Chapter 2 - The Room She Wouldn't Let Me Enter
Daniel stepped backward as the nursery door opened.
A woman stood inside.
Rebecca.
Claire's sister looked exhausted.
Daniel stared at her.
"How did you get into my house?"
"Claire gave me access."
"Where is she?"
Rebecca didn't answer.
Instead, she held out a small flash drive.
Daniel looked past her.
The nursery was beautiful.
Claire had finished everything without him.
The white crib.
The mobile.
Tiny folded blankets.
A stuffed bear in the chair.
And covering an entire wall were documents.
Bank statements.
Corporate records.
Photographs.
Names.
Dates.
Daniel forgot about Claire for one stunned second.
"What is this?"
Rebecca handed him the drive.
"Why don't you ask Michael?"
Daniel turned.
Michael was gone.
He ran into the hallway.
"Michael!"
The elevator indicator was descending.
Daniel immediately called security.
No answer.
He called again.
Nothing.
Rebecca remained behind him.
"You really didn't know."
Daniel turned.
"Know what?"
She pointed toward the nursery.
Daniel entered.
At the center of the wall was a photograph of one of his warehouses.
A red line connected it to another photograph.
Then another.
Construction companies.
Restaurants.
Holding companies.
Accounts Daniel recognized.
And accounts he didn't.
"Claire did this?"
"For almost six months."
"Why?"
Rebecca looked at him with disgust.
"Because someone was using your companies."
"For what?"
"I don't know everything."
"You know enough."
"Claire wouldn't tell me everything."
Daniel picked up a folder.
Inside were transfers authorized under his name.
Millions.
Except Daniel had never authorized them.
He checked the signatures.
They looked perfect.
Too perfect.
"Who had access?"
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
"You're asking me?"
Daniel looked toward the doorway where Michael had disappeared.
"No."
His voice became quiet.
"I'm asking myself."
Rebecca folded her arms.
"Claire found the first discrepancy when she was preparing documents for the baby."
"What documents?"
"Trust paperwork."
Daniel frowned.
"I never asked her to prepare a trust."
"She wasn't preparing yours."
Rebecca pointed toward the crib.
"She was preparing one for her daughter."
Daniel felt another sting at the wording.
Her daughter.
Not theirs.
"What did she find?"
"An account."
Rebecca moved toward the wall and tapped a photocopied bank statement.
"Carter Meridian Holdings."
Daniel stared at it.
"I don't own that company."
"Apparently someone thinks you do."
The transfers were enormous.
One originated from a Carter construction subsidiary.
Another from a restaurant group.
A third from a warehouse management company.
All moved through shell corporations before disappearing.
Daniel's signature appeared on every approval.
"How much?"
"Claire found twenty-eight million."
Daniel looked at her.
"That's impossible."
"She thought so too."
Rebecca handed him another document.
"Then she found this."
It was an insurance policy.
Daniel read the name.
Claire Carter.
His wife's life had been insured for twelve million dollars.
Beneficiary:
Carter Meridian Holdings.
Daniel's stomach dropped.
"I didn't authorize this."
"I know."
"How?"
"Because Claire asked the same question."
Daniel turned pages faster.
The policy had been created seven months earlier.
Shortly after Claire became pregnant.
His signature appeared at the bottom.
Forged.
"Why didn't she tell me?"
Rebecca's expression hardened.
"Because by then she didn't know if you were involved."
Daniel looked up.
"She thought I wanted her dead?"
"She didn't know what to think."
"That's insane."
"Is it?"
Rebecca stepped closer.
"She discovers someone is stealing millions through your businesses. Then she discovers a life insurance policy on herself tied to the same company. Meanwhile, her husband is disappearing at night, lying about where he is, hiding his phone, missing appointments."
Daniel opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
His affair had done more than destroy Claire's trust.
It had made every lie around her believable.
Including the worst one.
Daniel sank into the nursery chair.
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
"Rebecca."
"I don't."
He studied her.
This time, he believed her.
"She disappeared from me too."
"When?"
"Three days ago."
Daniel stood.
"What do you mean?"
"She was staying somewhere safe. Then she called me and said she'd found something."
"What?"
"She wouldn't say."
Rebecca's voice broke.
"She said if anything happened, I should come here."
Daniel stared at the flash drive.
"When was the last time you spoke to her?"
"Tuesday. Eleven forty-seven at night."
"And now?"
"Her number doesn't work."
Daniel pulled out his phone.
He called Michael.
Straight to voicemail.
He opened the security app.
Michael's credentials had been revoked.
Not by Daniel.
Someone else had administrator access.
Daniel called his chief financial officer.
No answer.
His attorney.
No answer.
Three senior employees.
Nothing.
Rebecca watched him.
"What's happening?"
Daniel looked around the nursery.
His empire hadn't turned against him tonight.
It had happened gradually while he was busy believing he controlled it.
He inserted Claire's flash drive into the nursery laptop.
One folder appeared.
FOR DANIEL.
He clicked.
Password protected.
A hint appeared.
The day you promised you'd never lie to me.
Daniel closed his eyes.
Their wedding day.
He entered the date.
Unlocked.
Inside were dozens of files.
One video.
He clicked it.
Claire appeared onscreen.
Pregnant.
Tired.
Beautiful.
"Daniel, if you're watching this, then either I finally told you everything... or I couldn't."
Daniel stopped breathing.
Claire continued.
"I found something inside your companies. At first, I thought it was accounting fraud. Then I found my insurance policy."
Rebecca covered her mouth.
"I don't know who's behind it. But there's one person I stopped trusting before I left."
Daniel leaned closer.
Claire looked directly into the camera.
"If Michael Reed tells you he doesn't know what Carter Meridian is, he's lying."
Daniel's phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
Claire.
She was sitting inside what looked like a hospital room.
The picture had been taken from outside the doorway.
Daniel's blood went cold.
Another message arrived.
COME ALONE.
Then an address.
Rebecca whispered:
"Daniel..."
A third message appeared.
DON'T TELL MICHAEL.
Daniel looked toward the elevator.
It chimed.
The doors opened.
May you like
Michael Reed stepped out.
And he wasn't alone.
