Chapter 12 - Claire's Confession)
Daniel visited Claire the next morning.
A glass wall separated them.
Claire looked nothing like the bride from the ballroom.
No makeup.
Hair pulled back.
Gray detention uniform.
Her hands shook around the phone.
Daniel remained standing.
"Start talking."
Claire stared at him.
"My mother didn't die from cancer."
Daniel frowned.
"That's what you told me."
"That's what everyone was told."
"What happened?"
"She found the first accounts."
"Before Emily?"
"Years before."
Claire looked down.
"My mother helped my father build Whitmore Holdings. When she discovered the shell companies, she threatened to leave."
"What did Victor do?"
Claire swallowed.
"She became sick."
Daniel said nothing.
"The doctors couldn't identify it. She deteriorated for months."
"Are you saying he poisoned her?"
"I don't know."
"Then why say he killed her?"
"Because I heard him."
Claire looked up.
"One night, he was arguing with Jonathan Vale."
Daniel's body tensed.
"What did Jonathan say?"
Claire closed her eyes.
"He said, 'One wife was enough. We can't keep solving your family problems this way.'"
Daniel felt cold.
"How old were you?"
"Seventeen."
"You never told police?"
"My father knew I heard."
"What happened?"
"He sent me away to school in Switzerland. Then he made sure I understood what would happen if I spoke."
Daniel looked at her.
"And years later you agreed to marry me."
Claire's face crumpled.
"At first, I was supposed to watch you."
"At first."
"Jonathan said Emily had hidden records somewhere. They thought you might know."
"I didn't."
"I realized that."
"But you stayed."
Claire cried silently.
"I fell in love with you."
Daniel's expression did not change.
"You manipulated my daughter."
"I loved Sophie."
"You used her."
"I know."
"You bugged her bracelet."
"I know."
"You let your father question her."
Tears ran down Claire's face.
"I know."
Daniel leaned closer to the glass.
"And you put flowers against her mouth."
Claire closed her eyes.
"I will never forgive myself."
"Neither will I."
She nodded.
Daniel sat.
"Tell me about Jonathan."
Claire wiped her face.
"My father feared him."
"Why?"
"Because Jonathan wasn't an employee."
"What was he?"
"A representative."
"For Ardent Meridian?"
Claire looked around.
Then nodded.
"What is it?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Don't lie."
"I'm not."
"Emily knew."
"Emily knew part of it."
"What part?"
Claire lowered her voice.
"Ardent Meridian buys distressed companies, charitable foundations, private clinics, data firms. Sometimes legally."
"And sometimes?"
"They create the distress."
Daniel stared.
"How?"
"Scandals. Lawsuits. Regulatory problems. Financial pressure."
"Deaths?"
Claire said nothing.
Daniel understood.
"Why the Bennett Foundation?"
"Your medical grants."
"Our foundation funds children's hospitals."
"Exactly."
Daniel felt sick.
"What did they want?"
"Access."
"To what?"
"Patient networks. Research programs. Procurement contracts."
Daniel thought of Teresa's explanation.
Experimental treatments.
Children.
"Emily found out."
"Yes."
"So Jonathan ordered her killed."
Claire shook her head.
"I don't know."
"Teresa identified him."
"Jonathan used other people's names."
Daniel frowned.
"What?"
Claire leaned closer.
"If he wanted someone frightened, he sent a message pretending it came from my father. If he wanted regulators distracted, he used executives' credentials. He built layers."
"Then who killed Emily?"
"I don't know."
"Who does?"
Claire looked terrified.
"My father."
Daniel gripped the phone.
"Where is Victor?"
"I don't know."
"Claire."
"I swear."
"Where would he go?"
She hesitated.
Then whispered.
"There is a house in Maine."
"Address."
"I don't know it."
"Then what good is that?"
"Jonathan took us there when I was nineteen."
"Where?"
"Near Bar Harbor. On the water."
"Name?"
"No sign."
"Anything."
Claire searched her memory.
"There was a lighthouse visible from the back terrace."
Daniel remained silent.
Claire suddenly leaned toward the glass.
"Daniel, don't go."
"Why?"
"Because if my father ran there, he isn't hiding."
"What is he doing?"
"Waiting."
"For what?"
May you like
Claire's face went pale.
"For whoever is above Jonathan."
