Chapter 7: The Snow Night
The lock clicked above us.
Claire flinched.
Marcus looked toward the stairwell.
“I didn’t do that.””
“Don’t move,” I said.
“Nathan, listen to me.””
“I’ve listened to you for fifteen years.””
Milo cried from the stroller.
Claire immediately moved toward him.
I stepped aside.
She lifted him against her chest, whispering, “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m here.””
Watching her hold him did something painful to me.
This was Claire.
Not a photograph.
Not a memory.
Not the villain my family had manufactured.
She was alive.
And terrified.
“Tell me what happened in Boston.””
Her eyes met mine.
“Do you really want to know?””
“Every second.””
Marcus took a step forward.
Claire recoiled.
“Stay away from me.””
He stopped.
“I never hurt you.””
“You helped them.””
“I followed orders.””
“You always say that.””
I turned toward him.
“What orders?””
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
Claire answered.
“Seven years ago, I received a message from you.””
“I never sent one.””
“I know that now.””
She shifted Milo higher.
“The message said you had discovered what your mother did and wanted to meet.””
“The hotel.””
“Yes.””
My stomach knotted.
“I remember seeing you outside.””
“You saw me after.””
“After what?””
Claire swallowed.
“We met in your room.””
A fractured image flashed through my mind.
Snow against glass.
Claire’s face.
Her hand against my cheek.
I grabbed the edge of a metal table.
“We talked?””
“For hours.””
“What did you tell me?””
“Everything I knew then. The forged letter. The fake payment. Your mother’s threats.””
“And I believed you?””
“You cried.””
I stared at her.
Claire’s own eyes filled.
“You kept saying, ‘I knew you didn’t leave me.’”
Something inside me broke.
I had spent eleven years believing she chose money over me.
And for one night, I had known the truth.
“What happened after that?””
“You said we were leaving.””
“Leaving?””
“Together.””
Marcus lowered his head.
Claire continued.
“You wanted to confront Eleanor in New York. I begged you not to. You said you were done being controlled.””
A memory struck me.
A suitcase.
My hands throwing clothes into it.
Claire laughing through tears.
Then—
Nothing.
“What happened?””
“Someone knocked.””
Claire looked at Marcus.
“He was standing outside.””
Marcus spoke quietly.
“I told Nathan his mother had suffered a heart attack.””
I stared at him.
“My mother never had a heart attack.””
“No.””
“You lied.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Eleanor needed you separated from Claire.””
My hands shook.
“You could have refused.””
“I should have.””
Claire laughed bitterly.
“You did more than lie.””
Marcus looked at her.
“I didn’t know what was in the drink.””
My skin went cold.
“What drink?””
Claire answered.
“You poured Nathan whiskey.””
Marcus’s face tightened.
“Eleanor told me it would calm him down.””
“And you believed that?””
“I was security, Claire. Not a doctor.””
“What happened after I drank it?””
“You became confused,” she said.
My breathing shortened.
“You could barely stand.””
Another fragment returned.
The carpet moving beneath my feet.
Claire screaming my name.
Hands pulling us apart.
“I tried to reach you,” Claire said.
“Marcus held me back while another man took you downstairs.””
“Who?””
“I didn’t know then.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“I did.””
I turned toward him.
“Who?””
“Thomas Vale.””
Silence.
“Thomas?””
“He was waiting in the garage.””
“Why?””
“Because Eleanor called him.””
Claire shook her head.
“That’s not all.””
Marcus looked at her sharply.
“What do you mean?””
“Thomas came back.””
Marcus frowned.
Claire held my gaze.
“After they took you, I stayed in the room. I was terrified. About an hour later, Thomas returned alone.””
“What did he want?””
“He gave me money.””
My stomach dropped.
“How much?””
“Two million dollars.””
The same amount from the records my mother later showed me.
“He told me to disappear.””
“Did you take it?””
“Yes.””
The word hurt even after everything I knew.
Claire saw it.
“I took it because Thomas told me Eleanor would destroy my family if I didn’t.””
“Then the transfer was real.””
“Yes. But I never spent it.””
“What happened to the money?””
“I used it to run.””
I nodded slowly.
That wasn’t betrayal.
It was survival.
“And Lucy?””
Claire looked down at Milo.
“I found out I was pregnant six weeks later.””
My chest tightened.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“I tried.””
“How?””
“Letters. Emails. Calls.””
“I received nothing.””
“I know.””
She looked toward Marcus.
He shook his head.
“I didn’t intercept those.””
“Then who did?””
Before Claire could answer, a speaker above us crackled.
A man laughed softly.
Claire went rigid.
“Daniel.””
The voice filled the underground room.
“Hello, Mother’s favorite son.””
I stared upward.
“Where are you?””
“Close.””
“What do you want?””
“The evidence Anna gave Claire.””
Claire shouted, “I don’t have it!””
“You’ve been saying that for months.””
Milo began crying again.
Daniel’s voice softened.
“Bring my son to the east tunnel, Claire.””
“No.””
“He belongs with me.””
“You abandoned him.””
“You stole him.””
“You left him in a hospital.””
Silence.
Then Daniel said, “Nathan, ask her why.””
I looked at Claire.
“Why what?””
“Why did Daniel leave Milo?””
Claire’s face changed.
“Don’t.””
“Tell him,” Daniel said.
I stepped toward her.
“Claire?””
Her lips trembled.
“Because Anna didn’t die from childbirth complications.””
The room seemed to shrink.
“What happened?””
Claire stared at the floor.
“She was killed.””
Marcus straightened.
“By who?””
Claire looked directly at him.
“You.””
Marcus went pale.
“That’s a lie.””
“I saw the report.””
“What report?””
“The one Daniel has.””
The speaker crackled with laughter.
“Finally.””
Marcus stepped toward Claire.
“I never met Anna Vale.””
Daniel’s voice came again.
“Oh, yes, you did.””
Then a metal door across the platform unlocked with a heavy clunk.
Claire backed away.
Marcus reached beneath his jacket.
I grabbed his wrist.
“No.””
“Nathan, we don’t know what’s behind that door.””
“I know exactly what’s behind it.””
The door slowly opened.
A man stepped through.
Tall.
Dark-haired.
Maybe forty-five.
His eyes found mine.
My mother’s eyes.
My eyes.
Daniel smiled.
“Hello, little brother.””
May you like
Then he raised one hand.
He was holding my father’s missing wedding ring.
