Chapter 7 - Claire Before Claire
I drove back to the mansion with the photograph on my lap.
Claire had told me we met at a charity gala seven years ago.
That was a lie.
She had been inside my daughter’s life years earlier.
By the time we reached the house, police had moved Claire into the formal sitting room for questioning.
I walked in and dropped the photograph on the table.
“Tell me when we first met.”
Claire stared at it.
“Ethan—”
“When?”
Her shoulders lowered.
“At the hospital.”
I felt the room tilt.
“I don’t remember you.”
“You weren’t there.”
“Then why were you?”
She sat down slowly.
“Your mother hired me.”
“For what?”
“To take Lena.”
Lena stood behind me with Rachel and Mara.
Claire saw her and began crying.
“I was twenty-four. My mother had medical debt. Evelyn offered to pay everything if I became Lena’s legal guardian on paper.”
“Why you?”
“Because I had no connection to the Cole family. No one would look at me.”
“And five years later you married me.”
Claire nodded.
I laughed without humor. “That wasn’t an accident either, was it?”
“No.”
Lena whispered, “You married him so you could keep watching me.”
Claire looked at her. “At first, yes.”
“At first?”
“I didn’t expect to love him.”
I stepped back as if she had slapped me.
Claire tried to stand.
Marcus stopped her.
She said, “Ethan, I know what I did. I know there’s no excuse. But the agreement changed after your father died. Daniel took control. He said if I told you, he’d move Lena somewhere I’d never find her.”
“You hurt her.”
Claire broke.
“I know.”
“You made her wash dishes until her hands shook.”
“I know.”
“You locked her away when guests came.”
Tears ran down Claire’s face.
“Because your mother would arrive without warning. If Evelyn saw Lena near you, Daniel said he would take her that same night.”
Rachel stepped forward.
“You expect us to believe abuse was protection?”
“No.” Claire shook her head. “I’m telling you I became the thing I thought I was preventing.”
Mara’s phone buzzed.
She read the message and looked at me.
“The police searched Daniel’s house.”
“And?”
“They found a room filled with photographs of Lena.”
My skin went cold.
Mara continued.
May you like
“Some were taken yesterday.”
