Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO WAS HELPING ME
The address on my phone belonged to Michael.
My attorney.
The man who had been sitting across from me all morning pretending he was trying to help.
I stared at the screen.
No one spoke.
Linda watched my face carefully.
"You understand now."
I looked up.
"What?"
"Claire wasn't hiding from you."
My grip tightened around the phone.
"She was hiding from him."
The words made my chest tighten.
"Michael?"
Linda nodded slowly.
"Claire found something."
"What?"
"I don't know everything."
"You said she trusted you."
"I said she trusted me enough to leave Noah with someone."
That answer bothered me.
"Where is she?"
Linda looked toward the window.
"Daniel, before you do anything, you need to think."
"I have been thinking."
"No."
Her voice became serious.
"You have been reacting."
I looked at the phone again.
The location.
Michael's office.
The man who knew every detail of my situation.
The man who knew where Claire was.
The man who knew about the documents.
The man who had been guiding me toward answers.
Or toward something else.
"I need to go."
Linda stepped forward.
"Don't."
I stopped.
"Why?"
"Because if Michael is involved, he already knows what you are going to do."
I stared at her.
"How would he know?"
She didn't answer.
And that silence told me enough.
I walked out.
I didn't call Michael.
I didn't text him.
For the first time since Claire disappeared, I stopped asking questions and started watching.
The drive back to his office felt different.
Every street.
Every building.
Every person around me felt suspicious.
I hated feeling this way.
Because I was not used to it.
I trusted people.
Or at least, I thought I did.
I built my company by trusting people.
I built my marriage believing trust meant something.
But Claire had spent weeks collecting proof because she didn't trust me.
And now I was wondering if the one person I trusted most had been lying to me.
When I arrived outside Michael's building, I didn't park in front.
I parked across the street.
I watched.
Five minutes passed.
Then ten.
His office lights were still on.
I expected him to leave.
He didn't.
Instead, a black SUV pulled into the underground entrance.
My eyes narrowed.
I grabbed my phone and zoomed in.
The driver's door opened.
A man stepped out.
I didn't recognize him.
But Michael did.
Because two minutes later, Michael walked outside.
And he wasn't surprised.
They spoke quietly.
Then the stranger handed him something.
An envelope.
Michael looked around before taking it.
My stomach tightened.
I took a photo.
Then another.
I needed proof.
Not suspicion.
Proof.
The stranger left.
Michael returned inside.
I waited another ten minutes.
Then I entered the building.
The receptionist looked up.
"Mr. Carter?"
I smiled slightly.
"Yes."
She looked confused.
"Mr. Reynolds didn't tell me you were coming."
I ignored the comment.
"I need to speak with him."
"He is in a meeting."
"With who?"
She hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
I walked toward the elevator.
"Sir, you can't just—"
The doors closed before she finished.
My heart was beating faster.
I didn't know what I would find.
But I knew one thing.
I was done being the last person to know the truth.
The elevator opened.
Michael's office was at the end of the hallway.
The door was slightly open.
I stopped.
I heard voices.
Michael.
And another person.
A woman.
My body froze.
Because I knew that voice.
"Claire."
I pushed the door open.
Both of them turned.
Michael stood immediately.
His face changed.
Not surprise.
Fear.
Claire was sitting on the couch.
Holding Noah.
My son.
Alive.
Safe.
Her eyes filled with emotion when she saw me.
But she didn't stand.
She didn't run toward me.
She didn't smile.
She just looked at me like she was seeing someone she used to know.
"Daniel."
My voice disappeared.
For a moment, I forgot every question.
Every accusation.
Every lie.
My son was there.
I stepped forward.
"Noah."
Claire immediately pulled him closer.
The movement was small.
But it hurt.
Because she was protecting him from me.
"I just want to hold him."
She looked away.
"I know."
"Then let me."
"No."
The word was quiet.
But final.
My chest tightened.
"Claire."
"You don't understand."
"Then explain."
Michael closed the office door.
"Maybe we should sit down."
I looked at him.
"You knew."
Silence.
"You knew where she was."
Michael didn't answer.
"You let me believe she disappeared."
"Because you needed to understand why."
I laughed.
A bitter sound.
"You needed me to suffer?"
"No."
Claire spoke.
"You needed to stop looking for the wrong person."
I turned toward her.
"What does that mean?"
She looked at Noah.
Then back at me.
"It means Vanessa was never the biggest problem."
I felt my anger disappear.
"What?"
Claire reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small folder.
"I found these three weeks before I left."
She handed them to me.
I opened it.
Inside were copies of company documents.
The same kind Michael showed me.
But there was something different.
A signature.
My signature.
I stared.
"I didn't sign this."
Claire nodded.
"I know."
I looked at her.
"Then why do you have it?"
"Because someone used your identity to move money."
The room became silent.
Michael stepped closer.
"Your affair gave someone the perfect distraction."
I looked between them.
"Someone planned this."
Claire nodded.
"Yes."
"Who?"
Neither answered.
That scared me.
"Who?"
Claire's eyes filled with fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
"Daniel, the person behind this isn't trying to destroy your marriage."
I looked at Noah.
"They are trying to destroy your family."
My hands tightened around the papers.
"Why?"
Claire looked at Michael.
Michael looked away.
That reaction told me something.
They knew.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Claire stood slowly.
She placed Noah in the portable carrier beside her.
Then she walked toward the desk.
She opened a drawer.
Inside was another folder.
"This is what I found after I followed the money."
She placed it in front of me.
I opened it.
The first page was a transaction record.
The second page was a list of names.
The third page was a photograph.
A photograph of me.
Standing outside my office.
Taken from across the street.
My blood ran cold.
"Someone was watching me."
Claire nodded.
"For months."
I flipped through the pages.
More photos.
My house.
My car.
My family.
Then I saw the final picture.
Claire.
Holding Noah.
Outside the hospital.
The day he was born.
On the back of the photograph was handwriting.
Four words.
"THE HEIR IS SAFE."
I looked up.
"What does that mean?"
No one answered.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A message appeared.
One sentence.
"Ask your wife why your brother disappeared ten years ago."
I looked at Claire.
Her face changed.
May you like
Because she knew exactly what that meant.
And before I could ask another question, the office lights suddenly went out.
