Chapter 14: The Offer
I didn't meet Claire alone.
I wasn't stupid enough to give her that.
Rebecca arranged everything through attorneys.
Neutral location.
Witnesses.
Every communication documented.
Claire hated those conditions.
Which was exactly why I insisted on them.
The next afternoon, I walked into a conference room downtown with Rebecca and Daniel beside me.
Claire was already sitting there.
Seeing her for the first time hurt.
She had my mother's eyes.
Not exactly.
But enough.
Same shape.
Same dark lashes.
For one dangerous second, grief tried to turn her into someone familiar.
Then she smiled.
And the illusion disappeared.
“Charlotte.””
I sat across from her.
“Claire.””
She flinched.
“You could call me Aunt Claire.””
“No.””
Rebecca placed her folder on the table.
“We're here to discuss your involvement in the attempted transfer.””
Claire smiled.
“You attorneys always make everything sound criminal.””
Rebecca didn't smile back.
“I choose words carefully.””
Claire looked at me.
“You've surrounded yourself with people who profit from frightening you.””
Daniel leaned back.
“Eleanor said you would say that.””
Claire's expression hardened.
Good.
My mother was still in the room too.
Not as a ghost.
As preparation.
I folded my hands.
“Why did Mom buy Canyon Ridge?””
Claire studied me.
“Straight to business.””
“Yes.””
“She bought it because she wanted to leave your father.””
My heart skipped.
Dad hadn't come with us.
Suddenly I was glad.
“When?””
“Before she became ill.””
I looked at Daniel.
He didn't react.
Claire continued.
“Eleanor wanted somewhere she could raise you alone.””
“Why?””
“Ask Michael.””
“I'm asking you.””
Claire smiled.
“Your father made mistakes.””
“What mistakes?””
“Financial ones.””
I thought of Dad signing Vanessa's documents without reading them.
That weakness wasn't new.
Claire leaned closer.
“He nearly destroyed your parents financially once.””
Daniel finally spoke.
“That is not accurate.””
Claire glared at him.
“He lost money.””
“Yes. In a business investment.””
“How much?”” I asked.
Daniel answered.
“Enough to frighten Eleanor. Not enough to destroy them.””
Claire shrugged.
“She stopped trusting him afterward. That's why she bought Canyon Ridge separately.””
The truth hurt.
But it also made sense.
My mother hadn't built protections because she predicted Vanessa.
She had learned that love and financial trust were not the same thing.
“She wanted me to have somewhere nobody could take away.””
“Yes.””
For once, Claire sounded sincere.
I looked down.
That was the real inheritance.
Not luxury.
Safety.
A door nobody could lock me out of.
My eyes burned.
Vanessa had threatened me with homelessness while I unknowingly possessed the exact refuge my mother created to prevent that.
Rebecca brought us back.
“Why were you involved with Derek Lawson?””
Claire smiled.
“Because he contacted me.””
That surprised me.
“When?””
“Last year.””
“Why?””
“He was researching Bennett assets.””
Daniel's jaw tightened.
Claire continued.
“He found my name in old records. I told him what I knew.””
“In exchange for what?””
Her smile faded.
“A percentage.””
“How much?””
“Twenty.””
Rebecca wrote it down.
“Twenty percent of what?””
“The profit after redevelopment.””
There it was.
Simple greed.
No complicated family tragedy.
No misunderstood inheritance.
Money.
“You helped impersonate me.””
Claire shrugged.
“I introduced Derek to Nicole.””
“Did you know what she would do?””
Claire looked toward the window.
“Yes.””
Rebecca stopped writing.
That single answer changed the room.
Claire seemed to realize it too late.
“You understand you've just admitted knowledge of the impersonation?””
She smiled again, but the confidence was weaker.
“I said I knew Nicole.””
“No. You said you knew what she would do.””
Claire stood.
“This meeting is over.””
I remained seated.
“You wanted to tell me something.””
She stopped.
“About Canyon Ridge.””
Her shoulders tightened.
I continued.
“But there isn't anything else, is there?””
She turned.
“You brought me here because you wanted the documents from box seventeen.””
Claire said nothing.
“You were hoping I would trade them.””
Still nothing.
“For the truth about my mother.””
Her face hardened.
“You think you're clever.””
“No.””
I looked at her.
“I think my mother was.””
That landed harder than anything else I could have said.
Claire picked up her purse.
“You're exactly like her.””
For the first time, I smiled.
“Thank you.””
She left.
Rebecca waited until the door closed.
Then she exhaled.
“That went better than expected.””
I looked at her.
“She admitted knowing about Nicole.””
“Yes.””
“Is that enough?””
“It's evidence. Along with everything else, it's significant.””
Daniel's phone buzzed.
He checked it.
Then frowned.
“What?””
“Michael.””
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?””
“He wants us back at the house.””
“Why?””
Daniel read the message again.
“Vanessa has packed.””
I stood.
“She's leaving?””
“Yes.””
But Daniel wasn't finished.
“And she found something in Derek's files.””
I waited.
He looked up.
“A payment ledger.””
“Payments to whom?””
Daniel's expression darkened.
“Claire.””
Rebecca closed her folder.
“How much?””
“Enough to prove she wasn't just advising them.””
I already knew the answer.
“She was financing it.””
Daniel nodded.
Claire hadn't merely joined Derek’s plan.
May you like
She had funded the attempt to take my estate.
And now Vanessa finally had the evidence that could expose all of them.
