Chapter 18 - Matthew's Last Bargain
Matthew contacted Claire at 4:37 p.m.
He did not call from his own phone.
A criminal defense attorney named Paul Brenner called Naomi first and requested a meeting at the district attorney's office.
Matthew was prepared to surrender.
He wanted Claire present.
Claire almost refused.
Then she remembered how many people had benefited from speaking around her.
She went.
Matthew sat at a long table with his attorney beside him.
He looked different without the perfect suit.
He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his forearms.
His tie was gone.
There were shadows beneath his eyes.
Claire felt no sympathy.
He looked at the bruise on her cheek.
"I'm sorry."
Claire sat across from him.
"Don't use that sentence to make yourself feel human."
Matthew flinched.
His attorney started to speak.
Matthew raised a hand.
"She's right."
Claire folded her arms.
"Why am I here?"
Matthew placed a sealed phone on the table.
"Victor Sloan."
"What about him?"
"I can prove he financed the entire operation."
"We already have emails."
"Not everything."
Matthew looked toward the prosecutor.
"Victor approached me five years ago."
Claire frowned.
"Before we met."
"Yes."
"He knew who you were."
"He knew who my father was."
Matthew laughed bitterly.
"He knew more about my family than I did."
Claire looked at Rebecca, who stood behind the observation glass with another prosecutor.
"He told you Richid destroyed Samuel."
"He showed me documents."
"Real ones?"
"Some."
"And the rest?"
Matthew looked down.
"Altered."
Claire felt anger rise.
"So you built our marriage on a file someone handed you."
"At first."
"Stop saying at first."
Matthew looked up.
"Why?"
"Because what came later doesn't erase why you came near me."
He nodded slowly.
"I know."
Claire was surprised by the lack of argument.
Matthew continued.
"Victor told me your trust contained the Voss shares."
"They weren't Voss shares anymore."
"I know that now."
"Mom purchased them."
"Yes."
Matthew looked exhausted.
"Julian showed me the original purchase records this morning."
Claire frowned.
"You saw Julian?"
Matthew's attorney spoke.
"Mr. Cross facilitated my client's surrender."
Claire almost laughed.
Julian had remained in the middle of everyone until the end.
Matthew pushed the sealed phone forward.
"Victor arranged the blackout."
"We know."
"He also arranged the transfer attempt during it."
"Using whose credentials?"
Matthew looked at her.
"Rebecca's."
Claire's stomach tightened.
Behind the glass, Rebecca went still.
"Did she know?"
"Not that night."
"How did he have them?"
"She gave him access months ago when they were collecting trust records."
Claire closed her eyes briefly.
Rebecca had not ordered the theft.
But she had handed a weapon to someone she wanted to use against Richid.
Again, intention did not erase consequence.
Matthew leaned forward.
"Victor never wanted me to own Hale Meridian."
"What did he want?"
"The company weakened enough for his fund to buy the debt."
Claire understood.
Matthew had thought he was taking revenge.
Victor had been using him to create a distressed asset.
"You were his weapon."
Matthew's jaw tightened.
"Yes."
"And I was yours."
He looked at her.
"Yes."
There it was.
No excuse.
No romance.
Just the truth.
Claire felt something inside her finally become quiet.
Matthew spoke again.
"I will plead to the financial charges."
His attorney shifted but did not interrupt.
"I will cooperate on Victor."
Claire stared at him.
"What do you want from me?"
"Nothing."
She did not believe him.
Matthew looked at her for several seconds.
"That's not true."
Claire waited.
"I want you to know I didn't intend to hurt you."
Claire's expression hardened.
"You intended to frighten me."
"Yes."
"You intended to isolate me."
"Yes."
"You intended to make me doubt myself."
He swallowed.
"Yes."
"Then you intended harm."
Matthew looked down.
Claire stood.
"The bruise was only the part you could see."
He closed his eyes.
Claire turned toward the door.
The prosecutor opened the sealed phone under a preservation protocol.
A list of encrypted voice notes appeared.
Matthew identified the passcode without bargaining.
The first recording was Victor's voice.
"You don't need Claire to love you," Victor said.
"You need her to doubt everyone else."
Claire felt her stomach tighten.
Matthew stared at the table.
The next voice note was from a year earlier.
Victor told Matthew which therapist Claire had started seeing.
He suggested filing an anonymous complaint if the therapist encouraged separation.
Matthew had followed the suggestion.
Another note instructed him to create small conflicts between Claire and Sarah.
Another advised him to characterize Richid's calls as manipulation.
Claire listened without interrupting.
It would have been easy to let Victor's instructions reduce Matthew's responsibility.
She refused.
"He taught you the method," Claire said.
Matthew nodded.
"Yes."
"But you used it."
"Yes."
"You could have stopped."
"Yes."
The repetition stripped away every excuse.
Matthew's attorney looked increasingly uncomfortable.
Claire continued.
"When did you realize Victor was using you?"
"The night of the board meeting."
"After the blackout?"
"During it."
Matthew rubbed his hands together.
"He sent me a message telling me to keep everyone in the room for ten minutes."
"Why?"
"He said the lender needed time to verify control."
"And you believed him."
"Until I saw the transfer request."
Claire frowned.
"You saw it during the blackout?"
"On a separate secure device."
"You knew someone was trying to move money from my trust."
"Yes."
"And you said nothing."
Matthew looked at her.
"I thought I could stop it after the loan funded."
Claire shook her head.
"There it is again."
"What?"
"You deciding that you can let something terrible happen because you'll control the cleanup."
Matthew closed his eyes.
Claire stood.
"That's the sickness in this family."
She looked through the glass toward Rebecca.
"Everyone thinks control makes consequences temporary."
Then she looked back at Matthew.
"It doesn't."
Matthew spoke one last time.
"Claire."
She stopped but did not turn around.
"Your mother chose thirty-five for a reason."
Claire looked back.
"What reason?"
Matthew shook his head.
"Victor knew, but I never understood it."
"What happens when I'm thirty-five?"
Matthew's expression was strange.
Almost relieved that he could finally give something instead of take it.
"You stop owning thirty-eight percent."
Claire stared at him.
"How much do I own?"
May you like
Matthew answered quietly.
"Fifty-one."
