Chapter 6 - Someone Was ListeningThe door opened.
Nora stood there.
Daniel lowered the metal bar.
“Nora?”
She was breathing hard.
“I followed you.”
“Why?”
“I found something.”
She held out an old envelope.
“This was in Margaret’s private cabinet.”
Claire took it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Not Ivy’s.
Not Daniel’s.
It belonged to someone named:
Victor Hale.
Daniel stared.
“What does this have to do with my mother?”
Nora looked terrified.
“Everything.”
Before she could explain, tires screeched outside.
They all turned.
A black sedan sped away from the building.
Daniel ran to the window.
He saw only a glimpse of the driver.
Margaret.
She had followed them.
And she knew they had found the office.
Back at the house, Margaret was waiting.
She sat at the dining table as calmly as if nothing had happened.
“I assume you had an interesting morning.”
Daniel entered.
“You followed us.”
Margaret smiled.
“I was concerned.”
“About me?”
“About my family.”
“You have a strange way of showing it.”
She looked at Claire.
“This woman has convinced you I’m your enemy.”
Claire said nothing.
Margaret continued.
“You used to trust me.”
“I used to.”
Margaret’s eyes flashed.
Then she stood.
“You think you know everything because you found a few old papers.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“I found Elena’s letters.”
Margaret went completely still.
“You found them.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“You know where.”
Margaret looked at Claire.
Then back at Daniel.
“What did she tell you?”
“That you were dangerous.”
Margaret laughed.
“Elena hated me.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted my son all to herself.”
Daniel frowned.
“That’s your explanation?”
“It’s the truth.”
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“You were taking money from the family trust.”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“I was protecting it.”
“You paid Victor four million dollars.”
“That money was an investment.”
“You paid him to hide things.”
Margaret’s eyes sharpened.
“You have no idea what Victor is capable of.”
“Neither do you.”
She stepped forward.
“You are making a terrible mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“Trusting Claire.”
Claire finally spoke.
“I have never asked Daniel for a cent.”
Margaret turned toward her.
“You don’t have to.”
The sentence hung in the air.
Daniel frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret looked at Claire’s stomach.
“Your child will.”
Claire stiffened.
Margaret smiled.
“Once the baby is born, everything changes.”
Daniel felt a chill.
“Why?”
“Because your father made sure of it.”
She walked upstairs.
Daniel followed.
“Mom!”
She kept walking.
At the top of the stairs she turned.
“Ask your father’s lawyer what happens to the trust after the birth.”
“I already did.”
Margaret smiled.
“Then ask what happens if the mother dies.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
Margaret said nothing.
Then she disappeared into her room.
Claire came up behind him.
“Daniel?”
He turned.
“What she just said…”
“I heard.”
“You think she meant…”
Claire’s voice shook.
“She wants me dead?”
Neither of them moved.
That night, Daniel checked every lock in the house.
He called the security company.
Changed passwords.
Reviewed cameras.
At 1:30 a.m., he sat in front of the monitors.
Nothing.
2:00.
Nothing.
2:30.
Nothing.
Then the screen flickered.
One camera went black.
The nursery.
Daniel stood.
He ran upstairs.
The nursery door was open.
Ivy was sleeping.
Her window was unlocked.
Daniel checked it.
A small muddy footprint marked the floor beneath it.
Not Ivy’s.
Not Claire’s.
Adult size.
He looked outside.
Someone had climbed onto the property.
Then Daniel noticed something else.
A folded piece of paper on Ivy’s pillow.
He opened it.
Three words.
STOP LOOKING BACK.
Claire read it over his shoulder.
“What are we going to do?”
Daniel folded the paper.
“We’re going to keep looking.”
Then he heard Ivy whisper from her bed.
“Dad?”
Daniel walked over.
She opened her eyes.
“Grandma came into my room last night.”
Daniel froze.
“When?”
“Before the party.”
“What did she say?”
Ivy looked frightened.
“She told me to be brave.”
“For what?”
Ivy swallowed.
“She said one day I would have to choose.”
“Choose what?”
Ivy looked at Claire.
“Whether I wanted you…”
She hesitated.
“…or the baby.”
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
Because that was exactly what Margaret had been trying to create.
A choice.
A division.
A family split down the middle.
And Daniel finally realized something terrifying.
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Margaret wasn’t simply trying to get Claire out.
She was preparing Ivy to hate her.
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