Chapter 13 - The Last BetrayalClaire Had Made One Final Deal Without Telling Me
We escaped through the basement.
Lydia moved faster than I expected.
She knew every hidden passage.
Every door.
Every escape route.
The task force stormed the house above us.
Then we reached a tunnel.
Lydia stopped.
"You built this?"
"My father."
"Why?"
"For me."
She looked at me.
"You still think he was the good man."
"He wasn't."
"Neither am I."
"No."
"At least you understand that."
We reached an underground garage.
A black sedan waited.
Someone sat behind the wheel.
Claire.
I stared.
She opened the door.
"Get in."
I climbed inside.
Lydia followed.
Claire slammed the accelerator.
Nobody spoke.
Finally, I asked,
"Where is Hope?"
"Safe."
"Where?"
"With Natalie."
I exhaled.
Claire glanced at me.
"Your mother lied."
"I know."
"You understand now?"
"Enough."
Lydia sat in the back.
Claire looked at her in the mirror.
"I never thought we'd be in the same car."
Lydia smiled.
"Neither did I."
I looked between them.
"What is happening?"
Claire said,
"I made a deal."
"With whom?"
"The task force."
"What?"
She looked at me.
"I've been cooperating with them for six months."
My stomach dropped.
"Six months?"
"Yes."
"You were working with the police?"
"Not officially."
"Then what?"
"Evidence."
She handed me a folder.
Everything inside was labeled.
Photographs.
Audio recordings.
Bank transfers.
A full investigation into Lydia's organization.
"We needed one thing," Claire said.
"What?"
"Your testimony."
I laughed.
"You expect me to testify against my mother?"
"Against the truth."
I looked at Lydia.
She remained silent.
Claire continued.
"Your father was collecting evidence before he died."
"He left it hidden."
"Yes."
"And you?"
"I finished it."
I stared at her.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you would have warned Victor."
I lowered my eyes.
She was right.
"I almost ruined everything."
"You did."
I flinched.
"But you're here."
"Because you saved Hope."
Claire nodded.
Then Lydia spoke.
"You still haven't told him."
Claire looked at her.
"Told me what?"
Lydia smiled.
"The final betrayal."
Claire's face went pale.
I turned toward her.
"What?"
She swallowed.
"I signed the divorce papers."
I stared.
"That's it?"
"No."
She looked down.
"I also transferred the house."
"To who?"
"To Hope."
I didn't understand.
"All the assets in your name are frozen."
"What?"
"Because the government has evidence they came from the network."
I looked at Lydia.
She smiled.
"Your inheritance was never really yours."
Then Claire handed me another document.
A custody agreement.
Claire had sole custody.
I stared at the page.
"You were going to take Hope and disappear."
"Yes."
"You were going to erase me."
"You erased yourself."
The words hit harder than anything else.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
COME TO THE WAREHOUSE ALONE.
Below it was a photograph.
Hope.
A man holding her.
The image was clearly real.
She was alive.
But the man's face was hidden.
Claire grabbed the phone.
"No."
I looked at her.
"Who has her?"
Lydia stared at the photograph.
And for the first time since I met her, she looked genuinely terrified.
"That's not one of mine."
Victor called.
I answered.
His voice was shaking.
"Daniel."
"Where are you?"
"I found them."
"Who?"
"The people who were controlling your father."
May you like
He paused.
"They have Hope."
