Chapter 9 - When the Family Turned Against Her
The voice belonged to Rebecca.
Claire recognized it immediately.
“Don't move,” Dominic said.
The lights returned.
Rebecca stood in the doorway.
She was holding a folder.
Her expression was calm.
Too calm.
“Your mother was going to destroy us,” she said.
Claire stared.
“What did you do?”
Rebecca walked closer.
“I survived.”
“You killed her?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
She looked at Charles.
“Your father did.”
Claire turned toward Charles.
He was barely conscious.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Explain.”
Rebecca opened the folder.
Inside were photographs.
Anne arguing with Charles.
Anne leaving the mansion.
Anne meeting Victor.
Then one final photograph.
Anne lying unconscious beside her car.
Claire covered her mouth.
Rebecca said, “Charles ordered the driver to scare her.”
Claire looked at her father.
“He didn't know Victor would interfere.”
Dominic's expression became cold.
“Where is the driver?”
Rebecca smiled.
“Dead.”
Claire's knees weakened.
Dominic caught her.
She looked at him.
“I can't do this.”
“Yes, you can.”
“No.”
“You've been doing it for nine years.”
Claire stared at him.
Then she understood.
Dominic wasn't asking her to be strong.
He was reminding her that she already was.
Rebecca suddenly laughed.
“You think he's helping you?”
Claire looked at her.
“What does that mean?”
“Dominic didn't come here for you.”
Dominic's expression remained unreadable.
Rebecca continued.
“He came for the company.”
Claire looked at him.
Dominic didn't deny it.
Her heart sank.
Rebecca smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Claire stepped away.
“Is that true?”
Dominic's voice was quiet.
“At first.”
Claire stared at him.
“At first?”
“Yes.”
“What changed?”
He looked directly into her eyes.
“You.”
Rebecca's smile disappeared.
Dominic turned toward Claire.
“I came because I wanted the company.”
He paused.
“Then I realized you were the person keeping it alive.”
Claire didn't know what to say.
Rebecca suddenly threw the folder onto the floor.
“You're all fools.”
She turned toward the door.
Dominic's security team blocked her.
She stopped.
“Before you arrest me,” she said, “you should know something.”
Dominic waited.
Rebecca looked at Claire.
“Your mother left one final instruction.”
Claire's blood ran cold.
“What?”
Rebecca smiled.
“She told me that when you turned thirty, I was supposed to give you the key.”
She reached into her purse.
Claire stepped forward.
Rebecca placed a small brass key in her hand.
“Your mother hid something where Charles could never find it.”
Claire stared at the key.
“What does it open?”
Rebecca looked toward the mansion's grand staircase.
“The room your father told you never existed.”
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Then the lights went out again.
And when they came back on, Rebecca was gone...
