Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN CLAIRE TRUSTED
Daniel didn't move.
Rachel stood in the doorway with tears in her eyes.
“Because Claire asked me to be.”
Daniel held the document tightly.
“Why?”
“I can't explain it here.”
“Then explain it somewhere else.”
“Daniel—”
“No.”
His voice remained quiet.
That frightened Rachel more than shouting would have.
“You've been telling me for months that Claire's things needed to disappear.”
“I was wrong.”
“You told Lily she couldn't talk about her mother.”
“I was overwhelmed.”
“You locked her in a laundry room.”
“I was trying to calm her.”
“You forged my signature?”
Rachel's face changed.
“I didn't.”
Daniel lifted the insurance document.
“Then explain this.”
Rachel stared at it.
“I can't.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire made me promise.”
“What promise?”
She looked toward the staircase.
“To protect the children.”
Daniel's anger faltered.
“What?”
Rachel sat down.
“She knew she was dying.”
“I know.”
“She was afraid you would fall apart.”
“I did.”
Rachel nodded.
“She knew.”
She took a breath.
“She told me you would bury yourself in work.”
Daniel said nothing.
“She asked me to stay.”
“You were already staying.”
“Not like this.”
Rachel looked at him.
“She asked me to promise that I would help you raise them.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“And the insurance?”
“Claire wanted me to be financially independent enough to help if you couldn't.”
“That doesn't explain the beneficiary change.”
“It was temporary.”
“Why?”
“She wanted me to have money available for the children.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You could have told me.”
“She made me promise not to.”
“Why?”
“Because she didn't want you to feel guilty.”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“She died, Rachel.”
“I know.”
“And you kept secrets from me.”
“Yes.”
“Then you married me.”
Rachel's tears fell.
“I loved you.”
Daniel looked away.
“I loved you too.”
The admission surprised both of them.
But love wasn't enough.
Not anymore.
“Then what happened?”
Rachel whispered, “I became jealous.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Of Claire?”
“Yes.”
“She's dead.”
“I know.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does to me.”
Rachel wiped her eyes.
“I knew everything about her.”
She laughed sadly.
“Her favorite coffee. The way she folded towels. The songs she sang to Lily. The way she held Owen. The way you looked at her.”
Daniel lowered his gaze.
“I couldn't compete with a memory.”
“So you tried to erase it.”
“Yes.”
Rachel nodded.
“I did.”
“Why Lily?”
“Because Lily reminded me of Claire.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“She is seven.”
“I know.”
“She doesn't deserve to carry your insecurity.”
“I know.”
Rachel looked toward the hallway.
“I was wrong.”
Daniel wanted to believe her.
But too many things remained unanswered.
“The photographs?”
Rachel froze.
“What photographs?”
“The ones someone sent me.”
“I don't know.”
“The locked room.”
“I did lock her in there.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Why?”
“She had found Claire's bracelet.”
“And?”
“I panicked.”
“You punished a seven-year-old because she found her mother's bracelet?”
Rachel shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I was afraid she would tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Rachel hesitated.
“That I had moved Claire's things.”
Daniel stared.
“That is what you were afraid of?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you hide the bracelet?”
Rachel looked down.
“Because I broke the clasp.”
Daniel remembered the blue thread.
“You didn't break it.”
“I tried to fix it.”
She pointed toward the bracelet.
“The clasp had come loose.”
Daniel looked at the tiny mechanism.
It was true.
Rachel had not deliberately destroyed it.
She had been hiding it because she feared Daniel's reaction.
That was the first reversal.
Some of the things Lily had described were real.
But not everything had happened the way Daniel first assumed.
Rachel had been cruel.
Manipulative.
Controlling.
But perhaps she wasn't trying to destroy the children.
She was drowning in jealousy and guilt.
Still, the forged documents remained.
“The psychologist's consent form.”
Rachel's eyes widened.
“I signed it.”
“You forged my name.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Lily needed help.”
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“You never listened.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“You didn't tell me.”
“I was ashamed.”
That explanation didn't excuse it.
But it made the situation more complicated.
Then Rachel said something that changed everything.
“I didn't send those photographs.”
Daniel stared.
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
“Who else knew about the laundry room?”
“The nanny.”
“Teresa?”
Rachel nodded.
“Why would she?”
“I fired her.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew too much.”
Daniel felt a chill.
“What did she know?”
Rachel looked frightened.
“She saw someone else in the house.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“You said you didn't know.”
“I didn't.”
Rachel reached into her purse.
She pulled out a photograph.
It showed a man standing in the driveway.
Daniel recognized him.
Victor Hale.
The contractor who handled Mercer Ridge's home renovations.
“What was he doing here?”
Rachel shook her head.
“He came three times.”
“Why?”
“He said he was checking security.”
“Did you let him inside?”
“No.”
Daniel took the photograph.
“When was this?”
“Two months ago.”
That was before Daniel had noticed anything wrong.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought he was working for you.”
Daniel frowned.
“I didn't send him.”
Silence.
Rachel looked at him.
“Then who did?”
Daniel didn't answer.
He called his security director.
“Has Victor Hale had access to my house?”
The director checked.
“No.”
“Any access requests?”
“One.”
“When?”
“Six weeks ago.”
“Who authorized it?”
The director paused.
“Your office.”
Daniel's stomach dropped.
“My office?”
“Yes.”
“Under whose name?”
“Your executive assistant.”
Daniel knew immediately.
His assistant, Mark.
A man who had worked for him for eleven years.
A man he trusted.
“Did Mark request access?”
“Yes.”
“To the house?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Delivery.”
Daniel looked at Rachel.
She was pale.
Then his phone buzzed.
An email from his assistant.
Subject: URGENT — BOARD MEETING.
Daniel opened it.
The board was requesting an emergency meeting.
There had been unexplained financial transfers from one of Mercer Ridge's subsidiaries.
Millions.
Daniel read the message twice.
The company wasn't in immediate danger.
But someone had moved money without his authorization.
And the access request to his house had been made by the same executive assistant.
Suddenly the family mystery had a second layer.
Someone outside the marriage had been moving around Daniel's home.
Someone who knew his schedule.
Someone who knew the children.
Someone who had access to corporate systems.
Rachel looked at him.
“What is it?”
“Someone may have been using my office to access the house.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel picked up the photograph.
Victor Hale.
Mark.
The photographs of Lily.
The forged documents.
The financial transfers.
The pieces didn't fit yet.
But they belonged to the same puzzle.
Then Lily appeared at the top of the stairs.
“Daddy?”
Daniel looked up.
She was holding a small red coat.
Claire's old coat.
“I found this in the closet.”
Daniel walked toward her.
“What about it?”
She opened the pocket.
Inside was a folded piece of paper.
“I think it's Mommy's.”
Daniel took it.
The paper was old.
A handwritten note.
Claire's handwriting.
Three words.
ASK MARK ABOUT VICTOR.
Daniel stared at the note.
Rachel whispered, “Who is Victor?”
May you like
Daniel looked at her.
“I think we're about to find out.”
