The End of the Marston Siblings.
It's all over, Karen thought to herself mournfully as she sat in her cell. She looked around fearfully, knowing this was going to be her life for a good few years although how long that would be, she didn't have a clue. Law was not her strong point, but she knew she and her siblings would be lucky to come out again unless a long time had passed.
Karen protectively wrapped her arms around her legs and brought her knees up to her chin, as if she were cold. But she wasn't cold; the climate of the Caribbean made it impossible. The eldest child of the Marston siblings was terrified out of her mind.
All because of that bitch!
All because that bastard found, of all things, an opened nail varnish bottle. Karen had gone over everything DI Mooney had said as he explained how the murder worked out, and she realised that must have been what had tipped the detective off. Pearl hadn't noticed the bottle when she had begun phase 1 of their plan to kill the woman off by sending her up to Stephen who had manipulated the room arrangement so Diane's room was directly beneath his own, so when the police investigated they would assume she had committed suicide by jumping off her own balcony, how could she when Diane was blocking the way?
It had been an incredible scheme. She and her siblings had gone over every single detail they could think about, masking the plan as simple as they could while making it look like suicide. It wasn't a problem coming up with the motive for the suicide really, not when they had learnt Diane got pregnant in her teens, and she'd put the kid up for adoption. Once they'd gotten more information, it was easy in itself to find the sleaziest and most remorseless journalist they could find, and give them the information about Diane's secret mistake.
But Karen had known and confided in her siblings Diane would be shaken up, so they had better kill her off as quickly as they could. They had timed the murder perfectly so it coincided with the party.
Karen, Stephen, and Pearl had been terrified for a long time since their father announced his engagement with Diane especially when they realised the woman was nothing like the typical Marston group employees who allowed them free reign over everything. And why not? They were Marstons; their father had set up the business, it belonged to them. Stephen and Karen both had high positions in the company, travelling all over the world in their father's name and as a result, they expected the best. Pearl, while she had a looser lifestyle preference, was also promoting the brand each time she posted online. How could they not expect the Marston group employees to wait on them hand and foot?
It's all over, she thought to herself again, and it was.
Karen sighed as she thought over the last 3 years. It just seemed amazing that her father would want to remarry again after being a widower for…virtually every single year of her life. Karen remembered her mother fondly, and it had broken her heart when she attended her own mother funeral.
She and her siblings didn't agree on some things, but they did agree on one thing; nobody would ever replace their mother. Never. They had assumed their father felt the same way, but they had been wrong when Philip had just announced his engagement to Diane.
They had seen the signs, especially when Philip developed an interest and fascination in the woman. When she had hired Diane, Karen had not known what would happen. Hell, they all didn't. Unlike her siblings, Karen liked to view herself as a hard worker, but she had to admit deep inside she was as spoilt and as insecure as Stephen and Pearl.
But….she had never seen it like that. It was ironic; she had been spoilt for years, but she had never seen it before, she had just assumed she had grown into a mature young woman, who was directly below her father in his business. He had hired her quickly when she had needed to work. She had assumed it was proof she was growing up, and ready to enter the world of work. When Stephen and Pearl (more or less) followed suit, Karen had just assumed they had all become one family putting the family into a family firm.
But she had never heard anyone describe her as spoilt. But now she had, and she recalled DI Mooney's disgusted face as he termed her and her siblings as nothing more than a trio of spoilt babies who'd done more than throw out the toys in a pram, and now Karen could not help but ask herself, is that me?
She couldn't believe it.
She and her siblings just hadn't wanted Diane in their lives.
Karen had hired Diane because she had a wealth of knowledge and experience to help them with the family business, how was she to know that in 3 years Diane and her father would become engaged? However, by that time, Diane had proven she was not afraid of any of the Marstons. That was one of the reasons why their dad had become fascinated by her. It had been a long time since anyone had truly stood up to him on a specific level; yeah, he had fought tooth and nail for the construction of some of his hotels, he was used to that kind of fight, and Karen had fought and won her fair share of battles with Phillip over the years, same as he had and it was the same with Stephen and Pearl.
But Diane had fought and won her battles on a different level, and it had threatened everything. She had also made waves when she had tried to get Pearl to find a proper job. Pearl had always been flighty and unfocused with her life choices, Karen would need to be blind to not see her youngest sister's weakness. But it was her decision. Who was Diane to say otherwise? Dad had always supported her, what was the problem?
However, the biggest fight Karen had ever had with the bitch was when Diane had refused to sign a prenup. She had given the excuse of being worried about the image of the company, the real reason was that none of the siblings wanted a new brother or sister.
They didn't want another sibling. They were happy with themselves, but as DI Mooney had said, they all had a reason to be threatened.
But right now that was unimportant. All she was worried about was what was going to happen when they got inside, would their father find it in his heart to protect them despite what they'd done?