Chapter 17 - WHAT CLAIRE PLANNED FOR YEARS
Claire sat behind glass in the county jail interview room.
Daniel did not want to see her.
Detective Alvarez convinced him there were questions only Claire could answer.
Claire looked smaller without makeup and expensive clothes.
Daniel felt no sympathy.
“How long?”
Claire looked down.
“How long what?”
“How long were you planning to take Lily’s trust?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Before I met you.”
Daniel felt something cold settle inside him.
“So the coffee shop was staged.”
“Yes.”
“The first date?”
“Yes.”
“The park where you ‘accidentally’ ran into Lily?”
Claire nodded.
Daniel almost laughed.
“You studied us.”
“Grant did.”
“And you followed the plan.”
“Yes.”
“Why abuse Lily?”
Claire began crying.
Daniel did not look away.
“Answer me.”
“She remembered pieces.”
“The music box.”
“The bird.”
“The lake.”
“Grant kept telling me to push harder.”
“So you punished her.”
“I told myself I was scaring her.”
“You tied her to a tree.”
Claire’s face crumpled.
“I know.”
“You locked food away.”
“I know.”
“You told her I would choose you over her.”
Claire whispered.
“Yes.”
Daniel stood.
“That wasn’t Grant’s hand on the rope.”
Claire started sobbing.
“No.”
“That was yours.”
He turned to leave.
Claire suddenly spoke.
“Daniel, wait.”
He stopped.
“Peter was supposed to make you look unstable.”
Daniel slowly turned.
“What?”
“The forged guardianship document was only step one.”
“Step two was reports.”
“What reports?”
Claire looked terrified.
“Anonymous complaints that you drank too much, left Lily alone, lost your temper.”
Daniel remembered the threat after the bank.
The next video will show something worse.
Claire whispered the final piece.
May you like
“They were building a case to remove Lily from you.”
“And once that happened, I was supposed to become her guardian.”
