Chapter 13 - CLAIRE’S CONFESSION
Claire walked into the foyer wearing jeans and a black coat.
No makeup.
No diamonds.
No cameras.
A bruise covered one side of her face.
Nicholas waited at the top of the foyer ramp.
Hannah beside him.
Daniel stood near the staircase.
When Claire saw Daniel, she stopped.
“You.”
Daniel smiled.
“Miss me?”
Claire pulled a gun.
Hannah froze.
Security raised weapons.
Nicholas shouted, “Nobody shoot!”
Claire aimed directly at Daniel.
“You kidnapped Ethan.”
Daniel shrugged.
“He’s alive.”
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
For once, Hannah agreed with Claire.
Nicholas said, “Put the gun down.”
Claire looked at him.
Her expression broke slightly.
“I didn’t come to hurt you.”
“You already did.”
“I know.”
“You poisoned me.”
“I switched some of your pills.”
Hannah’s anger flared.
Nicholas went still.
Claire continued.
“Not with what Frank wanted.”
Hannah frowned.
“What?”
Claire lowered the gun.
“Frank ordered Burke to increase the doses.”
She looked at Nicholas.
“I replaced some of them with harmless tablets.”
Hannah stared.
“You expect us to believe that?”
“No.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“I wouldn’t believe me either.”
Nicholas’s voice was ice.
“You hit me.”
Claire flinched.
“Yes.”
“You isolated me.”
“Yes.”
“You told me I was useless.”
Claire looked down.
“Yes.”
“You let me believe I would never walk.”
Her voice cracked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Claire finally looked at him.
“Because I hated you.”
The room went silent.
Nicholas almost laughed.
“At least that’s honest.”
Claire swallowed.
“I hated what your family did to mine.”
Nicholas frowned.
“My family?”
“My father worked for yours.”
Walter went still.
Claire looked at him.
“You remember Thomas Whitmore.”
Walter’s face changed.
“Yes.”
Nicholas looked between them.
“Who?”
Claire answered.
“My father discovered your uncle Frank was stealing from company accounts.”
Walter whispered, “Frank framed him.”
Claire nodded.
“My father went to prison.”
Nicholas stared.
“He killed himself six months later.”
Claire wiped her eyes.
“Frank approached me after college. Told me the Valentis destroyed my family. He introduced me to Daniel.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Claire looked at him with disgust.
“I believed both of you.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“You loved me.”
“I loved who you pretended to be.”
Nicholas looked sick.
Claire continued.
“Frank wanted revenge against your father. Daniel wanted money. I wanted you to hurt.”
Nicholas said nothing.
“So I got close to you.”
Claire’s voice trembled.
“I told myself every smile was fake. Every kiss was part of the plan.”
Hannah watched Nicholas.
He barely blinked.
Claire continued.
“Then the crash happened.”
“You knew about it?”
“No.”
“Daniel says you were supposed to be in the car.”
“He lied.”
Daniel’s face darkened.
Claire looked at Nicholas.
“I canceled dinner because Frank called me and told me not to get in your car.”
Nicholas’s expression changed.
“And you didn’t warn me?”
Claire began crying.
“No.”
Hannah’s stomach twisted.
Nicholas whispered, “Anthony died.”
“I know.”
“You could have stopped it.”
“I know.”
“You let me get into that car.”
Claire could barely speak.
“Yes.”
Nicholas looked away.
Claire took another step.
“Afterward, Frank told me to make sure you stayed weak. Burke handled the medication.”
“And you helped.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was still angry.”
Nicholas laughed bitterly.
Claire raised her chin.
“But then I realized Frank wasn’t planning to stop with you.”
“What does that mean?”
“He planned to kill Daniel too.”
Daniel froze.
Claire looked at him.
“Once Nicholas died and I inherited, Frank wanted me to transfer control to him.”
Daniel stared.
“And me?”
Claire’s voice was cold.
“Dead.”
Nicholas looked at his brother.
“Looks like family loyalty remains complicated.”
Claire reached slowly into her coat.
Security tensed.
She pulled out a flash drive.
Hannah recognized it.
Rebecca’s missing drive.
Claire held it up.
“I took this from the safe.”
Hannah stared.
“Why?”
“Because it contains the only recording that can prove who ordered the crash.”
Nicholas looked at the drive.
“Frank?”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel’s expression changed.
May you like
Claire turned toward him.
“The person who ordered Nicholas’s crash is standing in this room.”
