Chapter 2 - Ten Minutes Before the Door Opened
Matthew moved first.
Claire had never seen him move with fear before.
His arrogance had always made him slow, deliberate, almost theatrical.
Now he crossed the room in three fast steps.
Claire backed away, gripping the flash drive in one fist and the phone in the other.
"Stay back."
Matthew stopped only when his polished shoe came down beside a jagged piece of crystal.
"You don't understand what you're holding."
"Then explain it."
"Give it to me first."
Claire laughed once, breathlessly.
"You threw me onto the floor and told me to clean myself up."
Matthew's eyes hardened.
"I did not throw you."
Claire stared at him.
He said it so smoothly that for one terrifying instant she almost questioned her own memory.
Then the pain in her shoulder reminded her.
"You shoved me into the table."
"You grabbed my arm."
"Because you were tearing papers out of my hands."
"You lost your balance."
Richid's voice came through the speaker.
"Keep talking, Matthew."
Matthew's gaze snapped toward the phone.
"Are you recording this?"
Richid did not answer.
Matthew's face tightened.
Claire realized he was not only afraid of the flash drive.
He was afraid of being heard.
"Dad, call the police."
Matthew gave her a sharp look.
"Don't."
Claire turned toward him.
"Why not?"
"Because if police come into this apartment tonight, your father will be the first person they arrest."
Claire went still.
"What are you talking about?"
Richid's voice became flat.
"He's lying."
Matthew smiled without humor.
"Am I?"
He looked at Claire.
"Ask him why the state attorney's office has been reviewing Hale Meridian's books for six months."
Claire frowned.
Hale Meridian was the private investment company Richid had built with Claire's mother decades earlier.
Matthew had become its chief legal officer eighteen months after marrying Claire.
Claire owned shares but had never worked inside the company.
She had chosen nonprofit architecture instead, a decision Matthew had always treated as childish.
"Dad?"
"This is not the time."
Matthew's smile widened.
"That's his favorite answer."
Richid's breathing changed on the line.
"Claire, do not let him distract you."
Matthew pointed at the flash drive.
"That drive contains records your mother stole from the company."
Claire looked down at it.
"My mother was dying when she used that cane."
"She was also investigating your father."
Richid's voice cut through the room.
"Matthew."
The single word carried a warning.
Matthew did not stop.
"She found out what he did."
Claire felt the room tilt around her.
"What did he do?"
Matthew took a breath.
"He buried a partnership agreement that would have transferred half the company to another family."
"Whose family?"
Matthew looked directly at her.
"Mine."
Claire stared at him.
The elevator bell sounded beyond the apartment door.
Everyone froze.
Richid spoke quickly.
"Claire, I am three minutes away."
Matthew looked toward the entryway.
"That's not your father."
Claire's grip tightened around the flash drive.
A knock sounded.
Not loud.
Three measured taps.
Matthew immediately straightened his tie.
The transformation was chilling.
In seconds, his face returned to calm professionalism.
"Who is it?" Claire asked.
Matthew did not answer.
He walked toward the door.
Claire stepped in front of him.
"Don't open it."
"Move."
"Who is outside?"
Another three knocks came.
Matthew's voice lowered.
"My attorney."
Claire almost smiled from disbelief.
"Your attorney was already on the way before this happened?"
Matthew said nothing.
That silence told her everything.
"You planned something tonight."
"Claire, move away from the door."
"What did you plan?"
Matthew reached toward her.
Claire raised the phone.
"Touch me again."
He stopped.
The knock came a third time.
Then a man's voice spoke from the hallway.
"Matthew, it's Julian."
Claire knew the name.
Julian Cross had represented Hale Meridian during its ugliest disputes for more than a decade.
He had also been one of Richid's closest friends.
Until six months ago.
Then Julian had abruptly resigned and joined Matthew's private legal team.
Claire had never been told why.
Matthew looked at her.
"This can still be handled quietly."
"Quietly?"
"No police."
"You hurt me."
"And you have no witnesses."
Claire's eyes dropped to the phone.
Matthew followed her gaze.
"A phone call after an argument proves nothing."
Claire thought of the bruise on her face.
The broken glass.
The orchids.
The blood on the floor.
Then she remembered something else.
The apartment's security system.
There were cameras in the hall, elevator lobby, kitchen, and entryway.
Matthew had insisted on installing them after an attempted burglary.
"The cameras."
Matthew did not blink.
Claire's fear deepened.
"You already disabled them."
Matthew finally looked away.
That tiny reaction confirmed it.
Claire looked at the flash drive again.
Her mother had hidden it years before Matthew ever entered Claire's life.
Somehow it had become the one object he wanted most.
The front door suddenly unlocked.
Claire's head snapped around.
Matthew had given Julian a key.
The door opened.
Julian Cross stepped inside wearing a charcoal overcoat and carrying a slim leather briefcase.
His gaze moved from Matthew to Claire on the floor, then to the broken glass.
For a fraction of a second, shock showed on his face.
Then it disappeared.
"Claire," he said softly.
She stared at him.
"You knew."
Julian looked at Matthew.
"I knew there might be a disagreement."
"You brought a briefcase to a disagreement?"
Julian's jaw tightened.
Claire noticed a white envelope tucked beneath one of his hands.
Matthew reached for it.
"Give me the papers."
Claire stepped forward.
"What papers?"
Julian did not answer.
Matthew took the envelope.
Claire saw her own name printed across the front.
CLAIRE HALE VOSS.
Below it was a line in smaller type.
EMERGENCY MARITAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT.
Claire looked from the envelope to Matthew.
"You had divorce papers prepared before you shoved me."
Matthew's face remained expressionless.
"They're not divorce papers."
"Then what are they?"
Julian closed the apartment door behind him.
"A transfer of certain marital and corporate rights."
Claire felt suddenly cold.
"Transfer to whom?"
Matthew answered.
"To me."
The elevator bell rang again.
This time Matthew's expression changed.
Claire knew before anyone knocked.
Her father had arrived.
Richid's voice came through the phone in her hand.
"Open the door, Claire."
Matthew looked at Julian.
Julian looked at the flash drive in Claire's fist.
May you like
And Claire understood something that made her blood run cold.
Everyone in that room knew more about her life than she did.
