My Boss's Hidden Heir (Elara and Marcus) novel Chapter 156

Chapter 156

Marcus’s POV

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Marcus couldn’t breathe.

The conference room felt too small, the walls closing in around him. He pressed his forehead against the cold glass window and tried to remember how lungs were supposed to work.

His mother. Penelope had killed his mother.

Not an accident. Not some random tragedy that had shattered his family and left his father a broken shell of a man. Murder. Calculated, deliberate murder followed by the most twisted manipulation Marcus could imagine.

She’d hunted his father. Studied him. Positioned herself perfectly to swoop in during his grief and become the new Mrs. Thorne.

And Marcus had lived under the same roof as her for years. Had called her by name at family dinners. Had fought with her over business decisions and company strategy while she smiled at him knowing exactly what she’d done.

“Marcus.” Elara’s voice came from somewhere behind him. “You need to sit down.”

“No, what I need is to kill her.”

The words came out flat and cold. Marcus barely recognized his own voice.

“No you don’t,” Dante said firmly. “You need to let the justice system handle this.”

Marcus turned around and the look on his face must have been something because both Dante and Elara took an involuntary step back.

“The justice system? The same justice system that let this case go cold fifteen years ago? The same system that never bothered following up with witnesses or checking traffic cameras?”

“That was different. They didn’t have what we have now.”

“What do we have, Dante? Some old photos and a witness who remembers a blonde woman in a Mercedes? You said yourself it’s not enough for a conviction.”

“It’s enough to reopen the investigation. It’s enough to get the police to take another look at Penelope’s movements that night, her financial records, everything. Once they start digging they’ll find more.”

“And how long will that take? Weeks? Months? Meanwhile she’s walking around free, sleeping in my father’s house, spending money that should have gone to my.mother’s family.”

Elara moved closer and put her hand on his arm. “I know you’re angry. You have every right to be angry. But you can’t just storm over there and confront her. She’s dangerous, Marcus. She’s already tried to destroy you once. If she knows you have evidence about your mother…”

17:01 Mon, May 11 M….

Chapter 156

“Then what? She’ll try to kill me too?”

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“Maybe. Or she’ll disappear. Flee the country. Destroy evidence. We can’t give her warning.”

Marcus pulled away and started pacing. His entire body felt like it was vibrating with rage, every muscle coiled tight and ready to explode.

Seventeen. He’d been seventeen years old when his mother died. Still in high school, still believing his biggest problems were SAT scores and college applications. And then one phone call had changed everything.

He remembered his father’s face when he’d gotten the news. The way something inside him had just broken. like a light going out that never came back on. His father had never been the same after that night. Had retreated into himself, become distant and cold.

And two years later he’d married Penelope.

“My father,” Marcus said suddenly. “Does he know? Did he have any idea what she did?”

Dante shook his head. “I don’t think so. From everything I can tell, Penelope played him perfectly. She was patient, supportive, exactly what a grieving widower needed. By the time they married he was completely under her influence.”

“He loved her.” The words tasted like acid in Marcus’s mouth. “He actually loved the woman who murdered his first wife.”

“He didn’t know. You can’t blame him for not knowing.”

“I can blame her. I can blame her for every single thing she’s done to this family. The manipulation, the lies, the sabotage. And now this. She took my mother from me and then she took my father too.”

Mimi spoke up from where she’d been sitting quietly in the corner. “What about the shareholder meeting? If you expose her there, if you present all this evidence in front of the board and the investors, she can’t run. She can’t hide. Everyone will know what she did.”

“The meeting is in two days,” Dante said. “We need to coordinate with the police before then. Make sure they have everything they need to arrest her the moment Marcus goes public.”

“Two days.” Marcus felt something shift inside him. The rage was still there but underneath it was something colder, sharper. A plan forming. “Two days and I destroy her in front of everyone she’s tried to impress. I take everything from her the way she took everything from me.”

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