Claire Changes Sides
Chapter 14 - Claire Changes Sides
Claire sat alone in the bridal suite while an officer stood outside.
The room smelled of roses and hairspray. Her bouquet lay on the floor where she had dropped it. On the mirror, someone had written MRS. CROSS in lipstick before the ceremony.
Claire took a tissue and wiped away the word CROSS.
She left MRS.
It seemed honest. She had become nobody’s wife, but she was still responsible for what she had chosen.
Daniel entered after Rosa allowed him five minutes.
Claire looked at him through the mirror. “You should hate me.”
“I don’t have time.”
That hurt more than hatred.
“Where was Emma transferred?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You knew Owen visited her.”
“He showed me the photograph because he wanted me to understand the stakes. He said if Emma returned, she would expose the fraud and Daniel Cross would spend the rest of his life trying to rebuild what she destroyed.”
“She built Beacon.”
“I know that now.”
Claire opened a makeup case and removed a folded hotel receipt. On the back was a string of numbers.
“I copied this from Owen’s phone last week. I thought it was an account number.”
Daniel studied it. “Coordinates.”
“Are you sure?”
“Rescue grid format.”
The numbers pointed to an airfield near the Maine coast, forty miles from North Harbor.
Claire’s eyes filled. “I did not know he moved her.”
“You locked Mia in a basement.”
“I know.”
“You let me stand at an altar while you planned to take my foundation and send my daughter away.”
“I know.”
“Stop saying that like knowing is punishment.”
Claire flinched.
Daniel lowered his voice. “Why did you help him?”
“My father left debts. My mother turned fear into a family tradition. Owen offered a way out.” She looked down at her dress. “Then I met you, and every day I told myself I would confess tomorrow. Tomorrow is a wonderful place for cowards.”
Daniel folded the receipt.
Claire reached for a small silver flash drive on the vanity. “This contains copies of Owen’s messages and the trust documents. I began collecting them after he threatened Mia.”
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
“You had three weeks.”
“I know.”
He looked at her until she corrected herself.
“I was afraid.”
“That is true. Keep that answer.”
Claire handed him the drive. “There is one more thing. The airfield belongs to a company registered to Evelyn.”
Daniel turned toward the door.
Claire stood. “Daniel.”
He stopped but did not look back.
“I did care about Mia.”
May you like
He answered quietly. “Then spend the rest of your life proving it somewhere she never has to see.”
He left her in the bridal suite, still wearing the dress she had chosen for a future that no longer existed.
