Chapter 21 - Nia's ConfessionMarcus escaped the first perimeter.
He did not escape the mountain.
Search teams tracked his descent toward a narrow service canyon.
For the moment, Ethan had another problem.
“Helen.”
She sat in the command vehicle.
“What is the twenty-fifth birthday amendment?”
Helen looked exhausted.
“Something Victor revoked.”
“What?”
“When Nia turned twenty-five, Victor amended the original family trust.”
“To do what?”
“Make her successor trustee.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“She was supposed to control Blake Meridian.”
Silence filled the vehicle.
“Then why change it?”
“Marcus.”
“But Marcus wasn’t involved with her yet.”
“Not romantically.”
“Then what?”
Helen looked at the old files.
“Northstar began earlier than you think.”
Victor met Marcus when Nia was twenty-four.
Marcus impressed him.
Victor encouraged Nia to work with Marcus.
He effectively introduced them.
Ethan laughed in disbelief.
“So Dad brought him into her life.”
“Yes.”
“And then punished her for staying with him.”
Helen did not defend Victor.
“What happened to the amendment?”
“Victor revoked it after the first Northstar irregularities.”
“Did Nia know she was supposed to become successor?”
“No.”
Ethan stared at the mountain.
“So she spent years believing Dad never considered her.”
“Yes.”
“When he had actually chosen her first.”
“Yes.”
“And he never told her.”
“No.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Secrets again.
Always secrets.
He asked Medina for permission to tell Nia.
Her attorney agreed.
Ethan returned to the jail that evening.
Nia sat across from him.
“Marcus is still free?”
“They’re searching.”
“Is Claire safe?”
“Yes.”
Nia nodded.
Ethan placed the old trust amendment on the table.
“Dad made you successor trustee when you were twenty-five.”
Nia did not move.
“What?”
“He revoked it later.”
She stared at the document.
Her name.
Her father’s signature.
Sixty-five percent voting control originally designated to her.
Ethan watched disbelief turn into grief.
“He chose me.”
“Yes.”
“And changed it.”
“Yes.”
“Because of Marcus?”
“Because of Northstar.”
Nia covered her face.
For years, she had built resentment around a false foundation.
Victor did not always prefer Ethan.
He feared what Nia’s choices had become.
But his refusal to explain those choices helped create the resentment that made them worse.
Nia lowered her hands.
“I need to give a full statement.”
“Your attorney—”
“I already told him.”
“Why?”
“Because Marcus is still out there.”
“Nia, this can increase your sentence.”
“I know.”
She asked Medina to come in.
The confession lasted four hours.
Nia described the first conversation in Marcus’s apartment.
The survivorship clause.
The climbing plan.
The knife.
The exact number of fibers Marcus told her to leave intact.
“He researched rope failure.”
Medina asked, “How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he physically cut the rope?”
“No.”
“Did he force you?”
“No.”
“Threaten you?”
“No.”
“Were you afraid of him at that point?”
Nia took a long breath.
“No.”
“Why did you do it?”
Nia looked through the observation window.
Ethan stood on the other side.
“Because I wanted Ethan gone.”
The sentence nearly broke him.
Nia continued.
“And because I had spent so long calling resentment justice that I stopped hearing the difference.”
She admitted Marcus planned to help establish the death as an accident.
Afterward, she would assume voting control.
Then Marcus expected an executive appointment and access to company systems.
“What was your share of money?” Medina asked.
Nia laughed bitterly.
“It wasn’t about cash.”
“Then what?”
“My father’s chair.”
“Power?”
Nia looked toward Ethan.
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
“That I had been right about my family.”
Medina nodded slowly.
“And now?”
“Now I know being wrong would have been cheaper.”
At 11:48 p.m., the statement ended.
Ethan entered after investigators left.
Nia looked exhausted.
“You heard?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
He said nothing.
“I know those words are useless.”
“They’re not useless.”
She looked up.
“They’re just not enough.”
Nia nodded.
“I understand.”
Ethan sat across from her.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive you.”
“I wouldn’t ask.”
“I might hate you tomorrow.”
“You should.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“You don’t get to tell me what I should feel anymore.”
Nia lowered her eyes.
He continued.
“But I needed to hear you say it without Dad, Marcus or me carrying part of the blame for you.”
Nia cried quietly.
“I cut the rope.”
“Yes.”
“I wanted you to fall.”
“Yes.”
“And when Claire saved you…”
She struggled to speak.
“I was relieved.”
Ethan stared at her.
“And ashamed that I was relieved.”
Neither spoke.
Then Ethan stood.
As he reached the door, his phone rang.
Claire.
“They found Marcus.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“On the east face.”
Ethan exhaled.
Then Claire said, “But there’s a problem.”
“What?”
“He’s hanging from a damaged rope.”
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Ethan closed his eyes.
The mountain had brought them back to exactly where everything began.
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