Chapter 13 - Catherine’s Last Performance
Catherine requested a meeting the next morning.
She was being held at a private legal facility while investigators reviewed evidence of financial fraud, falsified medical records, unlawful restraint, and interference with a custody process.
Clara agreed to see her.
The interview room contained a table, two chairs, and a camera in the ceiling.
Catherine entered wearing a plain gray suit instead of burgundy. Without Hawthorne’s chandeliers and boardroom walls behind her, she looked less like an heir and more like someone who had spent her entire life playing one.
She sat across from Clara.
“I assume you came to enjoy this.”
“No.”
“You took my job, my home, and my inheritance.”
“You lost them.”
“Because Henry designed a trap before I was born.”
“Because you kidnapped a child and falsified medical records.”
Catherine looked toward the camera.
“You cannot prove I changed Elise’s medication.”
“Dr. Trent kept copies of your instructions.”
“He kept copies of messages sent from an account that can be duplicated.”
“He also recorded your conversations.”
For the first time, Catherine’s confidence faltered.
Clara continued.
“You told him to destroy the bottle. You instructed him to create my medical file. You ordered him to transport Lily.”
Catherine leaned back.
“If you had signed the agreement, Lily would never have been frightened.”
“You still believe I caused your actions.”
“You arrived at Hawthorne pretending to be powerless.”
“I never pretended.”
“You let us believe it.”
“That was your assumption.”
Catherine’s voice sharpened.
“You wanted me to humiliate myself at that dinner.”
“I wanted you to leave Lily alone.”
Catherine stared at her.
“You don’t understand what Lily is.”
“She is a five-year-old child.”
“She is a claim. A key. A name placed in the middle of a war that began before either of us was born.”
“And you chose to make her your enemy.”
“I chose to survive.”
Clara placed the photograph of the false Adrian Mercer on the table.
“Who is he?”
Catherine looked down.
“A man who needed money.”
“His name.”
“Michael Dane.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
Clara studied her reaction.
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
“Did Victor?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Catherine’s eyes moved toward the mirrored wall.
“He visited the island clinic pretending to be Adrian. The real Adrian recognized him.”
“And?”
“Michael sent me one message. He said Adrian remembered the study.”
“What did he remember?”
Catherine smiled faintly.
“He remembered your mother.”
Clara’s composure almost broke.
“Evelyn was not at Hawthorne when Henry died.”
“That is what everyone told you.”
“Where is the message?”
“Deleted.”
“Then you have nothing.”
“I have something better.”
Catherine leaned forward.
“When Elise learned Adrian was awake, she visited the island. She came back convinced your mother had hidden the final trust record.”
“My mother died seven years ago.”
“Did you see her body?”
Clara felt the room narrow.
Evelyn had died while Clara was overseas. Victor’s attorneys handled the hospital arrangements before Clara returned. The casket had remained closed due to what they described as complications from treatment.
Catherine saw the doubt.
“That is why Elise was afraid,” she whispered. “Not because of Lily’s birth certificate. Because Adrian told her Evelyn was alive.”
Clara refused to give Catherine the satisfaction of a visible reaction.
“Where is Adrian?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who transferred him?”
“Victor.”
“He claims he doesn’t know the destination.”
“Victor lies when he is afraid.”
“What frightens him?”
Catherine sat back.
“The same thing that should frighten you.”
A guard opened the door, signaling that the meeting had ended.
Catherine rose.
“You asked me who Michael Dane was. You should ask a better question.”
“What question?”
“Who hired him before I did?”
Catherine walked toward the exit.
May you like
Then she turned for one final sentence.
“Michael was already watching Lily when I found him.”
