Chapter 28 The Revelation
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: The Revelation - Richard's Murder
Damien's pov
I stared at the file on my desk.Two years of investigation. Hundreds of hours. And thousands of dollars.
And finally, we had everything.Proof that Richard Montgomery was murdered.
My hands shook as I picked up my phone.
I called Harris. My lead investigator.
"You're sure about this?" I asked.
"Positive. We checked everything for about three more times, repeatedly. The timeline matches. The purchases match.
The witnesses are credible. Richard Montgomery was poisoned with arsenic over a six-month period."
"And Claire Ward?"
"Bought it herself. We have receipts from four different pharmacies. Security footage. Two pharmacy techs who remember her. She was careful, but not careful enough."
"What about Lucas?"
"He had to know. He was living in the house. Visiting Richard regularly. The timeline shows he was aware of his mother's activities and did nothing to stop them."
I hung up. And sat there for a minute.
This was it.
The evidence that would destroy the Ward family completely.
But first, I had to tell Lara.
And that conversation was going to break her heart all over again.
I found her in the living room that evening.She was playing with Ethan. Building a tower with blocks.
She was laughing and really happy.
It was the first time I'd heard her laugh in days.
I didn't want to ruin it, I hated it.
But she deserved to know.
"Ethan, buddy, time for bath," I said.
"But Dada—"
"Bath. Now. Then I'll read you two stories instead of one."
"Three stories!"
"Two."
"Two and a half!"
I smiled despite everything. "Deal."
He ran upstairs yelling about dinosaurs.
Lara looked at me.
"What's wrong?"
"How do you know something's wrong?"
"Because you have that look. The one you get when you're about to tell me something I don't want to hear."
I sat down beside her.
"I need to show you something. It's about your father.
Her face went pale. "What about him?"
I pulled out the file and handed it to her with shaking hands.
"Just... read it. Please."
She opened the file.And started reading.
I watched her face change.
Pale to white. White to pink. Pink to red or anything I can call it.
Her hands started shaking.
"No," she whispered.
"Lara—"
"No. This can't be right. My father died of cancer. He was sick. I watched him get sick."
"He did have cancer. But the arsenic accelerated it. Made it worse. Killed him faster."
She kept reading.
Autopsy reports. Toxicology screens.Purchase records.Photos of Claire at different pharmacies.Witness statements from staff.
Timeline showing Richard's decline.
All of it pointing to one thing.
Murder.
"They killed him," she whispered. "Claire killed my father."
"Yes."
"And Lucas knew?"
"We believe so. The evidence suggests he was aware of what his mother was doing and chose not to stop it."
Lara's hands were shaking so badly, so she dropped the file.
Papers scattered everywhere.
"That's why he married me," she said.
Her voice was flat. Dead. "Why he rushed the wedding. Why he was so eager for my father to die."
"He wanted full control of the company," I confirmed.
"My father was dying anyway. But they couldn't wait. They had to speed it up.
They had to—"
Her voice broke.
She started crying. Not sad crying. Angry crying.
"They murdered him," she said again. "My father. The kindest man I've ever known. And I signed papers for them. I trusted them. I let them into our house. I—"
"Stop." I pulled her close. "This is not your fault."
"I should have known! I should have seen it!"
"How? You were grieving. You trusted your husband. You had no reason to suspect—"
"He was my father! I should have protected him!"
"You didn't know," I said firmly. "You couldn't have known. Claire was careful.
Lucas was manipulative. They played you."
She sobbed into my chest.
"What do we do now?"
"Now we go to the police. We press charges. We make sure they pay for what they did."
She pulled back. I looked at the evidence scattered on the floor.
Picked up a photo of her father from his autopsy.
"I want them destroyed," she said. Voice cold. Hard. "Completely destroyed."
"They will be."
"No. I mean it. I want them to lose everything. Like I lost everything. I want them to suffer."
"They will. I promise you."
"When?"
"Tomorrow. We'll go to the police tomorrow. File formal charges. The evidence is solid. Claire will be arrested.
Lucas will be charged as an accomplice."
"Good." She wiped her eyes. "Good."
That night, Lara couldn't sleep.
She just lay there. Staring at the ceiling.
"Talk to me," I said.
"I keep thinking about all the times I visited him in the hospital. All the times I watched him take his medication. And Claire was there. Smiling. Asking if he needed anything. Being so helpful."
"I know."
"She was killing him right in front of me."
"Yes."
"And Lucas knew. He watched his mother murder my father and did nothing."
"He's going to pay for it."
"It's not enough. Prison isn't enough. Nothing will ever be enough."
I didn't know what to say to that.
Because she was right.
Nothing would bring Richard back.
"I'm sorry," I said finally.
"For what?"
"For not finding this sooner. For not protecting you better."
"You found it. That's what matters."
"I should have found it years ago."
"You did your best." She rolled over. And
looked at me. "Thank you. For not giving up. For caring enough to keep looking."
"I made your father a promise. I wasn't going to break it.
She kissed me softly.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
But neither of us slept that night.
”
The next morning, we went to the police.
Brought the entire file. Two years of evidence.
The detective assigned to the case was a woman named Martinez.
Mid-forties. Sharp eyes. No-nonsense attitude.
"This is... extensive," she said, flipping through the file.
"We wanted to be thorough," I said.
"You have purchase records. Witness statements. Medical evidence. This is more than most murder investigations."
"So you'll press charges?" Lara asked.
"I'll take this to the DA. But based on what I'm seeing? Yeah. We'll press charges."
"When?"
"Give us a few days to verify everything. Then we'll make arrests."
Lara nodded. Looking satisfied for the first time in days.
The news broke three days later.
"CLAIRE WARD ARRESTED FOR MURDER"
"TECH CEO'S FATHER POISONED BY MOTHER-IN-LAW"
"LUCAS WARD CHARGED AS ACCOMPLICE TO MURDER"
The media exploded.
Way bigger than Lucas's lawsuit.It was way more dramatic.
Every news channel. Every website. Every social media platform.
People who'd supported Lucas? They were now silent.
People who'd questioned Lara?
Now started apologizing.
The narrative shifted overnight.
Lara wasn't a thief. She was a victim.
Her ex-husband wasn't wronged. He was a murderer.
I watched the coverage from my office.
Lucas being arrested. Led out in handcuffs.
Claire screaming. Denying everything.
"This is a setup! We didn't do anything!"
But the evidence was overwhelming.
There was no denying it.
That evening, I found Lara in the living room.
Watching the news.
"How do you feel?" I asked.
"Empty," she said. "I thought I'd feel vindicated. Or satisfied. But I just feel... empty."
"That's normal."
"My father is still dead. This doesn't change that."
"No. But it gives him justice."
"Does it?" She looked at me. "They get to go to prison. Get three meals a day. Get to live. My father doesn't get that. He's just... gone."
I sat beside her.
"I know. And I'm sorry. I wish I could bring him back. But this is all we can do."
She leaned against me.
"Thank you," she whispered. "For finding the truth. For making sure they pay."
"Always."
We sat there watching the news coverage.
Claire being escorted into a police car.
Lucas hiding his face from cameras.
The Ward family empi
re crumbling on live television.
"They destroyed my father," Lara said . "And now they've destroyed themselves."
"Karma," I said.
"Yeah. Karma."
But I could tell she wasn't satisfied.
Because karma doesn't bring people back.
It just makes sure the guilty suffer.
And sometimes, that has to be enough.