Chapter 12 - The Door Claire Was Never Meant To Open
The key appeared again three days later.
It was left inside Claire's mailbox.
No note.
No fingerprints.
Just the brass key.
Claire didn't touch it.
She called Ethan.
Together, they returned to the old house.
The hidden room was exactly as they had left it.
Except one thing was different.
The largest box was open.
Inside was a stack of letters.
All addressed to Claire.
The oldest was dated the day she was born.
The newest was dated six years after her father's supposed death.
Claire picked up the newest.
Her father's handwriting.
If you are reading this, then I failed to keep you away from the truth.
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
The letter explained that Robert had discovered the money transfers.
He had also discovered something far worse.
Someone had created a second identity using Claire's birth records.
That identity had been used to purchase properties, move money, and establish companies.
Claire stared at the documents.
"My identity."
Ethan nodded.
"But why?"
She continued reading.
The person behind it believed Claire would eventually inherit everything.
Not because they loved her.
Because they needed her.
Claire looked up.
"Needed me for what?"
The next page was missing.
She checked the box.
Nothing.
Then she found a sealed envelope.
On it was written:
Open only when Linda tells you who your real grandfather is.
Claire stared at it.
Linda had already told her.
Or at least, she had given her a name.
Thomas.
Claire opened it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Her father's.
Claire read the father's name.
Thomas Barrett.
Then she noticed something else.
The mother's name.
It wasn't George's wife.
It was another woman.
A woman named Evelyn Mercer.
Claire looked at Ethan.
"Mercer."
Ethan's expression changed.
"Daniel?"
"No."
Claire stared at the certificate.
"Daniel's family."
She found another document.
A photograph of Evelyn.
Standing beside Thomas.
Holding a baby.
Claire's father.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
The child belongs to Evelyn.
But the fortune belongs to Thomas.
Claire felt sick.
"Then Robert wasn't a Barrett."
Ethan shook his head.
"Legally, he was."
"But biologically..."
He nodded.
Claire looked at the trust papers.
Suddenly the entire structure made sense.
The money.
The secrecy.
The hidden identity.
The second door.
Her father's fear.
Then Ethan noticed a line at the bottom of the trust.
He read it aloud.
"In the event of Robert Barrett's death, control shall pass to Claire Barrett."
Claire stared at him.
"And if Robert isn't dead?"
Ethan looked at her.
"Then the trust remains under his control."
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Both of them froze.
Someone was walking through the house.
Claire whispered.
"Someone followed us."
They turned off the light.
Footsteps approached the study.
Then stopped.
A man's voice spoke through the door.
"Claire."
She knew that voice.
May you like
It was the man from the restaurant.
Thomas.
