Chapter 7 - The Betrayal Clara Never Told Me About
We spent the next two weeks hunting Victor.
The ledger was copied and handed to investigators.
Northstar's accounts were frozen.
Several officials resigned.
But Victor was still gone.
And he wasn't finished.
One morning, Clara disappeared.
No note.
No message.
Nothing.
I nearly destroyed the house looking for her.
Then I received a photograph.
Clara standing in an underground garage.
Alive.
Victor stood beside her.
A message appeared.
“Come alone.”
I went.
It was a trap.
I knew that.
I went anyway.
Victor stood near a black SUV.
Clara sat on a chair.
Her wrists were tied.
I stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Victor smiled.
“You always were weak where women were concerned.”
“I won't repeat myself.”
He laughed.
“Your father said the same thing.”
“What did you do to him?”
“I gave him a choice.”
“Between what?”
“His life and Thomas Reed's.”
I froze.
“He chose Thomas.”
“What?”
“Your father could have walked away.”
“He didn't.”
“No.”
Victor looked at Clara.
“He tried to save her.”
Clara started crying.
I looked at her.
“You knew.”
“What?”
“You knew Victor had been in contact with your mother.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what did you know?”
“I knew my father left something else.”
I stared.
“What?”
“A second ledger.”
My chest tightened.
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Victor laughed.
“Neither does she.”
“Then why did you take her?”
“Because I knew you would come.”
He stepped closer.
“Bennett, you have no idea how much of your father's empire I built.”
“That's over.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“The paperwork changed.”
He held up documents.
“Control of several major assets is still tied to an old trust.”
I stared.
“My father's trust.”
“Yes.”
“Who controls it?”
Victor smiled.
“Eleanor.”
I felt sick.
“My mother?”
“She has final authority.”
He stepped closer.
“She never transferred it to you.”
“Why?”
“Because she never trusted you with the world your father built.”
The words hurt.
But I understood.
Mother had wanted me out.
Not just out of the business.
Out of the darkness.
I looked at Clara.
“What happens now?”
Victor's expression hardened.
“You sign the trust over.”
“And Clara?”
“She walks.”
“You release her first.”
“No.”
“Then no deal.”
Victor raised the gun.
Clara screamed.
I moved.
Security appeared from the shadows.
Victor's men were disarmed.
He was arrested.
Clara was freed.
Afterward, in the car, she sat silently.
“You lied to me.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you'd think I came back only to use your family.”
I looked at her.
“Did you?”
“No.”
She cried.
“I came here for my father.”
“And stayed?”
She looked at me.
“For your mother.”
Then she whispered:
“And for you.”
I took her hand.
“I don't want there to be any more secrets between us.”
“There is one.”
“What?”
She reached into her coat.
A small flash drive.
My heart sank.
“What is that?”
“My father gave it to my mother.”
“When?”
“Before he died.”
“What is on it?”
“His final message.”
We played it.
Thomas Reed appeared on screen.
He looked tired.
Bruised.
But alive.
Clara covered her mouth.
“Clara.”
Her father looked directly into the camera.
“If you're seeing this, then I'm gone.”
He spoke slowly.
“I need you to know something.”
“I never abandoned you.”
“I never stopped loving you.”
“My death was not your fault.”
Clara sobbed.
Thomas continued.
“Eleanor Hale protected you because I asked her to.”
“Adrian Hale tried to protect me.”
“But the person responsible was Victor.”
Then he looked away.
“There is one more thing.”
He whispered:
“Do not let Bennett inherit my war.”
The video ended.
I stared at the screen.
Clara looked at me.
“He wanted you to have a normal life.”
“I don't know what that is.”
She smiled sadly.
“Neither do I.”
May you like
I reached for her.
“Maybe we learn.”
