Chapter 3 - MY MOTHER’S NAME
My mother had been dead for twenty years.
At least, that was what I believed.
Her name was Rebecca Bennett.
She died when I was fourteen.
Car accident.
Rainy highway.
Wrong turn.
That was the story.
So when Evelyn said Daniel had married me because of my mother, I almost laughed.
Instead, I stared at her.
“What does my mother have to do with this?”
Evelyn didn’t answer.
Police entered the ballroom.
Daniel immediately transformed.
His rage vanished.
His shoulders relaxed.
His voice became calm.
Professional.
“My family is being harassed by an unstable woman.”
Evelyn laughed.
Dad muttered.
“There’s the politician in him.”
Two officers approached.
One recognized Daniel.
That worried me.
Daniel knew everyone.
Then another man entered behind them.
Gray suit.
Federal badge.
“Daniel Whitmore?”
Daniel’s expression changed.
The man showed his identification.
“Special Agent Marcus Reed.”
Charles swore under his breath.
Agent Reed looked toward Evelyn.
“Ms. Carter.”
She nodded.
“You made it.”
“I told you I would.”
That was when I understood.
Evelyn hadn’t simply walked into my birthday party.
She had planned this.
Agent Reed had been waiting nearby.
Daniel looked around the room.
“This is ridiculous.”
Reed answered.
“Then you won’t mind answering some questions.”
“I want my attorney.”
“Probably wise.”
Reed looked at Charles.
“You should call yours too.”
Margaret sat down.
For the first time that night, she looked old.
I turned back toward Evelyn.
“My mother.”
She studied me.
“Not here.”
“Tell me.”
“Claire.”
“Tell me.”
She glanced at Dad.
Something passed between them.
I saw it.
Recognition.
My blood went cold.
“You know her.”
Dad looked away.
“Dad?”
Evelyn whispered.
“Thomas.”
He closed his eyes.
That was enough.
I stepped backward.
“You knew she was alive?”
“No.”
“But you know who she is.”
Dad nodded.
“From a long time ago.”
My hands started shaking.
“What the hell is happening?”
Daniel suddenly laughed.
We all looked at him.
Even covered in frosting, surrounded by police, he smiled.
“You really want to know, Claire?”
Dad turned sharply.
“Daniel.”
“What?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Daddy never told you?”
“Shut your mouth.”
Daniel smiled wider.
“Your mother wasn’t killed in some random car accident.”
Dad moved toward him.
I grabbed Dad.
“No.”
Then I faced Daniel.
“Finish.”
Daniel’s eyes glittered.
“She was investigating my father.”
Everything inside me stopped.
Evelyn spoke softly.
“Rebecca was an accountant.”
I knew that.
“She worked for a logistics company.”
“No.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“She worked for Whitmore Holdings.”
I stared at Dad.
He couldn’t meet my eyes.
“You lied to me.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
Evelyn answered.
“From them.”
She pointed toward the Whitmores.
Then she told me the truth.
My mother had discovered the first evidence of Charles Whitmore’s financial crimes twenty years earlier.
She had copied documents.
She planned to take them to federal investigators.
She never made it.
Her car went off a bridge.
The police called it an accident.
Dad never believed them.
But he couldn’t prove otherwise.
Then, six years later, Evelyn discovered the same network of shell companies.
And the Whitmores tried to kill her too.
I looked at Daniel.
“You knew who my mother was when you met me.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Daniel.”
His silence answered me.
Our first meeting flashed through my mind.
A charity dinner.
He had bumped into me near the bar.
Or I thought he had.
He knew my name before I introduced myself.
I had thought it was charming.
It had been research.
Our first date.
Our engagement.
Our marriage.
All of it suddenly felt contaminated.
“Why?”
My voice broke.
Daniel stared at me.
Then Charles said something quietly.
“Because Rebecca hid the ledger.”
Dad turned.
“What ledger?”
Charles realized his mistake.
Evelyn smiled.
“There it is.”
Agent Reed looked interested.
“What ledger?”
Charles said nothing.
Evelyn faced me.
“Your mother copied everything.”
“Accounts.”
“Payments.”
“Names.”
“Judges.”
“Politicians.”
“Police officers.”
“Companies.”
“She hid the evidence before she died.”
I felt sick.
“And Daniel thought I knew where it was?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He didn’t just think you knew.”
She looked at my wedding ring.
“He thought your mother left it to you.”
I slowly looked down at the ring Daniel had placed on my finger seven years earlier.
Platinum.
Diamond.
Inside the band was an engraving.
R + T.
I had always assumed Daniel had bought an antique ring.
Dad stared at it.
Then his face went white.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Take that ring off.”
I pulled it from my finger.
Dad held out his hand.
He examined the engraving.
His breathing changed.
“That was your mother’s.”
The room seemed to tilt.
Daniel had proposed to me with my dead mother’s ring.
And never told me.
Dad looked inside the band again.
Then he noticed something.
A tiny groove.
He pressed his thumbnail against it.
The inner band clicked.
A hidden compartment opened.
Something tiny fell into Dad’s palm.
A brass key.
Daniel’s face went blank.
Evelyn whispered.
“Oh my God.”
I looked at the key.
Fourteen years of murder.
Twenty years of lies.
And somehow my mother had hidden the answer inside the ring Daniel gave me.
Then Dad turned the key over.
May you like
A number was engraved on the back.
Daniel suddenly lunged for it.
