Chapter 7 - the engagement was never an accident)
Daniel returned to the villa without speaking.
He walked past Clara.
Past Adrian.
Past the staff.
Straight upstairs.
His bedroom door closed.
Clara did not follow.
Some pain needed privacy.
Adrian remained in the study.
“There’s more,” he said.
“There’s always more.”
“The Hayes family finances changed dramatically after 2009.”
“How?”
“Robert paid off debt. Bought land. Started Hayes Residential.”
“With the settlement?”
“Likely.”
Clara stared out the window.
“So Rebecca’s injury financed their family business.”
“Possibly.”
“And Victoria knew Daniel caused the crash.”
“Yes.”
“Then what does she want?”
Adrian opened a file.
“That’s the problem.”
He slid a photograph toward Clara.
Victoria leaving a downtown office building six months earlier.
Clara recognized the building.
“Who?”
“Landon Pierce.”
Clara’s expression changed.
Pierce had once been their father’s attorney.
Charles fired him shortly before his stroke.
“Why was Victoria meeting him?”
Adrian slid another photograph forward.
Victoria and Pierce again.
Then another.
Robert Hayes entering the same building.
“How long have you had these?”
“Since yesterday.”
“You investigated without telling me?”
“I started after the folder disappeared.”
Clara stood.
“What was Pierce doing for Dad?”
“Estate structuring.”
“He drafted amendments?”
“Yes.”
“Including succession?”
Adrian nodded.
Clara felt the pieces moving.
“Victoria wasn’t looking for random documents.”
“No.”
“She knew exactly which cabinet to search.”
“Yes.”
“She knew the key.”
“Probably.”
“And the black folder contained draft amendments Pierce may have prepared.”
“That would be my assumption.”
Clara paced slowly.
“What could be in those amendments that would help her?”
Adrian hesitated.
“There were rumors.”
“I hate rumors.”
“You asked.”
“What rumors?”
“That Charles considered changing the controlling trustee.”
Clara stopped.
“To Daniel?”
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“After your thirty-fifth birthday.”
Clara stared.
She was thirty-eight.
“That never happened.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Your father changed his mind.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
Clara turned toward the staircase.
Daniel appeared.
He had changed clothes.
His eyes were red but dry.
“What did Victoria say after I left?”
Clara asked.
“You heard everything.”
“Not after.”
“She asked me not to call her again.”
“Did she explain why she dated you?”
“No.”
Daniel walked into the study.
Adrian showed him the photographs.
Daniel stared.
“Pierce?”
“Yes.”
“He handled Dad’s estate.”
“Part of it.”
Daniel looked at Clara.
“You think Victoria wanted the amendments.”
“I think she wants something inside them.”
Daniel sank into a chair.
“What if she really loved me?”
Clara sat across from him.
“Maybe she did.”
He gave her a bitter look.
“You believe that?”
“People can have more than one motive.”
“She knew I hurt her sister.”
“Yes.”
“And stayed with me for two years.”
“Yes.”
“She planned a wedding.”
“Yes.”
His voice cracked.
“How can that be love?”
Clara did not answer quickly.
“Love mixed with revenge can become something unrecognizable.”
Daniel looked down.
Adrian’s phone rang.
He listened.
His expression sharpened.
“When?”
He stood.
“We’ll be there.”
“What?” Clara asked.
Adrian looked at them.
“Someone broke into the Vance archives last night.”
Clara felt her stomach drop.
“What was taken?”
“Only one box.”
“Which?”
Adrian answered.
“Charles Vance, private estate drafts, 2008 through 2010.”
Daniel stood.
“Victoria.”
“Maybe.”
Clara reached for her coat.
“No.”
Both men looked at her.
“Not Victoria.”
“How do you know?” Daniel asked.
“Because she already tried stealing from your cabinet. After being caught, breaking into the archive would be reckless.”
“Then who?”
May you like
Clara stared at Robert Hayes’s photograph on the table.
“Someone who thinks we’ll blame her.”
