Chapter 9 - The Meeting
Claire watched Nathaniel on the screen, feeling the floor drop beneath her.
The blood.
The surgery.
The desperate confession.
It was all a meticulously choreographed performance.
She slammed the laptop shut.
Her mind raced, trying to piece together the fractured reality she was trapped inside.
If Nathaniel faked the shooting, then Evelyn was never trying to kill her.
Evelyn was part of the act, or she was entirely set up to take the fall.
The unknown number texted her again.
"Meet me in the hotel parking garage. Level B3. Come alone."
Claire looked at the bedroom door where Maya was sleeping.
She locked the penthouse doors from the inside and took the private elevator down to the basement.
The garage was damp, smelling of old oil and cold concrete.
The fluorescent lights flickered violently.
Claire stepped out of the elevator, her heels clicking loudly.
A figure emerged from the shadows behind a concrete pillar.
It was David Vance, the journalist.
His face was bruised, and he walked with a severe limp.
“You survived,” Claire breathed.
“Barely.”
David handed her a thick manila envelope.
“I told you Nathaniel was dangerous, Claire.”
“He faked the shooting to force me into the marriage contract,” she said.
“He didn't just fake the shooting.”
David coughed violently.
“He fabricated the syndicate.”
Claire stared at him in disbelief.
“What do you mean.”
“There is no dangerous mob coming for Evelyn.”
David leaned against a parked car for support.
“Nathaniel created a fake shell company to bankrupt the Rothwells.”
“He wanted to ruin them.”
“Why.”
“Because Arthur Rothwell discovered how Nathaniel really built his empire.”
David pointed to the envelope.
“It is all in there.”
“He used his charity to launder stolen assets, and he needed a perfect, naive wife with a clean background to act as the legal shield.”
“He chose me because I am a nobody.”
“He chose you because you are a mother.”
David looked at her with deep pity.
“A mother will do absolutely anything to protect her child, even take the fall for a billionaire’s crimes.”
Suddenly, the harsh glare of headlights blinded them.
A black SUV accelerated from the far end of the garage, the engine roaring.
It was heading straight for David.
“Look out.”
Claire dove behind a concrete pillar.
The SUV slammed into David, throwing his body over the hood.
The car didn't stop.
It smashed through the security barrier and disappeared into the night.
Claire crawled over to David’s broken body.
May you like
He pressed his bloody phone into her hand.
“Show the world,” he choked out, before his eyes went blank.
