Chapter 8 - WHAT JANET REED KNEW
The official cause of Janet Reed’s death had been a cerebral aneurysm.
Emma had never questioned it.
There had been scans.
Doctors.
A death certificate.
A funeral.
Grief so overwhelming that asking whether someone had caused it would have seemed insane.
Now she sat inside a federal office staring at a twelve-year-old statement written in her mother’s hand.
“If anything happens to me…”
Emma whispered the words.
Nathan stood beside the table.
“What evidence do you have?”
Evelyn answered carefully.
“Not enough to say Janet was murdered.”
Emma looked up sharply.
“You just showed me that.”
“I showed you that your mother was afraid of Victor Hale.”
“Why?”
“Because she saw his associate stealing from Nathan’s company.”
“Twelve years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And she died eleven months after writing that statement.”
“Yes.”
Emma’s eyes burned.
“Why didn’t anyone investigate?”
“The statement never reached law enforcement.”
Nathan frowned.
“Where was it?”
“In sealed archives belonging to Nathan’s father.”
Nathan stared.
“My father knew?”
“He hired a private investigator after Janet reported the breach. Hale’s name surfaced indirectly. Then your parents died.”
Nathan’s face changed.
Emma saw the same thought enter both of them.
“No,” Evelyn said immediately.
“We have no evidence Hale had anything to do with your parents’ accident.”
Nathan said nothing.
Emma placed her palms against the table.
“So my mother helped his father.”
“Yes.”
“And his father paid her anonymously.”
“Yes.”
“And after his parents died, nobody knew why those records existed.”
“Correct.”
Nathan sat slowly.
The past was rearranging itself around them.
Two families.
Connected without knowing.
His father had quietly rewarded Janet.
Janet had quietly protected Nathan’s company.
Years later, her daughter had walked into Nathan’s mansion wearing worn shoes and carrying no idea that their lives had crossed long before.
Emma wiped her face.
“What happened to my mother?”
Evelyn met her gaze.
“We reopened the medical file this morning.”
“And?”
“There were irregularities.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“What kind?”
“Her aneurysm was real.”
Emma exhaled.
Then Evelyn continued.
“But toxicology showed a substance in her blood that can dangerously elevate blood pressure.”
Emma stared.
“What substance?”
“A prescription stimulant.”
“My mother didn’t take stimulants.”
“We’re confirming.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Nathan moved instinctively toward her, then stopped.
She reached for his hand.
He froze.
Emma did not look at him.
She simply needed something solid.
Nathan wrapped his fingers around hers.
Evelyn watched without comment.
“We believe Hale may have been blackmailing or monitoring Janet after the original incident,” she said.
“Why wait eleven years to care?” Emma asked.
“Because the case looked natural until Hale’s current network gave us reason to reexamine earlier associates.”
Emma’s grip tightened around Nathan’s hand.
“So Claire connected him back to us.”
“Yes.”
The irony was vicious.
Claire had tried to remove Emma.
Instead, she had revived the trail Janet left behind.
That afternoon, the federal operation changed.
Nathan would continue publicly pretending to reconcile with Claire.
Emma would remain hidden.
Hale would be allowed to believe the wedding plans were proceeding.
The ceremony was now twelve days away.
Nathan hated every second.
Claire returned to the Silver Ridge estate under tightly controlled conditions.
She believed Nathan’s anger was softening.
He allowed her to believe it.
Their conversations were recorded.
Their movements watched.
The hardest part was behaving as though Emma no longer mattered.
Claire noticed his restraint.
“You haven’t asked about her.”
They sat in the conservatory.
Nathan held a glass of whiskey he had no intention of drinking.
“Who?”
Claire smiled.
“The maid.”
“Emma has moved on.”
Claire studied him.
“Have you?”
Nathan looked directly at her.
“I’m trying to decide whether there is anything left to save between us.”
The answer was ambiguous enough to satisfy her.
Claire reached for his hand.
Nathan forced himself not to recoil.
“I made mistakes.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I panicked.”
“You planted jewelry on an employee.”
“I was jealous.”
“You hit her.”
Claire looked down.
“I hated what I saw between you.”
“There was nothing between us.”
“Maybe not then.”
Nathan’s eyes sharpened.
Claire noticed.
“So there is now.”
He stood.
“Careful.”
She smiled faintly.
“I knew it.”
Nathan walked toward the window.
“Why does Emma frighten you?”
Claire’s expression darkened.
“Because she looks at me like she’s better than me.”
“No.”
Nathan turned.
“She looks at you like she can see you.”
Claire went pale.
Nathan knew he had gone too far.
He softened his tone deliberately.
“I need honesty if this wedding is going to happen.”
Claire stared.
There it was.
The phrase Hale needed.
If this wedding is going to happen.
Claire swallowed.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything about Ridgeview.”
She hesitated.
Nathan waited.
Finally, Claire whispered, “Adrian borrowed money.”
“How much?”
“More than I knew.”
“From Hale?”
Claire’s eyes widened.
Nathan saw it.
She had not expected him to know the name.
“Yes.”
“What does he want?”
“Repayment.”
“From my accounts.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“My mother will lose everything.”
Nathan remained cold.
“Your mother losing houses does not justify stealing from me.”
“I know.”
“Does Adrian?”
Claire looked away.
Nathan asked the question Evelyn had prepared.
“What happens after the wedding?”
Claire went completely still.
“What do you mean?”
“Adrian kept pushing for authorization afterward.”
“I don’t know.”
“Claire.”
“I don’t.”
Nathan believed that part.
Which frightened him more.
Because if Claire did not know the full plan, Hale had his own.
The wedding venue was the western terrace of Nathan’s estate.
A beautiful location overlooking Blackstone Canyon.
A thousand-foot drop beyond reinforced stone and steel barriers.
Two hundred guests.
Media.
Private security.
Chaos.
A perfect place for something to go wrong and look accidental.
Nathan left the conservatory.
Later that night, Claire called Adrian from her room.
Federal microphones captured every word.
“Nathan knows about Hale.”
Adrian cursed.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then we move faster.”
“The wedding is still happening.”
“Are you sure?”
“He said if it’s going to happen, he needs honesty.”
Adrian laughed with relief.
“Good.”
Claire lowered her voice.
“Victor scares me.”
“He scares everyone.”
“What exactly happens after I sign?”
A pause.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Adrian.”
“Claire.”
“What happens?”
The line went quiet.
Then Adrian said, “You become Mrs. Nathan Cole.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Just get him to the wedding.”
“And then?”
Adrian whispered something so softly the microphone barely captured it.
But it did.
“We won’t need his cooperation afterward.”
Claire stopped breathing.
“What does that mean?”
Adrian hung up.
For the first time, Claire understood.
Nathan was not supposed to survive the marriage.
She sat in darkness for nearly ten minutes.
Then dialed Victor Hale.
He answered.
“Claire.”
“What are you planning?”
Silence.
“What did Adrian mean?”
“You should focus on your wedding.”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“You said this was about financial access.”
“It is.”
“Does Nathan get hurt?”
Hale chuckled.
“People get hurt every day.”
Claire began shaking.
“I won’t do it.”
“You already did.”
“I’ll tell him everything.”
“No, you won’t.”
“Watch me.”
Hale’s voice changed.
“Open your messages.”
Claire did.
A photograph appeared.
Her mother leaving a grocery store.
Another.
Adrian asleep in his apartment.
Then a third.
Emma Reed entering the secured timber house.
Claire stared.
“How did you find her?”
“We find everyone.”
Hale spoke softly.
“If you warn Nathan, your mother dies first.”
Claire covered her mouth.
“Then Adrian.”
She began to cry.
“And after that,” Hale continued, “I will make certain every news outlet receives evidence showing that Emma Reed helped you steal from Nathan.”
Claire whispered, “She didn’t.”
“I know.”
The line went dead.
Claire sat alone in the dark.
For the first time in her life, the person she hated most was no longer Emma.
It was herself.
The next morning, Nathan received an anonymous message.
COME TO THE OLD GREENHOUSE AT 11 P.M.
COME ALONE.
I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING.
He showed Evelyn.
She approved surveillance.
At 10:58 that night, Nathan entered the abandoned greenhouse beyond the north gardens.
Claire stood inside.
No coat.
No makeup.
Terrified.
Nathan stopped.
“What are you doing?”
She walked toward him.
“We can’t get married.”
He stared.
“Hale plans to kill you.”
Nathan said nothing.
Claire searched his face.
“You knew.”
He did not answer.
Her mouth fell open.
“You knew.”
“Some of it.”
“You’ve been using me.”
Nathan’s voice hardened.
“You forged my signature and tried to steal millions.”
“I know.”
“You attacked people.”
“I know.”
Claire began sobbing.
“I know!”
Nathan had never seen her cry like this.
Not elegantly.
Not for effect.
Ugly, broken tears.
“He’ll kill my mother.”
“We can protect her.”
“You can’t.”
“We already moved her.”
Claire stopped.
“What?”
Nathan had acted after the recorded call.
Federal agents had quietly relocated Claire’s mother six hours earlier.
Claire stared at him.
“And Adrian?”
“Missing.”
Her face collapsed.
Nathan stepped closer.
“Help us find him.”
Claire looked toward the windows.
“I don’t know where he is.”
“Think.”
“I don’t—”
A red laser dot appeared on Nathan’s chest.
Claire saw it first.
Her eyes widened.
“Nathan!”
She slammed into him.
Glass exploded.
A bullet tore through the greenhouse wall.
Nathan hit the ground.
Claire fell beside him.
Federal agents surged from the trees.
Another shot cracked through the night.
Nathan rolled behind a stone planter.
“Claire!”
She did not answer.
He looked down.
Blood spread across her shoulder.
Claire stared up at him.
“He knows,” she whispered.
Nathan pressed his hand over the wound.
“Stay awake.”
She grabbed his sleeve.
“The cliff.”
“What?”
Claire’s face had gone white.
“The wedding.”
“What about it?”
“Hale told Adrian something months ago.”
Her breathing became shallow.
Nathan leaned closer.
“What?”
May you like
Claire whispered:
“He said the easiest deaths are the ones everyone watches happen.”
