It was a warm summer night at Doyle's house; Hope was joyfully feeding her kid, while Paddy was focused on paperwork. "Who's my pretty girl?" Hope said tenderly. "Hope, could you please lower your voice? I'm kind of busy here" blurted out Mr. Doyle. She gave him a disapproval look. "What?" he asked confusedly. "You're unbelievable" muttered Hope. She was about to left the dining room when Paddy asked again "What?" She took a deep breath, trying to avoid a fight. "Do you know what parenting means?" Hope asked bluntly. "Of course, Why?" he replied bewildered. "Really?" Hope asked sardonically. "What are you trying to say?" Paddy asked outraged. "What I'm saying is that you never spend time with Maura. In the past three months, you had been arriving home after midnight. You barely eat. You've been sleeping less than five hours. That work is killing you!" Hope squealed sobbing. Paddy was astonished; he couldn't believe his wife had said those things. She made a long pause, before continuing. "Patrick, have you noticed that this is the first time in months that you get home early and your child is awake?" Hope said lastly. Paddy couldn't say a word, he was still overwhelmed. Hope put the baby in the stroller and walked away.
Paddy looked at the smiling baby and he could barely recognize her. Last time he held his baby, Maura hadn't teethed yet. Now he could see four little teeth in his daughter's mouth. "You're growing up pretty fast, honey" Paddy said with a wide smile.
Twelve years later, Hope died from ovarian cancer. Maura was devastated. Paddy told her that if she behaved well, her mother would recover from her illness. Maura couldn't get it. Why her mother died if she had been a good girl? Maybe it was her fault. On Christmas morning, Hope began to feel sick. She thought that she had drunk too much eggnog. On Easter Sunday she had already died.
After six months of "mourning", Paddy started dating with his business partner Constance. She was a stylish, gorgeous and confident woman. That made Maura felt a little bit cumbersome. She didn't quite know why she felt that way. Constance was kind and distant with her, just as her father. Maura felt powerless every time she saw Constance throwing Hope's stuff. Constance was a newcomer in the house; she had no rights to mess up with her mom's things. The fights between Maura and Constance worsen over time, to the point that Paddy decided to send his daughter to a boarding school.
On her 20th birthday, Maura got the sad news of her father's death. She had to go home for Paddy's funeral. She was curious about her father's death. Paddy was a healthy, middle aged man. He didn't even had flu in the past days. Why this sudden death seemed so suspicious? Why Constance was not even afflicted? "Susie, what was the cause of death?" Maura asked intrigued. "He slipped in the bathtub." answered the young woman. "That doesn't make any sense. He hated that thing" Maura said dazed. "I know honey, but sometimes people change their minds, you know? Maybe he tried to relax a little bit. I've heard that he had stressful days lately" Susie replied softly.
That rainy night, Vincent Korsak, the lawyer of the family, read Paddy's will. Both Constance and Maura were surprised. They could not believe what Paddy had ordered in his will. "I don't get it. Why do I have to wait a whole year to take in charge of the company?" Maura asked enraged. "Because your father wanted it that way" replied Korsak. "She'll never be ready to take in charge of everything. I'm going to challenge that will." Constance said calmly. "That's absurd! She can't do that. Right?" said Maura. "If you were ready to this kind of responsibility, you'll know that I can do this and more" Constance replied haughty. "Let's calm down. There's plenty of money for both of you. It's unnecessary to challenge the will" said the lawyer. "Thank you Mr. Korsak. Excuse me" Said Maura as she left the living room. "Vincent, I thought you worked for me" Constance said coolly. "I know Mrs. Isles, but I have to inform Ms. Doyle about these legal things" said Korsak. "Ms. Doyle is a selfish brat, that hasn't finished college yet" said Constance. Before the lawyer could say anything, a young maid interrupted them "Excuse me ma'am, there is a man asking for you outside". "Excuse me Vince, I'll be back in a minute" said Constance.
Couple of hours later, a scream was heard, all the people in the house run to the screams source. "What's going on?" asked Korsak. "Ms. Chang is dead" replied the young maid. "Why you said she is dead?" asked the lawyer. "Because there's blood everywhere! A lot of blood!" the young maid answered sobbing. "Who did this?" asked Maura with tears in her cheeks. "We don't know Ms. Doyle" replied Korsak. "She didn't have enemies. Everybody loved her. Why someone stabbed her?" said Maura. "What a misfortune!" Constance said astounded. "For a moment I thought that was you who were lying on the floor, Ms. Doyle" the maid said nervously. "Why you thought that?" asked Korsak. "Because that is Ms. Doyle's Hoodie" answered the maid. "That's it! Someone tried to kill me, but instead killed Susie" Maura said incensed. "Come on Maura nobody wants to kill you" said Constance. "Are you sure of that? I'm one of the heirs of a huge fortune and the other one is you" Maura said, pointing out at Constance. "That doesn't make any sense. I don't need to kill you to inherit anything. I've already have my own companies" Constance said stilly. "We both know that you married with my father because you were broke. Your companies went to bankrupt years ago" Maura said infuriatingly. "You're out of your mind, Maura." said Constance. "Am I? Are you going to deny that you want me out of your way? That everything will be easier if you have full control over my father's company? Besides that, isn't that your letter opener? Why your letter opener is in my girlfriend's neck? Is because you thought that she was me?" Maura asked furious. Before Constance could say anything, a police officer was handcuffing her and reading her rights.
"Well Mr. Korsak, I think you and I need to catch up a few things about the company" said Maura. "Ms. Doyle, I'm impressed. You deserve an Oscar for best actress" the lawyer winked at Maura and added "We'll have time for it, but first you must clean that nasty cut on your left palm. It could get infected or worse, someone can notice it". Maura was completely sure that "justice" would be done. She could almost smell her sweet victory…
END