Chapter 7 - The Name Lucian Remembered
Claire looked older.
Thinner.
Afraid.
But alive.
Ethan whispered her name.
She ignored him.
Her eyes went directly to Eliza.
“I owe you an apology.”
“For pretending to sleep with my husband?”
Ethan winced.
Claire almost smiled.
“For letting you believe it.”
Eliza folded her arms.
“Start talking.”
Claire had been Margaret's investigator.
The apparent affair gave her access to Ethan's company without Adrian's people questioning why she was there.
Ethan had agreed to the deception.
He had not agreed to tell Eliza.
“That was my condition,” Claire said. “Margaret believed the fewer people who knew, the safer you were.”
Eliza laughed bitterly.
“Everyone protected me by lying to me.”
Nobody argued.
Claire had discovered Daniel Cross was Adrian's son.
She also discovered Adrian planned to consolidate the stolen shares after Margaret's death.
Then Claire's brakes failed.
She survived.
She disappeared.
“Why come back now?”
“Because Adrian made a mistake.”
“What?”
“He threatened my daughter.”
Lucian stepped forward.
“Where is Adrian?”
Claire looked at him.
“You won't like the answer.”
“Try me.”
“He's been closer than you think.”
Claire opened her bag.
Lucian's security immediately tensed.
She removed a ledger.
Handwritten names.
Payments.
Dates.
One name appeared repeatedly.
Preston Hale.
The investor Ethan had been speaking to when Eliza entered the ballroom.
Eliza remembered his smile.
His champagne.
His interest in Ethan's company.
“He works for Adrian?”
Claire shook her head.
“Adrian works through him.”
Lucian scanned the pages.
Then stopped.
Eliza saw his face change.
“What?”
One entry.
Twenty-two years earlier.
Payment authorized by:
V. VALENTE.
Lucian's father.
“That's impossible.”
Claire said nothing.
Lucian looked at her.
“My father spent his life trying to stop Adrian.”
“That's what you were told.”
The room became cold.
Lucian closed the ledger.
“Where did you get this?”
“Margaret.”
“When?”
“Before she died.”
“Why didn't she give it to me?”
“Because she didn't know whether she could trust you.”
The words landed hard.
Eliza saw anger flash in Lucian.
Then disappear beneath control.
“What did my father pay for?”
Claire hesitated.
“A disappearance.”
“Whose?”
Before she answered, every phone in Ethan's office buzzed simultaneously.
A news alert.
HARTWELL STRATEGIES UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR FRAUD.
Ethan grabbed his phone.
“What?”
Another alert.
Company shares frozen.
Accounts under review.
Then another.
Anonymous documents had been sent to reporters.
Ethan stared at Eliza.
“I didn't do this.”
She believed him.
That surprised her.
Lucian was already calling attorneys.
Eliza stopped him.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“If the evidence is real, let them investigate.”
“Your assets are connected.”
“Then investigate those too.”
Lucian studied her.
“You understand what that could cost?”
“Yes.”
“And you're willing?”
“I've spent twelve years helping build something that may be sitting on stolen foundations. I want to know.”
Ethan stared at her.
For the first time, shame replaced defensiveness.
“I don't deserve you.”
“No.”
She said it gently.
“That doesn't mean you can't become someone you deserve.”
His eyes filled.
Not reconciliation.
Something harder.
Accountability.
Claire cleared her throat.
“There is something else.”
She handed Eliza a sealed envelope.
Margaret's handwriting again.
LUCIAN.
He opened it.
Inside was one sheet.
Lucian read.
His expression hardened.
“What does it say?” Eliza asked.
He handed it to her.
Margaret had written only:
VINCENT DID NOT ORDER THE DISAPPEARANCE.
HE PAID TO KEEP THE WOMAN ALIVE.
FIND ISABEL.
Lucian stared at the name.
Eliza saw recognition.
“Who's Isabel?”
“My mother.”
“But she's—”
“Dead.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
Lucian looked at her.
Claire opened the office door.
A woman was standing outside.
May you like
She looked directly at Lucian.
“Your mother is alive.”
