Chapter 6 - The Key Marlene Should Not Have
Marlene stepped into the house.
She froze when she saw Claire, Ethan, and Beth waiting in the hallway.
For years, Claire’s mother had kept an emergency key. Claire had forgotten about it until that moment.
Marlene removed the key slowly.
“I came to check on you.”
“You attempted to access our cameras,” Ethan said.
Marlene glanced at the new security panel.
“I received an alert because I was listed as a family contact.”
“You were never listed.”
Claire held out her hand.
“Give me the key.”
Marlene smiled.
“Do not be dramatic.”
“The key.”
Beth stepped beside Claire.
Marlene’s smile faded.
“You should be at home.”
“Dad lied to me.”
“Your father has spent his life protecting you.”
“By putting my signature on Claire’s account?”
“You signed willingly.”
“You said it was a temporary foundation authorization.”
“It was.”
“Then why was her money sent to North Vale?”
Marlene’s eyes moved to the documents on Ethan’s desk.
For the first time, she looked frightened.
“You went into your father’s private files.”
“You went into mine,” Claire said.
Marlene closed the door behind her.
“All of you need to stop before you damage something that cannot be repaired.”
“What is North Vale Consulting?” Ethan asked.
Marlene looked at him carefully.
“You know exactly what it is.”
“No. I know my father used that name.”
“You are more like Samuel than you pretend.”
Claire stepped forward.
“How did you know Ethan’s father?”
Marlene ignored her.
She addressed Ethan directly.
“Your father destroyed people. He lied to investors, stole from families, and abandoned your mother.”
“That is what Richard told you?”
“That is what we witnessed.”
“Then why did your foundation send money to a company using his name?”
Marlene’s face tightened.
“Because some debts do not disappear when a man does.”
Claire thought of the repeated payments.
“Were you paying someone?”
“No.”
“Were you being blackmailed?”
Marlene said nothing.
Beth’s voice shook.
“Mom, what did you involve me in?”
Marlene turned toward her.
“You wanted the life you have. The house. Grant’s connections. The foundation board seat. None of that appeared by magic.”
Beth looked as though she had been struck.
“You said those things were because you believed in me.”
“I did believe in you. I believed you understood loyalty.”
“Loyalty is not signing whatever you put in front of me.”
“You were always the sensible daughter.”
Claire almost laughed at the cruelty hidden inside the compliment.
Marlene had spent their entire childhood dividing them that way. Beth was sensible. Claire was difficult. Beth was graceful. Claire was stubborn. Beth understood family. Claire embarrassed it.
Now Marlene was using the same method to pull Beth back into obedience.
It did not work.
“Give her the key,” Beth said.
Marlene stared at her.
Beth held out her hand.
Slowly, Marlene placed the key in Beth’s palm.
Then she looked at Claire.
“You think the $18,000 belongs to you. It does not.”
“It came from my account.”
“That account was created with money your grandmother stole.”
Claire went still.
“Stole from whom?”
Marlene looked at Ethan.
“From his father.”
Ethan’s face became unreadable.
Marlene continued.
“Eleanor helped Samuel hide investor money. When he disappeared, she kept part of it. Your precious maternity fund came from that money.”
Beth shook her head.
“Grandma would never do that.”
“You knew her as an old woman who baked pies and bought birthday dresses. I knew what she was capable of.”
“Do you have proof?” Claire asked.
Marlene glanced toward the photograph on the desk.
“The proof was in a blue ledger.”
“The second ledger?”
Marlene’s eyes widened.
It lasted only a second, but everyone saw it.
Ethan stepped closer.
“Where is it?”
Marlene backed toward the door.
“If Samuel’s son has started looking for that ledger, then this family has much larger problems than $18,000.”
She opened the door.
A black sedan was parked across the street.
Its engine was running.
Marlene looked at the vehicle and whispered something Claire barely heard.
“He found us.”
The sedan pulled away.
Marlene rushed outside and followed it in her car.
Beth stood in the doorway.
“Who found us?”
Ethan looked down at his phone.
May you like
A message from an unknown number had appeared.
Samuel Bennett is alive.
