Chapter 6 - THE OTHER LIFE
Meredith thought Vanessa was the worst secret Garrett had kept.
She was wrong.
The second family account was not another woman.
It was something more complicated.
More deliberate.
More humiliating.
For nineteen months, Garrett had been moving money into a private trust called Northstar Holdings.
Not tens of thousands.
Not even millions.
One hundred and twelve million dollars.
The beneficiary structure initially named Garrett alone.
Then, six months earlier, a second beneficiary had been added.
Vanessa Hale.
Meredith stared at the documents in William’s study.
“He was planning to leave.”
William remained quiet.
“Wasn’t he?”
“It appears possible.”
She laughed once.
The sound contained no humor.
“Possible?”
“Evidence first.”
“Dad, he put a hundred million dollars into a trust and added his mistress.”
“Yes.”
“He was planning to leave.”
William sighed.
“Yes.”
Meredith leaned back.
For the first time since Lucas died, anger replaced some of the numbness.
“He came home every night.”
William said nothing.
“He helped Lucas build that cardboard rocket in October.”
“I remember.”
“He took us to Vermont.”
“Yes.”
“He stood in family pictures knowing he was moving money.”
William’s expression hardened.
“That’s what the documents indicate.”
Meredith turned toward the window.
“I thought the affair happened because our marriage had become strained.”
William watched her.
“I thought maybe after all Lucas’s hospital visits, after my shifts, after Garrett working so much… maybe we stopped seeing each other.”
“Meredith.”
She looked at him.
“This was not caused by you failing to be interesting enough while raising a medically fragile child.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“You sound like Mom.”
“That’s because your mother is usually smarter than I am.”
Despite herself, Meredith smiled faintly.
Then the study door opened.
Helen entered carrying coffee.
“I heard that.”
William pointed at her.
“Evidence.”
Helen put a cup beside Meredith.
“Drink.”
Meredith obeyed automatically.
William’s phone rang.
Rebecca.
Again.
He answered.
Her voice was tight.
“We have a problem.”
“Another one?”
“Garrett is coming in voluntarily.”
William frowned.
“For what?”
“To give a statement.”
“Why?”
“He says he wants to cooperate against Eleanor.”
William stood.
Meredith looked at him.
Rebecca continued.
“He claims the shell companies were his mother’s structure and that she manipulated corporate valuations without his full knowledge.”
William walked toward the window.
“Do you believe him?”
“I don’t believe anyone before documents do.”
He almost smiled.
“You did learn.”
“There’s more.”
“What?”
“He told his attorney he wants to disclose everything about the night Lucas died.”
William looked at Meredith.
“Why now?”
“Maybe guilt.”
“Or strategy.”
“Probably both.”
At 2:00 that afternoon, Garrett entered the federal building through a private garage.
He looked thinner.
No security.
No assistant.
No entourage.
Nathan walked beside him.
For the first time in decades, Garrett had nowhere to hide behind the machinery of his company.
Rebecca sat across from him in an interview room.
Two federal agents joined her.
A camera recorded everything.
Garrett began without being asked.
“My mother instructed IT to delete the messages.”
Rebecca watched him.
“Did you know beforehand?”
“No.”
“Did you instruct anyone to remove personal material from company systems?”
Garrett hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What material?”
“Messages involving Vanessa.”
“Why?”
“Because I was ashamed.”
Rebecca did not react.
“When?”
“The morning after Lucas died.”
“Before or after you knew lawyers had contacted your wife?”
“Before.”
“Did you understand there could be litigation?”
Garrett closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“My client is acknowledging poor judgment, not criminal intent.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“Your client can answer.”
Garrett rubbed his palms together.
“I wasn’t thinking about litigation.”
“You were CEO of a publicly traded corporation telling employees to remove records hours after a major personal event.”
“I was thinking about Meredith seeing them.”
Rebecca sat back.
“So you wanted to conceal evidence from your wife.”
Garrett stared at the table.
“Yes.”
The admission hung there.
Rebecca changed direction.
“Tell me about Lucas.”
Garrett’s face changed instantly.
Nathan looked toward her.
Rebecca continued.
“Your wife called seventeen times.”
“Yes.”
“You saw some calls?”
“Yes.”
“You saw messages?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
“Estimate.”
“Four or five.”
“Did you see the words hospital?”
Garrett swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Heart unstable?”
A long pause.
“Yes.”
“Emily Chen called you.”
Garrett shut his eyes.
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“That the hospital wanted me to call.”
“Did she say Lucas was critical?”
“I don’t remember.”
Rebecca opened a folder.
“Emily remembers.”
Garrett looked at the page.
“She says she told you, quote, ‘Lucas is in critical condition. You need to call Meredith now.’”
Garrett’s mouth tightened.
“I was drinking.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He stared at the table.
“She may have said that.”
“What did you say?”
Garrett began crying.
Not elegantly.
Not quietly.
He covered his face.
Nathan put one hand on his shoulder.
Rebecca waited.
Finally Garrett whispered, “I said Meredith always panicked.”
“Why didn’t you call?”
He looked up.
“I was angry with her.”
Rebecca’s expression sharpened.
“About what?”
“We had argued that morning.”
“Over?”
“Vanessa.”
“You knew Meredith suspected?”
“Yes.”
“What had she said?”
“She asked if I was sleeping with her.”
“And were you?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca sat back.
“So when your wife called repeatedly regarding your son’s medical emergency, part of your decision not to answer was anger toward your wife.”
Garrett’s tears returned.
“Yes.”
No one spoke for several seconds.
Then Garrett said the thing that would later be replayed across every network in America.
“I thought there would be tomorrow.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“There wasn’t.”
Garrett lowered his head.
“No.”
That evening, he asked to see Meredith.
She refused.
The next day, he asked again.
She refused.
On the third day, he sent no lawyer.
No expensive flowers.
No explanation.
Only a box.
Inside was Lucas’s unfinished cardboard rocket.
Garrett had taken it to his office weeks earlier because Lucas wanted it “where Daddy makes important stuff.”
Attached was a note.
I don’t deserve to ask you for anything.
This belongs with you.
There is a small voice recorder taped underneath the cockpit. Lucas put it there when we built it because he wanted to make “space messages.”
I didn’t know it was still inside until today.
I have not listened to it.
Garrett
Meredith froze.
She lifted the cardboard rocket.
Beneath the paper cockpit was a tiny red recorder.
Her hands began shaking.
William stood nearby.
“You don’t have to play it.”
“Yes.”
She pressed the button.
Static.
Then Lucas’s voice filled the room.
“Captain Lucas speaking.”
Meredith covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
“We are going to Mars.”
A distant male voice laughed.
Garrett.
“You need clearance first, Captain.”
“I have clearance.”
“From whom?”
“Mommy.”
“Then I guess we’re doomed.”
Lucas giggled.
Meredith began crying.
Then his little voice became serious.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“When I get big, can I work with you?”
“You can be anything.”
“What if I want to fix sick kids like Mommy?”
“You can do that too.”
“What if I want to catch bad guys like Grandpa?”
Garrett laughed.
“Your grandfather would love that.”
Lucas whispered dramatically.
“I could do all three.”
The recording ended.
Meredith sat holding the little machine against her chest.
William turned away to hide his tears.
Helen knelt beside her daughter.
For ten minutes, the investigation disappeared.
The divorce disappeared.
The money disappeared.
Only Lucas remained.
The next morning, Meredith called Garrett herself.
He answered on the first ring.
“Meredith?”
“I heard the recording.”
Garrett could not speak.
She continued.
“I’m filing for divorce.”
His breath broke.
“I know.”
“I want no fight over money.”
“You can have everything.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
He was silent.
“I want what the law says is mine. Nothing purchased with guilt.”
“All right.”
“And if federal prosecutors ask me for documents, I will cooperate.”
“I know.”
“I will never lie for you.”
“I know.”
She closed her eyes.
“And Garrett?”
“Yes?”
“Lucas loved you.”
Garrett began crying.
Meredith forced herself to continue.
“Whatever happens next, don’t dishonor that love by lying about the man you were the night he died.”
Garrett whispered, “I won’t.”
She ended the call.
For once, Garrett kept his promise.
May you like
But Eleanor Lawson did not.
And she was preparing to make Meredith pay for everything.
