Chapter 7 - Dominic Vale’s Offer
Dominic turned.
No one stood behind him.
Victor smiled.
“You still react too quickly.”
Dominic's weapon remained raised.
“Victor.”
“It's been a long time.”
“You're supposed to be dead.”
Victor laughed.
“So is Anne Whitmore.”
Claire's heart stopped.
“You knew my mother?”
Victor looked at her.
“I knew her better than your father ever did.”
Dominic stepped between them.
“Talk.”
Victor glanced at the bodyguards surrounding the church.
“Not here.”
He placed a small key on the floor.
“Warehouse twelve.”
Claire stared at it.
“What is that?”
“The truth.”
Victor walked backward toward the basement.
Dominic aimed his weapon.
“Don't.”
Victor smiled.
“You can't kill me yet.”
Then he disappeared.
Claire picked up the key.
Dominic said nothing.
She looked at him.
“Do you believe him?”
“No.”
“But?”
“But I believe he knows something.”
They drove to Warehouse Twelve.
Claire had never seen the building before.
It was officially abandoned.
Inside, Dominic found a hidden elevator.
The key opened it.
They descended two floors underground.
At the bottom was a private archive.
Boxes.
Hard drives.
Paper files.
Photographs.
Claire walked through the room.
Then stopped.
A photograph of her mother.
Anne was standing beside a much younger Victor.
On the back:
THE ORIGINAL BOARD.
Claire opened a folder.
Inside were documents showing that Anne had created a private holding structure to protect Whitmore Freight from Charles's debts.
The structure had one final beneficiary.
Claire.
Dominic read the document.
“Your mother intended to transfer control to you when you turned thirty.”
Claire looked at the date.
Her birthday was three weeks away.
“She knew.”
“Yes.”
Claire's hands trembled.
“She knew I would eventually find out.”
Dominic nodded.
Then he found another file.
It contained financial transfers.
Victor had been stealing.
But so had someone else.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Claire.”
She came closer.
A series of payments led to an account belonging to—
Madison Whitmore.
Claire stared.
“My sister?”
“Looks like it.”
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Why are you defending her?”
“Because Madison isn't smart enough to do this.”
Dominic almost smiled.
“You've been underestimated so often that you do it to other people too.”
Claire looked at him.
“You're enjoying this.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I'm enjoying watching you finally see your own value.”
Claire looked away.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Then Dominic noticed a camera in the corner.
Someone had been watching them.
He pulled out his phone.
The security system showed one active connection.
Inside the Whitmore mansion.
Claire whispered, “My father.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
He zoomed in.
The camera was registered to someone else.
Lauren.
Claire's face changed.
“Lauren?”
A live feed appeared.
Lauren was standing in Charles's office.
May you like
She was holding a gun.
And Charles was sitting across from her with his hands tied.
