Chapter 13 - The Last Lie Margaret ToldClara's Past Was the Missing Piece
Clara could barely breathe.
"My mother?"
Margaret remained behind the locked door.
"Come inside and I will tell you."
The police warned Clara not to enter.
But she needed answers.
Rachel grabbed her arm.
"Don't."
Clara looked at her.
"She knows something."
"We can force the door."
"And risk Idan."
Rachel let go.
Clara entered.
The hidden room was dark.
Idan sat in a chair.
Margaret stood behind him.
A gun rested in her hand.
Clara stayed calm.
"You said my mother worked for you."
"She did."
"What was her name?"
Margaret smiled.
"Lucia Reed."
Clara's heart stopped.
Her mother had died when Clara was seventeen.
She had always believed her mother had worked as a cleaner.
Margaret continued.
"She was much more than that."
Clara stepped closer.
"Why did you hire me?"
"Because I knew you."
"You watched me?"
"For years."
Margaret explained.
Lucia had been Rachel's closest ally.
She had helped hide documents.
She had known about Idan's true parentage.
She had also protected a secret.
Clara was Rachel's biological niece.
Not daughter.
Niece.
Clara stared.
It meant she was family.
Margaret had hired her because she was close to Rachel.
Because she believed Clara could be controlled.
But Lucia had refused to cooperate.
So Margaret destroyed her reputation.
Clara's mother had lost her job.
Her health deteriorated.
She died believing Margaret would eventually stop.
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
"You ruined my mother."
Margaret shrugged.
"She ruined herself by refusing to obey."
Clara looked at Idan.
"Let him go."
Margaret smiled.
"You are still thinking like a servant."
Clara's eyes hardened.
"What should I think like?"
"An heiress."
Silence.
Margaret placed a document on the table.
Clara stared.
It was a legal inheritance.
Her mother's name appeared.
The document revealed that Lucia had inherited shares in Hamilton Holdings.
Shares worth nearly ten million dollars.
Margaret had hidden them.
Clara had been the rightful beneficiary.
Margaret had stolen her inheritance.
Daniel, listening through the police communication line, nearly shouted.
"Get that document photographed!"
Clara quietly moved closer.
Margaret continued.
"You see now why I needed you gone."
Clara asked:
"Why frame me with the emerald?"
"Because a thief has no credibility."
"And why bring Idan here?"
"Because he found the truth."
Idan suddenly spoke.
"Grandma lied."
Margaret's face changed.
The boy continued.
"Dad isn't my real father."
"Idan."
"And Clara isn't just a maid."
"Stop."
"Mom said she is family."
Margaret's hand tightened around the gun.
Rachel's voice came through the hidden speaker.
"Margaret, it's over."
Margaret laughed.
"No."
Then the lights suddenly came on.
The room filled with police officers.
Margaret turned.
The gun was gone from her hand.
Clara had slipped it away when Margaret had been distracted.
Margaret stared at Clara in disbelief.
"You."
Clara shook her head.
"You taught me one thing."
"What?"
"Never underestimate the person you have spent years looking down on."
Police arrested Margaret.
But as they escorted her away, she leaned toward Clara and whispered:
"You still don't know the biggest secret."
Clara watched her disappear.
Then Idan ran into her arms.
Behind him stood Rachel.
And Adam.
Daniel approached holding the final document.
"I think I found it."
"What?"
"The biggest secret."
He handed Clara a DNA report.
Clara stared.
Then the color left her face.
The report did not concern Idan.
It concerned Clara.
And the result revealed that Margaret had been wrong about one thing.
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Clara was not Rachel's niece.
She was Margaret's granddaughter.
