Chapter 4 - The InvitationThe next morning, every major financial newspaper carried the same headline.
CLARA BENNETT RETURNS AFTER THREE YEARS.
The internet exploded.
Some called her unstable.
Others called her fearless.
Most wanted to know why she had slapped Victoria Sterling at the gala.
By noon, social media was filled with theories.
Clara ignored all of them.
She sat in the back of a quiet restaurant overlooking the river.
Across from her sat Evelyn Sterling.
Adrian's mother.
The woman who had once treated Clara like a daughter.
Evelyn looked older than Clara remembered.
"I'm glad you came."
Clara lifted her tea.
"You invited me."
Evelyn's eyes remained fixed on her.
"Adrian says you hate him."
"I don't."
"You don't?"
Clara smiled.
"Hate requires emotion."
Evelyn went silent.
That answer unsettled her.
"I know what happened at the gala."
"So does everyone."
"I also know Victoria provoked you."
"Did she?"
Evelyn didn't answer.
Instead, she slid an envelope across the table.
"Your father left something with me."
Clara's fingers stopped.
"What?"
"A letter."
"Why didn't you give it to me three years ago?"
Evelyn's expression changed.
"Because I was afraid."
Clara opened the envelope.
Inside was a single handwritten page.
Clara,
If you're reading this, Evelyn has finally found the courage to tell you the truth.
Clara's breathing slowed.
She continued reading.
The Sterling family is not what it appears to be.
Evelyn watched silently.
"What truth?"
Clara held the letter.
"I don't know yet."
Evelyn looked toward the window.
"Your father suspected my husband."
"Your husband?"
"Richard Sterling."
Adrian's father.
The man who had died six years earlier.
Evelyn's voice shook.
"Richard was involved in the original fraud."
Clara stared at her.
"But he's dead."
"Yes."
"So who controls it now?"
Evelyn looked directly at Clara.
"My son."
Clara's expression remained unreadable.
"Adrian."
Evelyn nodded.
"And Victoria."
"Why tell me?"
Evelyn's hands trembled.
"Because Adrian is planning something much bigger."
Clara leaned forward.
"What?"
"He's going to acquire the national banking division of Mercer Financial."
Clara's eyes narrowed.
"Using Bennett assets."
Evelyn nodded.
"And once the merger happens, the evidence connecting the Sterling family to your father's money will disappear."
Clara smiled faintly.
"So that's their final move."
Evelyn whispered.
"Clara, you need to leave."
"Why?"
"Because Adrian knows you're investigating."
Silence.
"How?"
Evelyn looked at Clara.
"Because someone inside your team is working for him."
Clara's expression finally changed.
She leaned back.
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Before Clara could respond, a phone vibrated.
Evelyn's phone.
She glanced down.
Her face went white.
"What is it?"
Evelyn stood.
"We have to leave."
"Why?"
Evelyn showed her the screen.
A photograph.
Clara leaving the restaurant.
Taken thirty seconds earlier.
Beneath it was a message.
STOP DIGGING.
OR NEXT TIME SHE WON'T WALK AWAY.
Clara stared at the picture.
Then she smiled.
Evelyn looked horrified.
"Why are you smiling?"
"Because now I know something."
"What?"
Clara stood.
"They're not trying to scare me."
Evelyn frowned.
"They're trying to tell me they're already afraid."
That evening, Clara returned to her office.
Daniel was waiting.
"Someone breached our system."
"I know."
His face hardened.
"How?"
Clara placed the photograph on the desk.
"Because they sent me an invitation."
Daniel looked at it.
"And?"
May you like
Clara looked out at the city.
"We're going to accept."
