Chapter 5 - Clare refused to enter Dominic's office.Not because she was afraid.
Because she was furious.
“You think I killed him?”
Dominic stood near the window.
“No.”
“But you looked at me.”
“I looked at everyone.”
“You looked at me first.”
Dominic said nothing.
Clare's voice broke.
“I don't know what happened to Daniel.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
She stared at him.
“Daniel worked for Arthur.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“For how long?”
“Before I met him.”
“What did he do?”
“Logistics.”
“Meaning?”
“Moving money. Documents. People.”
Dominic studied her.
“You knew he was involved with Arthur.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know he was involved with me?”
Clare hesitated.
“No.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Clare.”
She looked down.
“Daniel hated you.”
That surprised him.
“Why?”
“Because he believed you ruined him.”
“How?”
“He said you took a deal that belonged to him.”
“Which deal?”
“I don't know.”
“You've had three years.”
“I was trying to keep Ellie safe.”
“From Daniel?”
Clare looked at him.
“From everyone.”
Ellie sat quietly in the corner, playing with her latch toy.
Dominic noticed something.
She was no longer clicking it.
She was listening.
Clare whispered:
“Daniel called me two weeks before the crash.”
Dominic's eyes sharpened.
“You never said that.”
“I was scared.”
“What did he say?”
“He said someone was going to take everything from you.”
“Who?”
“He wouldn't tell me.”
“Did he mention Arthur?”
Clare shook her head.
“He said Arthur was only the door.”
Dominic frowned.
“The door to what?”
“I don't know.”
She looked at Ellie.
“He told me that if anything happened, I had to make sure Ellie stayed away from the Vale estate.”
Dominic's chest tightened.
“Then why did you bring her here?”
“I didn't choose this.”
“You work here.”
“I needed the money.”
Dominic stared at her.
Clare's voice became smaller.
“After Daniel died, I had nothing.”
He understood.
The missing hospital records.
The sabotage.
The hidden room.
The dead man who might be alive.
And Clare had walked into his estate carrying a child who had somehow recognized the mechanism on his brace.
It was too much coincidence.
Dominic turned to Vincent.
“Search Clare's belongings.”
Her eyes widened.
“You don't have the right.”
“I'll return everything afterward.”
Vincent found nothing.
No weapons.
No hidden documents.
No second phone.
No evidence.
Then Ellie approached Dominic.
She held out her wooden toy.
“Mr. Dominic.”
“What?”
She pointed at the latch.
“This is not Daddy's.”
Dominic crouched.
“What do you mean?”
“Daddy's was bigger.”
Her tiny finger traced the metal pin.
“Daddy had three.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Three what?”
“Three doors.”
Clare froze.
“Ellie.”
But Ellie continued.
“Daddy said one was for bad people.”
Dominic exchanged a glance with Vincent.
“Where is it?”
Ellie looked toward Clare.
Then toward the floor.
Then whispered:
“Under Mommy's bed.”
Clare turned white.
They returned to her house.
The bed frame was moved.
Beneath it was a steel plate.
Vincent removed the bolts.
A narrow compartment appeared.
Inside was a folder.
Dominic opened it.
The first page contained a list of names.
The six council members.
One by one.
Each name had a payment amount next to it.
Then there was another page.
Three words.
SUCCESSION CONDITION ACTIVATED.
Dominic stared.
The plan was bigger than his medical condition.
The council had not been preparing to replace him.
They had been preparing to vote exactly as someone wanted.
Vincent looked at the final page.
There was a signature.
Arthur Voss.
Dominic's jaw tightened.
“He signed it.”
Clare whispered:
“So it is Arthur.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed to the date.
It was two years ago.
Arthur had not been planning to seize control because Dominic crashed.
The plan had existed long before the crash.
The crash was simply the trigger.
Then Vincent found a photograph beneath the paperwork.
Three men stood together.
Arthur Voss.
Elliot Crane.
And a third man whose face was turned away.
But Dominic recognized the watch.
He had seen it that night at the clinic.
On the wrist of the person who poisoned Reed.
Vincent whispered:
“Who is that?”
Dominic stared.
Then the memory hit.
A boardroom fifteen years earlier.
A young man standing behind Arthur.
A young man Dominic had fired.
A young man everybody believed had disappeared.
“Adrian Vale.”
Clare's eyes widened.
“Your brother?”
Dominic nodded.
“My younger brother.”
“He died.”
“No.”
Dominic turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
THE FAMILY ALWAYS COMES FIRST.
For the first time, Dominic understood the trap.
Arthur wanted his organization.
Daniel wanted revenge.
May you like
But someone else wanted the Vale family itself.
And that person had been preparing for fifteen years.
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