Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN DANIEL CHOSE
Luka moved us before sunset.
Not to his home.
Not to a hotel.
To a private medical apartment hidden inside a building he owned near the river.
Two armed guards stood outside.
I hated everything about it.
I hated needing protection.
I hated being afraid.
Most of all, I hated that Luka made me feel safer than my own husband ever had.
At 9:17 p.m., my phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered.
“Where is my daughter?”
I almost laughed.
“You gave permission for strangers to take her.”
“That isn't what happened.”
“I saw your signature.”
“They told me it was a specialized evaluation.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Silence.
Then another voice came through the phone.
His mistress.
Vanessa.
“Claire?”
I sat upright.
“What do you want?”
“Daniel lied to me too.”
Daniel shouted in the background.
“Vanessa, shut up!”
She ignored him.
“He told me you were leaving him.”
I looked at Luka.
He was listening.
Vanessa continued.
“He told me the baby wasn't his.”
My chest tightened.
“Why?”
“Because someone showed him a DNA report six months ago.”
I couldn't breathe.
“What report?”
“A report saying he couldn't be the father.”
Daniel grabbed the phone.
“Claire, listen.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“You had six months to tell me.”
“They threatened me.”
“Who?”
Daniel hesitated.
Luka took the phone.
“Who threatened you?”
Daniel went silent.
Luka said one name.
“Victor Moretti?”
I looked at him.
Daniel whispered, “You already know.”
Luka's face became stone.
“Where is my uncle?”
“Luka—”
“Where?”
“The old Moretti laboratory.”
The call ended.
I stared at him.
“You have an uncle?”
“Unfortunately.”
“And he runs M-17?”
“He ran Moretti Biomedical after my father died.”
“What happened to the company?”
“I destroyed it.”
“Apparently not enough.”
Luka turned toward his guards.
Then Vanessa called again.
This time she was crying.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Daniel ran.”
“Let him.”
“No, listen to me.”
Something crashed behind her.
“He left his laptop.”
“And?”
“I found emails.”
Her breathing became frantic.
“He wasn't just paid to leave you.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What else did he do?”
“He gave them access to your house.”
I looked at Luka.
Vanessa continued.
“They've been collecting things.”
“What things?”
“Your hair.”
“Your medication.”
“Your toothbrush.”
“And there are pictures of you sleeping.”
Cold spread through me.
Then Vanessa started screaming.
A man's voice shouted.
The phone hit something.
“Vanessa?”
No answer.
“Vanessa!”
May you like
A gunshot exploded through the speaker.
Then silence.
