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"Why not?"
"I could have done it, but I became attached to the child, and I was afraid that if I took her to a registry office, the social workers would be called and they would take her away from me. She is actually two months older than the Blanchet girl."
"Continue."
"It all contributed to his plan. Mr. Van Lith had never seen Mr. Roger's daughter in person. He only met her two months after the Blanchets' death. They were similar physically. They could even have passed for sisters. He offered me the money to make the exchange, and I accepted. During this time, when her guardian didn't know her personally yet, I truly brainwashed my niece. Every day, I showed her photographs of her ‘parents,’ forcing memories of events that never happened, until it got tothe point that she, in her childlike innocence, began to repeat them as if she had actually lived them."
"Why? Edgar Hazen is rich and powerful. Why go to the trouble of coming up with such a risky plan?"
"Because he told me he would never forgive Roger, both for stealing the woman he loved and for breaking their partnership. I don't think it was just about the money. He would need to wait a long time to get his hands on it. I think it was because even after my employers died, he wanted to show who was boss."
"How could you? Your employers’ daughter was in your care, JeAnne. You had a duty to protect her!"
"You have to believe me when I say I didn't know he would hurt the child."
"I don't believe it, JeAnne. You knew he hated your boss, envied him. You were a grown woman at the time. You should have known he would hurt the girl."
"He didn't say he hurt her. He said her death was an accident. I don't even know how it happened."
I look at my lawyers, who are hanging on every word. I didn't go to law school—I'm an engineer by training—but even a layman would be able to understand that she has just declared herself an accomplice to murder.
"I would like to see Serenity,” says JeAnne. “Tell her everything."
"I doubt that once she knows the truth, she will want to see you." I stand up, thinking how difficult it will be to start telling my wife this sordid story.
"Can you at least tell her that I love her?"
"That's not love, JeAnne. You may have become fond of her, but you stole her identity. You never loved her."
"She grew up in comfort that she would never have had if I hadn't accepted the deal."
"At the expense of another child's life. Can't you fucking see that?" I start walking to the door, completely disgusted.
"Ares, he has an accomplice."
I stop and stare at her. "What?"
"I haven't told the whole story yet. How do you think he intended to get his hands on her fortune? He has a grand-nephew who, at the right time, was supposed to seduce her, but you arrived on the scene and ruined all their plans. The boy is out of control. He no longer accepts orders. He is obsessed with Serenity."
"Give me his name, JeAnne."
She takes a few seconds to speak, but when she finally reveals the accomplice’s name, I know I need to act quickly. He is much closer than any of us imagined.
Ares
CHAPTER FIFTY
I'm not surprised when,upon leaving the room, I find my brothers watching everything through the glass. Only Hades is not here with us.
I know they came to support me, but I need to find Serenity.
We don't say anything until we are outside the prison.
"If we hadn’t been listening, we wouldn't have believed it. I thought I had already witnessed the worst kinds of shit in my life, but this is without doubt the most rotten story I have ever heard," Zeus says.
"Call Beau. See if he can find that son of a bitch Edgar Hazen."
"We already did," Dionysus replies.