Chapter 6 - The ConfessionWe met in a private restaurant.
Daniel arrived alone.
He looked exhausted.
For a moment, I almost remembered the man I married.
Then I remembered the oil.
“You look different,” he said.
“So do you.”
He sat down.
“I want to apologize.”
“No.”
“Claire—”
“Tell me the truth.”
He stared at me.
“I loved you.”
“That's not the truth.”
“I made mistakes.”
“Not the truth.”
He sighed.
Then his voice dropped.
“My mother wanted you gone.”
I said nothing.
“She hated you from the beginning.”
“I know.”
“She thought you were stealing me from her.”
“And you?”
He looked down.
“I let her manipulate me.”
I stared at him.
“You chose her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He finally looked up.
“Money.”
There it was.
The word that explained everything.
“You wanted my father's fortune.”
“Yes.”
“And the insurance?”
“Yes.”
“And the twenty-seven million?”
His eyes closed.
“Yes.”
I felt nothing.
Not anger.
Not sadness.
Only certainty.
“Did you know your mother planned to hurt me?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
“Did you know she was going to pour boiling oil on me?”
He whispered:
“I didn't know it would be that bad.”
I almost laughed.
“You didn't know?”
“I thought she'd scare you.”
“She almost killed me.”
“I know.”
“No, Daniel.”
I leaned closer.
“You don't know.”
He looked frightened.
Then he reached across the table.
“Claire, please.”
I pulled away.
“I'm done.”
I stood.
He grabbed my wrist.
I froze.
He immediately released me.
“Sorry.”
I looked at him.
“That's what you always say after hurting me.”
Then I walked away.
Outside, Detective Harper waited.
“How did it go?”
I handed her the recording device.
“He confessed.”
She smiled.
“Thank you.”
I looked back through the restaurant window.
Daniel was still sitting there.
May you like
Alone.
For the first time, he had nobody left to control.
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