Chapter 10 - "Where Has My Wife Been?"Ten Days Changed Everything
Daniel sat at our kitchen table on the tenth morning.
The coffee beside him had gone cold.
Elena stood near the sink.
He stared at the empty chair across from him.
Mine.
“Where has my wife been?”
Elena didn't answer.
Daniel looked up.
“I asked you a question.”
She slowly dried her hands.
“She isn't coming home.”
His face tightened.
“Why?”
“Because you made sure she wouldn't.”
Silence.
Daniel pushed his chair backward.
“What does that mean?”
Elena looked directly at him.
“She knows.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Knows what?”
“Everything.”
For the first time, Daniel looked afraid.
Elena continued.
“She knows about Northlake.”
He stood.
“She couldn't.”
“She knows about your father.”
His face drained.
“She knows about the foundation.”
“Who told her?”
Elena smiled sadly.
“You did.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“The hidden room.”
He looked toward the office.
“Who opened it?”
Elena didn't answer.
Daniel whispered,
“Claire.”
Then he collapsed.
Not dramatically.
His knees simply gave way.
He hit the kitchen floor.
His hands shook.
Elena watched him.
“You should have left her alone.”
Daniel looked up.
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Tell me.”
“I told you.”
“You don't understand.”
He struggled to breathe.
“If she's found the account, we're all dead.”
Elena's eyes widened.
“What account?”
Daniel realized his mistake.
Too late.
He sat against the cabinet.
“Elena…”
She stared at him.
“You told me there was no money left.”
“There isn't.”
“Eight million dollars says otherwise.”
Daniel went still.
“You know about it.”
Elena whispered,
“Where has my wife been?”
He looked at her.
Then said,
“She was never supposed to find that account.”
Meanwhile, in Boston, I was standing in a bank vault holding proof that my life had been built around a secret worth millions.
Rachel stared at the documents.
“Claire, do you know what this means?”
“No.”
“It means someone set you up as a beneficiary before Daniel ever met you.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Then the bank manager entered.
He carried another folder.
“Mrs. Hale?”
“Yes?”
“This was left here twelve years ago.”
He handed me an envelope.
My name again.
I opened it.
Inside was a letter from my mother.
The first line read:
Daniel Hale is not the man you think he is.
I kept reading.
He married you because your family owns something his family needs.
I looked at Rachel.
“My family?”
The next line answered.
Your father's company.
I stopped.
My father had supposedly died before I was born.
But according to my mother's letter, he had owned a financial firm.
A firm that had once managed millions for clients.
A firm called Bennett & Price.
I knew the name.
Northlake's predecessor.
My mother had worked there.
My father had been the founder.
Robert Hale had been his business partner.
Then something happened.
Money disappeared.
My father vanished.
My mother discovered the fraud.
And Daniel's family destroyed everyone who got close.
Rachel closed the letter.
“Claire, I think your mother's death wasn't the original crime.”
“What was?”
“The theft of your father's company.”
I stared at the document.
“Then why did they need me?”
Rachel's voice was low.
“Because you inherited it.”
I laughed once.
“No.”
She showed me a court document.
My father had created a trust before his disappearance.
His shares had been placed in my name.
I owned 51 percent of the original company.
Even though the company had been renamed twice, the trust had survived.
The money hadn't disappeared.
It had been diverted.
My marriage had given Daniel access to the heir.
Me.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
COME HOME, CLAIRE.
I knew immediately who sent it.
Daniel.
Then another message appeared.
I know what you found.
And a third.
But you don't know what happened to your father.
Rachel looked at me.
I stared at the screen.
Because one thought wouldn't leave my mind.
May you like
If my father wasn't dead…
Where had he been all these years?
Related Stories
