Page 107 of Owned By a Billionaire

Manon kept fidgeting with her cardigan button. We’d been there for at least an hour, and all she’d done was shake her head, expressing incredulity that the actual murderer had surrendered.

“It’s almost as if you’re not pleased to be exonerated,” I said.

“No. I’m relieved.”

“Then why? You have a child. A reputation.”

“You’ve got me,” Drake interjected as he turned to his wife.

She stroked his cheek lovingly as a mother, because he looked more distraught than she did. Then Manon took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry, Grandmother. I did it for you.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I tried to stop her from admitting to doing it, because I thought it might dredge up your past.”

I shook my head. “Who’s she?”

Manon continued to fidget as she walked around the room. Another habit she’d no doubt contracted from me.

“Manon, sit down and tell us exactly what happened,” Drake said gently.

“Okay, this is what happened.” Her eyes shone with apprehension, which had me on the edge of my seat, preparing myself for anything.

“When I left the powder room, I heard Crisp in the back room, crying for help. I ran in, and he was being stabbed continuously in the chest.” Looking haunted, she paused. “I froze. I could have stopped her, but I didn’t.”

She sobbed. “I watched her kill him. She dropped the knife, and, staring me in the eyes, she said, ‘He raped me. I’ve wanted to do this for forty years.’”

Manon wept, and Drake took her hand as tears streamed down her face. “It was fucking awful. All that blood. I’m still having nightmares. I should’ve stopped her, shouldn’t I?”

“You were in shock. And she might have stabbed you, had you tried,” Drake said.

“I agree,” I added. “Why did you handle the weapon?”

She puffed and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t want her being caught.”

“So you incriminated yourself instead?” Drake asked, spreading his hands.

“I wasn’t thinking straight. It was such a shock. I just told her to run. And she did, and there I was with this knife, and… well, I tossed it out.”

“You should have wiped it, Mannie,” Drake said.

“I should have done a lot of things.” She sounded annoyed. “As I said, I don’t know why I did it.”

“Okay. It’s happened. Let’s not dwell on that. What have you told the authorities now that this has come to light?”

Manon frowned. “They haven’t spoken to me yet.”

I nodded, pondering the best course of action. “You have to tell them what you told us.”

“But then she’ll be convicted for withholding information and disrupting the investigation,” Drake said.

“True.” I sighed. “Let me talk to the lawyer. He must be present if you are questioned again.”

She nodded, staring down at her tangled fingers.

I hesitated. “Who was it, Manon?”

Yelling disrupted that tense moment of waiting, and before I knew it, Natalia had stormed into my office.

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