Chapter 6: A: Reveal Letter to Marcus

👉 [Previous Decision]: You chose Option A – Show the letter to Marcus to prove Arthur killed Marcus’s father.

The letter burned in my pocket. I had to choose carefully. Running felt too risky. But confronting Marcus, turning an insider against his family—that could be the key.

I waited until Marcus left the basement, then made my way to his small, cluttered office. He sat hunched over a maintenance schedule, looking tired.

“Marcus,” I said, stepping into his office.

He looked up, startled, his hand instinctively going for a heavy stapler on his desk. “Mr. Kross? What do you want?”

“This,” I said, pulling the fragile letter from my pocket. I unfolded it carefully, revealing the looping signature at the bottom. “This was in your family’s secret vault. It’s from your father, Thomas Pendelton. To your mother, Eleanor.”

His eyes widened, fixed on the signature. His breath hitched. “My father… I thought all his papers were lost.”

“Read it,” I urged, pushing the letter towards him. “Every word.”

His eyes scanned the yellowed parchment. He read about “Arthur’s ambition,” “the regrettable necessity of certain eliminations,” and “the consolidation of state real estate holdings.” He saw his father’s growing despair, his fear of Arthur’s ruthless methods, and then, a chilling passage describing how Arthur had orchestrated the “accident” of a rival council member — the very council member Marcus’s father had been campaigning for. His own father.

His hands began to shake violently, the letter rustling. A low, guttural sound escaped his throat.

“Arthur… he killed them,” Marcus whispered, his face pale, his eyes glazed with horror. “He murdered my father’s allies… for land. And he let me believe my father died naturally, mourning a lost cause.”

He looked up at me, his gaze raw with pain and a new, burning resolve. “He played me for a fool. For thirty years.” He slammed his fist on the desk. “I’ll help you, Kross. Whatever it takes. Arthur’s going down.”

The air in the small office crackled with a powerful, sudden alliance. Marcus Pendelton, loyal nephew, was no more.