Chapter 8 - The Betrayal
Claire left the house before dawn.
She refused to let Ethan follow.
Detective Reed drove her to a safe location.
For the first time in hours, Claire allowed herself to cry.
Ethan had helped someone.
But why?
The answer came when Reed showed her a series of bank transfers.
Ethan had been sending money to an account connected to Vanessa.
For three years.
Claire stared at the records.
“He was paying her.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To keep her silent.”
“About what?”
Reed handed her a photograph.
It showed Claire and Lily leaving a doctor's office.
The date was six months earlier.
Claire remembered that appointment.
Lily had been tested for a rare genetic condition.
The results had been normal.
But the photograph proved someone had been following them.
Reed explained the terrifying possibility.
Someone believed Lily had inherited something from Claire's father.
Something valuable enough to kill for.
Claire suddenly remembered the red box.
The missing letter.
The memory card.
Her mother's voice.
All of it connected.
The evidence wasn't about money.
It was about a secret hidden in Claire's family history.
Then Ethan arrived.
He looked exhausted.
Claire refused to speak to him.
He said only one thing.
“I never meant for you to get hurt.”
Claire turned.
“Who did you think was going to hurt me?”
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
“Vanessa.”
Claire froze.
“She wanted you to believe she was protecting you,” he said. “But she was the one who started this.”
“Why?”
“Because she needed something from Lily.”
Before Claire could respond, the safe house door opened.
Vanessa stood outside.
Blood covered her sleeve.
She looked at Claire.
“I never wanted your daughter.”
May you like
Then she pointed at Ethan.
“I wanted him to tell you what he did.”
