Chapter 12 - Before We Met
The video was filmed in my father’s old office.
She sat beside Victor while my father paced.
“You said the reserve would be restored,” Dad snapped.
Victor remained calm.
“It will be, if Sterling enters the partnership.”
“I’m not selling.”
“You already borrowed money that wasn’t yours.”
My father looked toward the camera, not knowing it was running.
Claire spoke for the first time.
“Mr. Sterling, nobody needs to know what happened.”
Dad stared at her.
“Who are you?”
“My daughter,” Victor said.
“People tell the truth when they think they still have choices.”
Four years later, I met Claire at a charity dinner.
At least I thought I did.
She spilled champagne near my table.
Laughed at herself.
Asked nothing about money.
Nothing about the company.
She seemed almost bored by business.
When I told Emma’s therapist months later that Claire “never pushed too fast,” I would hate the sentence.
Because patience had been her weapon.
Lena paused the video.
“There’s more.”
The final file was an email chain.
Victor to Claire.
GET CLOSE TO MICHAEL. DO NOT DISCUSS STERLING UNTIL HE BRINGS IT UP.
Another.
IF THE MARRIAGE WORKS, ACCESS BECOMES SIMPLE.
Another.
THE CHILD IS THE ONLY VARIABLE. MICHAEL WILL ALWAYS CHOOSE HER FIRST.
Then my phone buzzed.
A text from an unknown number.
YOU THINK YOU FOUND THE WHOLE STORY.
A photograph followed.
Claire standing outside Emma’s hospital room.
Taken seconds earlier.
I looked up.
The hallway was empty.
I ran to the room.
Rachel was inside.
Emma was asleep.
Claire was nowhere.
On the windowsill lay a red rose.
And beneath it, a handwritten note.
MONDAY. BOARDROOM. COME ALONE OR THE FULL RESERVE FILE GOES PUBLIC BEFORE YOU CAN PROTECT THE EMPLOYEES.
Lena read it.
“She wants leverage.”
I looked at my sleeping daughter.
“No.”
“What?”
“She wants me scared of the truth.”
I folded the note.
“My father taught everyone in this family to hide the mistake.”
May you like
I looked at Lena.
“Monday, we stop hiding.”
