Chapter 14 - The Daughter No One Named
Claire thought she had run out of ways to be shocked.
She was wrong.
"Rebecca is your daughter?"
Richid nodded once.
Naomi stared at him.
"Eleanor knew?"
"Eventually."
Claire stepped backward.
"When was Rebecca born?"
Richid looked at the floor.
"Thirty-four years ago."
Claire did the math.
"Four years before me."
"Yes."
"While you were married to Mom."
Richid swallowed.
"Yes."
Claire laughed once from disbelief.
"Who was her mother?"
Richid did not answer fast enough.
Naomi understood before Claire did.
"Samuel's wife."
Claire stared at him.
Richid closed his eyes.
"For a short time."
"You had an affair with Samuel Voss's wife?"
"Yes."
The history became uglier with every sentence.
Samuel and Richid had not merely been business partners.
Their families had been tied together by betrayal long before Claire met Matthew.
"Did Samuel know Rebecca might be yours?"
"Not until years later."
"Is that why he hated you?"
"It was one reason."
Claire felt nauseated.
"And Matthew?"
"He believes Rebecca is his full sister."
"He doesn't know?"
"I don't think so."
The burner phone rang.
Rebecca Lane.
Claire looked at Richid.
"Does she know?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
Claire answered.
"Rebecca."
"You played the recording."
It was not a question.
Claire looked at Richid.
"Yes."
Rebecca went silent.
Claire's voice tightened.
"Did you know Richid is your biological father?"
The silence lasted several seconds.
Then Rebecca laughed softly.
There was no humor in it.
"So Eleanor finally told you."
Richid closed his eyes.
Claire stared at the phone.
"You knew."
"For twelve years."
"Does Matthew?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Rebecca's answer was cold.
"Because Matthew built his entire life around avenging a father who wasn't mine."
Claire leaned against the desk.
"Where are you?"
Rebecca gave her the address of a private parking garage beneath an office building downtown.
Naomi shook her head.
Claire ignored her.
"You said you have the original ledger."
"I do."
"And the second key my mother mentioned?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"I think so."
"Then I'm coming."
Richid stepped forward.
"No."
Claire turned toward him.
"You don't get a vote."
Detective Mara intervened.
"Claire, if this woman has original evidence, we can arrange a controlled meeting."
Claire nodded.
"Do it."
Two hours later, Claire entered the underground garage with Mara several car lengths behind her.
Naomi waited in the police vehicle.
Richid had been told to remain at his attorney's office.
Claire did not trust him to obey, but she no longer had energy to manage him.
Rebecca stood beside a silver sedan.
She was thirty-four, with dark hair and striking grey eyes.
Claire saw nothing of Richid at first.
Then Rebecca frowned.
The expression was his.
It made Claire's stomach tighten.
Rebecca held a worn leather ledger against her chest.
"You look like Eleanor."
Claire stopped several feet away.
"You knew my mother?"
"Twice."
"When?"
"After I learned the truth."
Claire looked at the ledger.
"Is that real?"
Rebecca handed it over.
Mara moved closer but did not interrupt.
Claire opened the cover.
Samuel Voss's name was written inside.
The pages contained handwritten amounts, dates, initials, and account numbers.
Several entries were marked R.H.
Others were marked S.V.
A third set used the initials J.C.
Claire looked up.
"Julian."
Rebecca nodded.
"He was not just a lawyer."
"What was he?"
"The accountant who moved money for both men before he became an attorney."
Claire stared at the pages.
"Julian altered the books?"
"He helped."
"For my father?"
Rebecca's expression hardened.
"For whoever paid him."
Mara stepped closer.
"Do you have evidence linking Cross to the recent transfer?"
Rebecca reached into her coat and removed a small brass key.
"This opens a deposit box Eleanor created under a trust alias."
Claire took it.
"How did you get it?"
"Samuel gave it to my mother before he died."
"Why would it open Eleanor's box?"
Rebecca smiled faintly.
"Because Eleanor and Samuel were working together at the end."
Claire blinked.
"Against Richid?"
"Against whoever was emptying the company."
A car engine started somewhere behind them.
Mara turned.
Headlights came on at the far end of the garage.
A black sedan rolled forward.
Claire recognized it immediately.
Matthew stepped out.
Rebecca's face changed.
"I didn't tell him."
Matthew looked at the ledger in Claire's hands.
Then at Rebecca.
"You lied to me."
Rebecca stepped in front of Claire.
"Go home, Matthew."
He laughed bitterly.
"You gave her the ledger?"
"Yes."
"That was ours."
"No."
Rebecca's voice shook for the first time.
"It was Dad's confession, not our inheritance."
Matthew's face hardened.
"You don't get to decide that."
Claire stepped around Rebecca.
"Neither do you."
Matthew looked at her bruise.
His expression shifted.
"Claire."
"Don't say my name like you still own a place in my life."
He looked toward Mara.
"You brought police."
"Yes."
Matthew exhaled.
"Then I suppose this is over."
Claire thought he meant the marriage.
Then Matthew looked at Rebecca and said something strange.
"Tell her who you really work for."
Rebecca's face went white.
Claire turned.
"What does he mean?"
Rebecca said nothing.
Matthew smiled.
"Ask your sister why she has been meeting with Victor Sloan for six months."
Claire's heart sank.
Mara looked at Rebecca.
"Is that true?"
Rebecca's silence answered.
Matthew continued.
"Everyone keeps telling you I'm the only person who came for your shares."
May you like
He looked at Claire.
"I'm just the one who married you first."
