The Meridian Hotel looked smaller than Claire remembered.
She had passed it many times as a child.
The building stood between two newer towers, its windows covered with boards and its stone entrance darkened by years of rain.
A faded brass number hung beside the lobby door.
9.
Her father stopped beside her.
“We should be careful.”
Claire nodded.
Richard forced the old door open.
Dust covered the lobby floor.
Their footsteps echoed.
The elevator did not work.
They climbed the stairs.
Room 9 was on the second floor.
The key fit.
Claire turned it.
The lock clicked.
Inside was a narrow room with a desk, a broken lamp, and a wardrobe pushed against the wall.
Nothing else.
Claire looked at her father.
“This is it?”
“Apparently.”
Richard examined the walls.
Her father checked the desk.
Claire opened the wardrobe.
Empty.
She turned around.
Then noticed the floor.
One board sat slightly higher than the others.
She crouched.
“Dad.”
He came over.
Richard pried the board up.
Beneath it was a metal box.
The brass key opened that too.
Inside were three envelopes.
One was addressed to her father.
One to Elliot Crane.
The third simply said:
CLAIRE.
Her hands shook.
She opened hers.
The letter was dated twenty-eight years earlier.
It was from her grandfather.
Claire read slowly.
He wrote that the family trust had not been created merely to protect wealth.
It had been created to protect Claire.
She frowned.
The letter explained that her grandfather had discovered an attempted financial scheme involving several people who had access to family accounts.
One of those people had been Elliot Crane.
Another had been Marlene Hayes.
But the letter said neither had acted alone.
Claire looked at her father.
“Dad.”
He took the letter.
His face hardened.
“What?”
“My grandfather knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That someone would eventually try to get control of the trust.”
Her father read the rest.
Then he sat down.
Claire had never seen him look that tired.
“What does it say?”
He hesitated.
“Your grandfather believed the person behind the scheme was inside the family.”
Claire's heart began beating faster.
“Who?”
The letter did not say.
Instead, it gave instructions.
If the trust was ever challenged, the family was to look for the Meridian records.
Claire turned toward the metal box.
“There are three letters.”
Her father opened his.
He read silently.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
He handed it to Claire.
The letter was from her grandfather to her father.
It explained that he had suspected someone would eventually approach Claire through marriage.
Claire stared at the sentence.
“Through marriage?”
Her father nodded.
The letter continued.
The person responsible might not know the entire history.
They might believe they were simply pursuing money.
That made them more dangerous.
Claire looked at Daniel's photograph.
She suddenly remembered something.
“Daniel knew Marlene before he met me.”
Her father looked up.
“Yes.”
“Then perhaps he wasn't chosen because of me.”
“Claire.”
“Perhaps he was already involved.”
Richard shook his head.
“That's possible.”
The third envelope remained.
The one addressed to Elliot Crane.
Claire opened it.
Inside was a list of names.
Several were crossed out.
Marlene Hayes.
Elliot Crane.
Daniel Whitmore.
Claire stopped.
Daniel's name was there.
But beside it was another name.
Vanessa Whitmore.
Claire stared.
Her father took the paper.
“There's something else.”
Below Vanessa's name was a date.
The date was three months before Claire met Daniel.
Claire remembered that period.
Daniel had told her he was traveling for work.
He hadn't been traveling.
He had been meeting Vanessa.
But why?
They returned to the house shortly after noon.
Daniel was waiting.
He looked exhausted.
“I came to tell you the truth.”
Claire didn't invite him inside.
“Start.”
He swallowed.
“Northbridge wasn't my idea.”
“Whose was it?”
“My mother's.”
“And the money?”
“She convinced me it was temporary.”
“Why?”
“She said there was a debt.”
“What debt?”
Daniel looked at Vanessa.
Claire followed his gaze.
Vanessa was standing near the kitchen.
Claire's pulse quickened.
“Why are you looking at her?”
Daniel shook his head.
“Because she knows.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“I didn't know everything.”
“You knew enough,” Claire said.
Vanessa began to cry.
“I knew Marlene had been planning something for years.”
“What?”
“To get access to the trust.”
Claire felt the room go cold.
Daniel said, “I didn't know until after we married.”
Claire looked at him.
“That's not true.”
He lowered his head.
“I knew there was a plan.”
“How long?”
“Before our wedding.”
Her father turned away.
Claire's voice was quiet.
“Why did you marry me?”
Daniel looked at her.
“I loved you.”
She shook her head.
“That's not the whole answer.”
“No.”
“Then give me the whole answer.”
Daniel finally said it.
“My mother told me if I didn't marry you, she would destroy my sister.”
Vanessa covered her mouth.
Claire stared at her.
“What did she have on you?”
Vanessa couldn't speak.
Daniel answered.
“An old accident.”
The room fell silent.
Claire looked from one sibling to the other.
For the first time, she understood why Vanessa had been afraid.
The marriage had begun with deception.
But perhaps the deception had never been entirely Daniel's choice.
Then her father asked the question nobody had considered.
“What happened in the accident?”
Vanessa looked up.
Her face had gone white.
“I wasn't driving.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: Vanessa Finally Named the Person Behind the Accident, and Claire Realized the Money Was Only One Piece of the Trap
The Seat My Husband Refused Me Became the Smallest Part of What I Was About to Discover
Part 7 of 25
