Chapter 12 - CLAIRE
The darkness lasted six seconds.
Police stormed the dining room.
Peter was gone.
A service door stood open.
Someone had unlocked it from outside.
Raina didn't care.
Only one sentence mattered.
Your mother.
Alive.
Impossible.
Cruel.
Ridiculous.
But after everything else?
Nothing felt impossible anymore.
Orson rushed in.
“Are you okay?”
Raina looked at him.
“Is Mom alive?”
He stopped.
That was enough.
Raina's entire body went cold.
“Dad.”
Orson looked at the officers.
“Give us a minute.”
“No.”
Raina's voice rose.
“Answer me right here.”
Orson closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The word destroyed twelve years of grief in one second.
Raina slapped him.
The room went silent.
Orson didn't move.
Raina stared at her own hand.
Then at him.
“You buried her.”
“We buried an empty casket.”
“You made me give a eulogy.”
“I know.”
“You held me while I screamed.”
“I know.”
“You watched me spend years missing her.”
His eyes filled.
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because she asked me to.”
Raina laughed.
A broken, furious sound.
“That's your answer?”
“Claire witnessed something that put her life in danger.”
“Bryce?”
“Yes.”
“Did she kill him?”
“No.”
“He died last year.”
“Claire was there.”
Raina stared.
“Why?”
“Because Bryce contacted her.”
Orson looked suddenly older.
“He said he wanted to fix what he'd done.”
“What did Mom witness?”
“The truth.”
“Which truth?”
“All of it.”
Raina's hands shook.
“Where is she?”
Orson hesitated.
Raina took a step forward.
“If you lie to me one more time, I will never speak to you again.”
That did it.
“Montana.”
Raina blinked.
“What?”
“She lives outside Bozeman.”
“Under what name?”
“Claire Hart.”
The name Hart had been her mother's maiden name.
Raina felt dizzy.
“How long have you known?”
“Always.”
“You talk to her?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“Every month.”
Another slap would not have been enough.
Raina turned away.
Elaine stepped toward her.
“Raina—”
“Did you know?”
Elaine's silence answered.
Raina laughed again.
“Fantastic.”
She walked out.
Nobody stopped her.
At the mansion that evening, she packed one small bag.
Orson stood at the bedroom door.
“You shouldn't travel.”
“My doctor cleared short flights.”
“You're due in six weeks.”
“Then I guess Mom should meet her grandson before someone else tries to steal his trust.”
“Raina.”
She zipped the bag.
“I'm going to Montana.”
“I'll come.”
“No.”
“Security will.”
“Yes.”
Orson nodded.
He accepted the boundary.
For once.
Before Raina left, Elaine handed her a folder.
“Claire wrote letters.”
Raina stared at it.
“To me?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“Twelve years' worth.”
Raina's throat closed.
“Why didn't I get them?”
“Your mother asked us to hold them until it was safe.”
Raina nearly threw the folder.
Instead, she took it.
On the flight, she opened the first letter.
MY SWEET RAINA,
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, THEN THE LIE HAS LASTED LONGER THAN I EVER INTENDED.
Raina covered her mouth.
She kept reading.
Claire explained the company.
Vanessa.
Peter.
Bryce.
The missing money.
The threats.
Then one line stopped Raina.
BRYCE BELIEVES THE RIGHTS IN MY DESIGNS CAN BE USED TO CONTROL FUTURE GENERATIONS OF OUR FAMILY.
Another:
IF I DISAPPEAR, IT IS BECAUSE I AM TRYING TO KEEP YOU OUT OF HIS REACH.
Raina's tears fell onto the paper.
Near the end:
YOUR FATHER WILL MAKE MISTAKES TRYING TO PROTECT YOU. DO NOT CONFUSE HIS FEAR WITH BETRAYAL, BUT DO NOT LET HIM USE LOVE AS AN EXCUSE FOREVER.
Raina closed her eyes.
Typical Mom.
Even from hiding, she understood everyone.
The plane landed after dark.
A black SUV drove Raina forty minutes outside town.
Snow still clung to distant mountain peaks.
They reached a small wooden house surrounded by pines.
Raina stepped out.
The front door opened.
A woman appeared beneath the porch light.
Older.
Thinner.
Silver in her hair.
But those eyes—
Raina knew them.
She stopped breathing.
The woman covered her mouth.
“Raina.”
Twelve years vanished.
Raina crossed the distance between them.
Her mother wrapped her arms around her.
Both women broke.
For several minutes there were no questions.
Only crying.
Only holding.
Only lost time.
Finally, Claire pulled back and touched Raina's face.
“You look so much like—”
A gunshot exploded from the trees.
The porch light shattered.
Security shouted.
Claire grabbed Raina.
“Inside!”
Another shot hit the front wall.
Raina fell behind the doorway.
Her mother slammed the door.
Then Claire looked at her and whispered:
May you like
“He found me.”
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