Chapter 6 - THE MAN EVAN FOUND FIRST
Claire stared at the photograph.
“Where is he?”
The nurse pointed down the hallway.
“He's resting.”
“Can I see him?”
“Yes.”
Claire walked slowly.
Every step felt heavier than the last.
When she entered the room, a man sat beside the window.
He was in his early forties.
Dark hair.
Thin face.
Tired eyes.
He turned.
Claire stopped.
There was something familiar about him.
Not his face.
His expression.
The slight crease between his eyebrows.
The way he tilted his head before speaking.
Her mother had done that.
“Claire?”
She nodded.
Lucas smiled.
“You took your time.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I didn't know you existed.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Evan told me.”
Claire froze.
Lucas looked down.
“Three years ago.”
“What did he want?”
Lucas laughed softly.
“Money.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Of course.
“What did you give him?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why did he keep coming?”
“Because he thought I knew something.”
“What?”
Lucas reached toward a drawer.
He removed a small leather notebook.
“This.”
Claire recognized the handwriting immediately.
Her grandfather.
“What is it?”
“Records.”
“Of what?”
“The original Whitmore trust.”
Claire opened the notebook.
There were names.
Dates.
Transactions.
Property transfers.
Then she saw Evan's name.
Not once.
Dozens of times.
But the entries were not from eleven years ago.
They began fourteen years ago.
Before Claire met Evan.
Claire looked up.
“He knew about my family before he met me.”
Lucas nodded.
“He researched you.”
The words struck harder than Claire expected.
“Why?”
Lucas hesitated.
“Because he was already planning to marry you.”
Claire felt sick.
“No.”
“I didn't believe it either.”
“Why would he?”
“Your family had access to capital.”
“But he loved me.”
Lucas looked at her gently.
“Maybe he did.”
That answer hurt more than hatred would have.
“Maybe,” he continued, “he loved you and what you represented.”
Claire closed the notebook.
“Did he threaten you?”
“No.”
“Bribe you?”
“Once.”
“And?”
“I refused.”
Lucas reached into the drawer again.
This time he removed an envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Evan standing beside Lucas three years earlier.
Evan was smiling.
Lucas was not.
On the back:
CLAIRE MUST NEVER KNOW.
Claire stared at the words.
“What else did he ask?”
Lucas's eyes lowered.
“He wanted me to sign over my claim to the trust.”
“And you refused.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did he forge my signature?”
“Because your signature gave him something mine couldn't.”
“What?”
“Control.”
Claire looked at him.
“Control of what?”
Lucas opened the notebook to the final page.
There was one entry.
THE WHITMORE TRUST CONTROLS THE HARBOR HOUSE LAND.
Claire stopped.
The Harbor House project.
The land for the new center.
Her entire gala.
Everything.
Evan had been trying to gain control of the land beneath her foundation.
Lucas watched her realize it.
“That is why he wanted the trust.”
Claire stood.
“What happens if he gets it?”
Lucas looked at her.
“He can sell the land.”
Claire's face went cold.
“And Harbor House?”
“It disappears.”
At the same time, Evan sat in his office.
Sienna stood across from him.
“I found something,” she said.
He looked exhausted.
“What now?”
“The gala program.”
“What about it?”
She placed it on his desk.
Claire's name appeared across the front.
Underneath it:
Founder and Principal Benefactor of Harbor House.
Sienna pointed to the address.
“I know this property.”
Evan looked up.
“You do?”
“My family used to own buildings near there.”
His expression sharpened.
“What are you saying?”
“That land is worth far more than the charity thinks.”
Evan stood.
“How much?”
“Maybe fifty million.”
He stared at the program.
Then at Sienna.
She suddenly understood.
“You knew.”
Evan said nothing.
“You knew about the land.”
“I knew it was valuable.”
“And Claire?”
“She doesn't understand the business.”
Sienna looked horrified.
“You married her for this?”
Evan's face hardened.
“Don't make it sentimental.”
She stared at him.
“You really don't understand, do you?”
“What?”
“You're not losing Claire because of me.”
Sienna picked up her coat.
“You're losing her because you never saw her as a person.”
She walked toward the door.
Evan called after her.
“Sienna.”
She stopped.
“If you leave now, you're done at Hale Meridian.”
She looked back.
“I already quit.”
The door closed.
Evan stood alone.
Then his phone rang.
The bank.
He answered.
A voice said,
“Mr. Hale, the collateral review is complete.”
Evan swallowed.
“And?”
“We've discovered the trust documents.”
His face changed.
“What trust documents?”
“The ones carrying your signature.”
May you like
A pause.
“And Claire's.”
