Chapter 8: Claire’s Last Recording
William looked from Isabella to Marcus.
"Then who was?""
Marcus didn't answer.
Isabella pressed a hand against her mouth.
She looked as if she wanted to pull the words back.
William stepped toward her.
"Who was driving the sedan?""
"William...""
"Say the name.""
Richard suddenly moved.
"Enough.""
William turned.
His father stood beside the fireplace, shoulders slumped.
"Father?""
Richard looked twenty years older than he had an hour earlier.
"Stop asking her.""
A terrible understanding moved across William's face.
"No.""
Richard said nothing.
William stared at him.
"No.""
Charlotte looked toward her grandfather.
Emma gently guided the child farther away.
William's voice cracked.
"You?""
Richard closed his eyes.
Isabella began crying.
"It wasn't supposed to happen that way.""
William looked at her.
"What wasn't?""
"The crash.""
Marcus snapped, "Shut up.""
Daniel immediately stepped between Marcus and the others.
"No one is leaving.""
Marcus pointed at Isabella.
"She's panicking. She doesn't know what she's saying.""
Isabella laughed bitterly.
"You told me this would never come back.""
"Stop talking.""
"You promised me!""
William stared at them.
"Promised you what?""
Marcus said nothing.
Isabella did.
"That Thomas was gone.""
Daniel's expression sharpened.
Richard lowered himself into a chair.
William looked at his father.
"Tell me.""
Richard rubbed both hands over his face.
"I followed Claire that night.""
"Why?""
"Marcus called me.""
William turned toward Marcus.
Marcus's eyes became cold.
Richard continued.
"He said Claire had taken confidential financial documents.""
"She was exposing theft.""
"I didn't know that then.""
"You burned the originals.""
"Afterward.""
William stared at him.
"That's supposed to make it better?""
"No.""
Richard looked toward Charlotte.
"I have lived with what I did every day.""
William's voice dropped.
"Claire didn't get every day.""
Richard flinched.
William stepped closer.
"Did you cause the crash?""
"No.""
"Did you hit her car?""
"No.""
"Then what happened?""
Richard swallowed.
"We followed them. I wanted Claire to stop. I wanted the documents back.""
"And Isabella?""
Richard looked at her.
"Marcus told me she could convince Claire to cooperate.""
William almost couldn't speak.
"So you put the woman I would later marry in a car to chase my wife?""
"I didn't know you would marry her.""
"That's your defense?""
Richard had none.
Daniel spoke quietly.
"What happened when you pulled alongside?""
Richard stared at the floor.
"Isabella called Claire.""
William looked at her.
"You threatened Charlotte.""
Isabella shook her head frantically.
"I never intended to hurt Charlotte.""
"You used my baby to frighten her mother.""
"I told Claire that if she went public, William might lose custody while everything was investigated.""
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"You told her they would call her unstable.""
Isabella looked away.
"Marcus said it would make her come home.""
William turned toward Marcus.
"You designed this.""
Marcus remained silent.
Suddenly Charlotte spoke.
"Mommy talked in Bunny.""
Everyone looked at her.
William crouched.
"What did you say?""
Charlotte held up the torn rabbit.
"Mommy talked in Bunny.""
Emma frowned.
"Maybe she means a recording.""
Margaret's eyes widened.
"The voice box.""
William looked at her.
"What?""
"Claire had that rabbit customized when Charlotte was born. It could play a recorded bedtime message.""
William took Bunny carefully.
The stuffing had spilled out, but something hard remained beneath the fabric near the back.
Emma found a tiny zipper hidden beneath the fur.
Inside was a small plastic module.
And behind it, taped against the casing, was a memory card.
Marcus moved.
Daniel caught his arm.
"Don't.""
Marcus pulled away.
"That belongs to the Sterling family.""
William looked at him.
"I am the Sterling family.""
Emma found an adapter in the gallery's presentation cabinet while William retrieved a laptop from the gala control station.
Nobody spoke as the memory card loaded.
Three files appeared.
CLAIRE_1.
CLAIRE_2.
FOR_WILLIAM.
William clicked the last one.
Static filled the gallery.
Then Claire's voice came through the speakers.
William stopped breathing.
"William, if you're hearing this, I couldn't get the truth to you myself.""
Charlotte looked toward the laptop.
"Mommy.""
William covered his mouth.
Claire continued.
"Marcus has been moving foundation money for years. Your father discovered part of it, but Marcus convinced him exposure would destroy Sterling Holdings.""
Marcus stared at the screen.
Claire's recorded voice trembled.
"Isabella helped Marcus access my files. She has been feeding him information from inside the house.""
William looked at Isabella.
She lowered her head.
Then Claire said something none of them expected.
"But the stolen money isn't the real secret.""
William leaned closer.
"The transfers were payments.""
Daniel frowned.
"Payments for what?""
Claire's recording answered.
"I traced them to doctors, private investigators, and one employee at St. Vincent's Hospital.""
William went still.
That was where Claire had died.
The recording continued.
"I thought Marcus was stealing from the foundation. I was wrong. He was paying people to hide something that happened years earlier.""
Richard slowly stood.
"What?""
Claire's breathing was audible through the speakers.
Then came her final warning.
"William, ask your father about the night your mother died.""
Richard staggered backward.
William stared at him.
"My mother?""
The recording crackled.
"Her death wasn't natural.""
Marcus suddenly lunged for the laptop.
Daniel grabbed him.
William slammed the screen shut before Marcus could reach it.
Security rushed forward.
But over the confusion, Richard whispered something that silenced the entire room.
"Claire found out about Evelyn.""
William turned toward his father.
Richard's eyes filled with horror.
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Then he said:
"And if Marcus knows she recorded this, Charlotte is still in danger.""
