Chapter 7 - The Woman Named ClaireThe mystery woman had a connection to Derek that no one in the family had ever mentioned.
Claire Porter had been married to Elaine Porter.
That much I discovered within an hour.
The rest was buried.
Claire had worked as an accountant.
She had previously handled financial records for Derek's company.
Three months after the company received the first large investment, Claire quit.
Two months later, she filed a complaint.
The complaint was sealed.
I looked at Sophie.
“Can we find out what she complained about?”
“Not without proper legal access.”
“Then how do we know anything?”
“We follow what is public.”
We found property filings.
Business records.
Corporate amendments.
Then we found something else.
Claire and Elaine had owned a small consulting company together.
That company had dissolved abruptly.
The date was significant.
Two weeks before the refinance on my parents' house.
I felt a chill.
Sophie pulled up a corporate filing.
“Look.”
A registered agent had changed.
The new registered agent was a lawyer named Marcus Bell.
His office address was listed in the same building as the mortgage broker who handled my parents' refinance.
Too many connections.
I needed something stronger.
I went back through the shared household email.
Search:
Claire.
Hundreds of results.
Then I found one.
From my mother.
Sent eighteen months earlier.
Subject:
Please talk to Derek.
The message was short.
“Claire knows too much. He says she won't stop asking questions.”
I stared at it.
Another message, sent from Dad:
“Elaine says the issue can be contained.”
I called Sophie.
She read the emails.
Then she said:
“Save everything.”
We continued.
Eventually, we found an email from Claire herself.
It had never been sent to me.
It had been forwarded between my parents.
Claire wrote:
“You cannot refinance the property and move assets without disclosing the outstanding obligations.”
Another sentence:
“Naomi's contribution history makes the household financial picture very different from what you're representing.”
My hands went cold.
Claire knew about my payments.
She knew the family was using my money.
She knew the refinance existed.
She had objected.
The next email came from Mom.
“She's becoming a problem.”
Dad replied:
“Then Derek needs to handle it.”
I leaned back.
“What did they mean by handle it?”
Sophie looked at me.
“We don't know.”
But I did know one thing.
Claire had vanished from the records after that.
Her company disappeared.
Her complaint was sealed.
And the family trust had appeared soon afterward.
Then Sophie found a public court filing.
Claire had filed a civil action against Elaine.
The case had ended in a confidential settlement.
No admission of wrongdoing.
But one item remained public.
A payment.
$210,000.
From a company connected to Derek.
To a trust controlled by Elaine.
The date was only six days after my parents' refinance.
I looked at the screen.
“Two hundred ten thousand?”
“Yes.”
“My parents only borrowed one hundred eighty-two thousand.”
Sophie frowned.
“Exactly.”
I stared at the numbers.
There was money coming from somewhere else.
More money than I had known existed.
The house was only one piece.
Derek's business was not the whole picture.
And Claire knew something about it.
Then I remembered the anonymous message.
Ask Derek what happened to the woman named Claire.
I called my brother.
He didn't answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then, at 11:48 p.m., he finally texted me.
Stop digging.
I replied:
Tell me what happened to Claire.
No response.
I waited.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Then my phone rang.
Not Derek.
A woman.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A voice whispered:
“Naomi?”
“Yes.”
“This is Claire.”
My blood froze.
I looked at Sophie.
“Claire?”
The woman breathed shakily.
“Yes.”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because they're still watching.”
“Who?”
Silence.
Then she said:
“Your family didn't call you a parasite because they hate you.”
I gripped the phone.
“Then why?”
“Because you were the only person in that house who wasn't part of the plan.”
I swallowed.
“What plan?”
Her voice dropped.
“The house was never supposed to belong to Derek.”
I stared at Sophie.
Claire continued.
“Your parents were supposed to sell it.”
“For what?”
“To pay back money Derek stole.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Stole from who?”
Claire whispered:
“A man who does not forgive debts.”
The call ended.
I stared at the dark screen.
Sophie didn't ask what happened.
She already knew from my face.
May you like
I finally whispered:
“What have my parents gotten us into?”
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