controlled, recorded, and brief.
Abigail listened to them all.
Then she said, “I want to hear what he thinks is worth saying now.”
So they arranged it.
A private consultation room at the hospital.
A camera in the corner.
A detective outside.
Rachel seated beside her daughter.
Nicholas entered alone.
For the first time, he looked like a man who understood that polished suits do not protect anyone from consequences.
He sat down carefully.
Abigail did not greet him.
He looked at the bruises still visible above her blanket and had the decency to flinch.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Rachel almost stood up.
Abigail touched her sleeve once.
Let him talk.
Nicholas exhaled shakily.
“Patricia wasn’t going to stop with the shares.”
Abigail’s face stayed blank.
“What else?”
He closed his eyes.
“She had a memory-care facility ready.”
Rachel went cold.
Abigail’s fingers tightened around the edge of her blanket.
“She told Gregory and me that once the transfer was complete, we’d move your mother out of the board picture permanently.”
Abigail stared.
“My mother?”
Nicholas nodded.
“Rachel.”
“The Fergusons knew your mother had temporary voting guidance rights while you remained the sole beneficiary.”
“If you signed the transfer, Patricia wanted a second move.”
Rachel felt something dark pass through her body like a blade.
“She was coming after me too?”
Nicholas looked ashamed.
“She said once you lost leverage, the Colonel would calm down.”
Abigail gave one short, broken laugh.
“She really thought that?”
Nicholas looked at her.
“I didn’t stop her.”
“No,” Abigail said softly.
“You didn’t stop anything.”
He leaned forward.
“Abby, I did love you.”
Rachel watched her daughter’s face become still in a way she had never seen before.
Not numb.
Resolved.
“That’s the saddest part,” Abigail said.
“You probably believe that.”
Nicholas opened his mouth.
She raised one hand.
“No.”
“You don’t get to explain love to me after needing three people to hold me down for paperwork.”
He started crying then.
Real tears.
Too late.
Useless.
He looked at Rachel.
“I know you hate me.”
Rachel answered truthfully.
“I don’t need hatred.”
“The law is doing enough.”
When Nicholas was gone, Abigail sat back and closed her eyes.
Rachel waited.
After a long silence, her daughter said, “He never saw me.”
Rachel took her hand.
“I see you.”
Abigail nodded.
Then opened her eyes again.
May you like
“And now they will too.”
Read the full story 👉 Nicholas has admitted Patricia planned to destroy both Abigail and Rachel, and the final part reveals how the Fergusons lose everything they tried to steal.
