Chapter 7 - The Child They Were Trying to TurnThe next morning, Daniel asked Ivy to stay home from school.
He didn’t explain why.
Claire made breakfast.
Ivy sat quietly at the table.
Then Margaret entered the kitchen.
“You kept her home?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I wanted family time.”
Margaret smiled.
“Of course.”
She approached Ivy.
“Come here, sweetheart.”
Ivy didn’t move.
Margaret’s smile faded.
“Are you angry with me?”
Ivy shook her head.
“You don’t have to be afraid.”
“I’m not afraid.”
Margaret glanced at Claire.
“What has she told you?”
“Nothing.”
Margaret’s eyes narrowed.
Daniel stepped between them.
“She doesn’t have to answer you.”
Margaret stared at him.
“This is my granddaughter.”
“And she’s my daughter.”
For the first time, Margaret looked truly wounded.
“You’re pushing me out.”
Daniel said nothing.
“You’ll regret that.”
She left the kitchen.
Ivy immediately whispered:
“She’s mad.”
Claire sat beside her.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Ivy looked at Claire.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”
“Are you really going to leave?”
Claire’s heart broke.
“No.”
“But Grandma says people leave.”
“I’m not leaving.”
“She said my mom left too.”
The room went silent.
Claire looked at Daniel.
Ivy continued.
“She said mothers always go.”
Daniel crouched.
“Your mother loved you.”
“I know.”
“And Claire loves you too.”
Ivy looked down.
“She does.”
Daniel kissed her forehead.
“Then nobody gets to tell you otherwise.”
Later that afternoon, Daniel met with Collins.
He brought the ledger.
“You knew.”
Collins stared at it.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because your mother threatened to expose me.”
“Expose what?”
Collins looked exhausted.
“Your father had accounts outside the family business.”
“So?”
“Some were used for illegal transfers.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Was my father involved?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Collins whispered:
“Margaret.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“How?”
“After your father died, she moved money through shell companies.”
“And Elena discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“Victor helped her.”
“Yes.”
Daniel stared at the desk.
“And then Elena died.”
Collins said nothing.
Daniel’s eyes lifted.
“Was it an accident?”
“I cannot say.”
“But you suspect otherwise.”
“Yes.”
Daniel left.
When he got home, Claire was in the nursery organizing baby clothes.
She held up a tiny white onesie.
“This is ridiculous.”
Daniel smiled.
“What?”
“We don’t even know whether the baby will fit this.”
“It’s for newborns.”
“You’re already planning.”
She looked at him.
“Someone has to.”
He walked over.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For bringing all this into your life.”
“You didn’t.”
“My mother did.”
Claire took his hand.
“I married you. Not the family.”
Daniel kissed her forehead.
Then he noticed a faint scratch on her wrist.
“What happened?”
She looked down.
“I don’t know.”
He examined it.
Three small marks.
Like fingernails.
Claire frowned.
“It wasn’t there this morning.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
“Where were you?”
“In the upstairs hallway.”
“Who did you see?”
“Nobody.”
Then Ivy screamed from downstairs.
“DAD!”
They ran.
A glass had shattered.
Ivy stood beside the dining table, pale.
“What happened?”
She pointed at the floor.
There was a photograph.
Elena.
The same photograph from the old office.
Only now someone had torn it in half.
Across the back was writing.
SHE LIED TO YOU TOO.
Daniel picked it up.
Claire looked frightened.
“Who put that there?”
Before Daniel could answer, Nora entered.
She looked at the photograph.
Then gasped.
“That handwriting…”
“What?”
Nora pointed.
“I’ve seen it before.”
“Where?”
“On the letters Margaret sent Victor.”
Daniel stared.
Nora shook her head.
“No.”
“What?”
“That’s not Margaret’s handwriting.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Whose is it?”
Nora hesitated.
“Your father’s.”
Silence.
Daniel looked at the torn photograph.
His father had supposedly died eighteen years ago.
Yet his handwriting had appeared on a note inside the family house.
Unless…
Daniel suddenly remembered Victor’s birth certificate.
The name.
The timing.
The hidden office.
The payments.
He turned toward Nora.
“Who is Victor Hale?”
Nora answered softly.
“I think you already know.”
Daniel stared.
May you like
“No.”
“He may be your father’s son.”
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