Chapter 6 - The Woman Richid Never Mentioned
Claire read the final message twice.
AND SOMEONE RICHID HOPED YOU WOULD NEVER MEET.
She looked at her father.
"Who is this?"
Richid shook his head.
"I don't know."
Claire held the phone toward him.
"That answer doesn't work anymore."
Richid's face hardened.
"I said I don't know."
"Then give me a list of people Mom trusted and you didn't."
He stared at her.
"That is not a short list."
Claire almost smiled.
It was the closest either of them had come to humor all night.
Then the laptop on the table made a faint clicking sound.
Claire turned.
The tiny camera light above the screen flashed once.
Then disappeared.
Richid saw it too.
He crossed the room and slammed the laptop shut.
Claire felt a chill move over her skin.
"Matthew can see the room."
Richid unplugged the charger.
"Not anymore."
"How did he get into your computer?"
"It's a Hale Meridian machine."
Claire stared at him.
"Matthew runs legal and information security reviews."
Richid nodded grimly.
"He had administrative access."
Claire looked at her phone.
The anonymous sender had known exactly what was happening.
She typed quickly.
THE LAPTOP CAMERA?
The reply came less than ten seconds later.
YES.
Then another message.
THE ORCHID CAMERA PROVES TONIGHT WAS PLANNED.
Claire's pulse jumped.
"They mean the flowers at the apartment."
Richid looked at her.
"What?"
"There was a hidden camera in the orchids."
His face changed.
"Matthew brought them home today."
"An apology gift."
"For what?"
"Nothing yet."
Richid's expression darkened.
Claire stared at the screen.
"He planned the argument."
"Or planned to record it."
"Why?"
Richid looked at the white envelope containing the proxy documents, which Claire had taken from the apartment before leaving.
"To create leverage."
Claire thought back to the argument.
Matthew had entered the study carrying her mother's estate box.
He had left the lid open.
He had made sure Claire saw the missing documents.
When she confronted him, he had stayed strangely calm until she pulled the papers from his hand.
Then everything escalated.
Now Claire wondered whether even his anger had been staged.
She typed another question.
WHO ARE YOU?
This time the reply took longer.
NAOMI REED.
Richid went pale.
Claire saw it immediately.
"You know her."
Richid did not speak.
"Dad."
"Naomi was your mother's estate attorney."
Claire frowned.
"I thought Julian handled Mom's estate."
"After Naomi left."
"Why did she leave?"
Richid looked at the closed laptop.
"I fired her."
Claire let out a slow breath.
"Of course you did."
"It was complicated."
"Everything becomes complicated the moment you don't want to tell me the truth."
Richid ignored the accusation.
"Naomi believed your mother's trust should become active immediately after her death."
"And you disagreed."
"The company was unstable."
"So you delayed it."
"Legally."
"Did Mom want it delayed?"
Richid said nothing.
Claire laughed softly.
"There it is again."
Her phone vibrated.
MEET ME AT 6:15 A.M.
A location followed.
An all-night diner on West Forty-Eighth Street.
Richid shook his head.
"No."
Claire looked at him.
"I'm going."
"You don't know who sent that."
"You just told me Naomi Reed is real."
"That doesn't mean she's sending the messages."
"Then come with me."
Richid's eyes narrowed.
"She will not talk in front of me."
"That sounds like your problem."
Claire put the flash drive into the inside pocket of her coat.
"Claire, you were in an emergency room less than an hour ago."
"And my husband expects me to sign away my rights by eight."
"We can stop the board meeting."
"Can you?"
Richid hesitated.
Claire saw the truth again.
"You don't control the board anymore."
"Not completely."
"Matthew knew that."
"Yes."
"Naomi knows it too."
Richid sat down slowly.
Claire watched him.
"What did you do to her?"
"Nothing."
"Why does she hate you?"
"Because your mother trusted her with something I believed should have stayed inside the family."
Claire waited.
"What?"
Richid looked at the cane.
"A second version of the trust."
Claire's eyes narrowed.
"There are two?"
"There were two drafts."
"Which one is valid?"
"I don't know."
"That's impossible."
"Your mother signed documents during the final weeks of her life, when she was very ill."
Claire's face hardened.
"Don't you dare suggest she didn't know what she was doing."
"I'm not."
"It sounds like you are."
Richid rubbed his forehead.
"Naomi claimed the final trust stripped me of trustee authority if I concealed any material fact from you."
Claire stared at him.
"You concealed almost everything."
"Yes."
"So if Naomi is right, you don't control my shares."
"Possibly."
"Who does?"
Richid looked directly at her.
"You."
Claire sat very still.
For the first time all night, the fear in her father's face made complete sense.
Matthew wanted her signature because she had power he could not take without consent.
Richid wanted her protected because the same truth could remove his control.
Both men needed Claire to remain uninformed.
Her phone vibrated again.
Naomi sent one last message.
COME ALONE IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY YOUR MOTHER CHOSE YOU OVER BOTH OF THEM.
Claire picked up her coat.
Richid stood.
"You are not going alone."
Claire looked at him.
"For thirty years, every man in my life has decided what I was allowed to know."
May you like
She slipped the cane beneath her arm.
"That ended on the floor tonight."
