Chapter 4 - THE HOUSE WE BUILT
Daniel didn't move for several seconds.
“Are you hit?”
“No.”
He checked anyway.
My arms.
My shoulders.
My face.
“Daniel.”
“I'm checking.”
“You're bleeding.”
A piece of glass had cut his cheek.
Nothing serious.
Outside, the private investigator's SUV roared away in pursuit of the shooter's car.
Daniel got up and locked the door.
Then he closed the curtains.
“What did you drag me into?”
He stared at me.
“I tried to keep you out.”
I laughed.
“You forged my name onto ten million dollars of debt.”
“I know.”
“You cheated on me.”
“I know.”
“You stole my mother's pearls.”
His face tightened.
“I didn't steal them.”
“Interesting defense.”
“I intended to return them.”
“After putting them around your mistress's neck?”
He looked ashamed.
Good.
He should.
“I told Lauren they belonged to my mother.”
“So she said.”
“She wanted jewelry for the dinner.”
“And you gave her mine.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
He sat on the old fireplace hearth.
For the first time, Daniel Harrison looked small.
“I don't know.”
“That isn't good enough.”
“I wanted her happy.”
“Why?”
He rubbed his face.
“Because she made me feel like I wasn't failing.”
There it was.
Not love.
Vanity.
“When did you start sleeping with her?”
“Eleven months ago.”
My stomach twisted.
Almost a year.
“Where?”
He looked away.
“Daniel.”
“Hotels.”
“Our house?”
He didn't answer.
My voice broke.
“Our house?”
“Twice.”
I slapped him.
His head turned.
Neither of us spoke.
“I deserved that.”
“Yes.”
I stepped away.
“You told Ellie I embarrassed her.”
His face crumpled.
“I was angry.”
“At a child.”
“At myself.”
“Then learn the difference.”
He nodded.
I hated that part of me still recognized his expressions.
The crease beside his mouth when he was scared.
The way he pushed his wedding ring with his thumb when nervous.
Twenty-two years does not disappear because truth arrives.
It simply makes truth hurt more.
“Tell me about Richard.”
Daniel stared at his hands.
“My father started helping with company financing after Ellie was born.”
“You diluted me before that.”
“Right after.”
“Why?”
“We couldn't get a bank loan.”
“That is not what you told me.”
“I know.”
“You said the company was doing well.”
“I lied.”
“How badly?”
“We were six weeks from shutting down.”
I sat.
I hadn't known.
While I'd been home recovering from an emergency C-section, Daniel had been watching the company collapse.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“You had postpartum depression.”
I went still.
“I had postpartum depression for four months.”
“You weren't sleeping.”
“I had a newborn.”
“You cried every day.”
“Because I had postpartum depression.”
“I thought if I told you—”
“What?”
“You'd break.”
I stared at him.
“I didn't break.”
“I know that now.”
“No.”
My voice sharpened.
“You knew it then. You just didn't want to admit you needed me.”
He looked away.
His silence was confirmation.
“What did Richard offer?”
“Two million dollars.”
“For my shares?”
“For control.”
“And Patrick forged my signature.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
That hurt worse than discovering it.
He hadn't accidentally benefited.
He had participated.
“Did you actually receive two million?”
“Initially.”
“What happened afterward?”
“Dad started using us.”
“For what?”
“Projects.”
“What projects?”
“Land purchases. Materials. Subsidiaries.”
“Fake subcontractors?”
His eyes lifted.
“You've seen the records.”
“Yes.”
“Then you know.”
“I know numbers. I want you to say it.”
Daniel swallowed.
“My father was moving money through the company.”
“Whose money?”
“I didn't ask at first.”
“And later?”
He hesitated.
“Developers. Political donors. Cash-heavy businesses.”
“Money laundering.”
“I never saw proof.”
“You deliberately didn't look.”
“Yes.”
At least he finally answered honestly.
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
“Millions?”
“Yes.”
“Ten?”
“More.”
My hands shook.
“And Lauren?”
“She joined three years ago.”
“I know when she joined.”
“Dad hired her.”
“I thought you hired her.”
“He told me to.”
“To watch you?”
“Eventually.”
Daniel stood and paced.
“Three months ago, I told Dad I wanted to clean everything up before the anniversary. Sell questionable subsidiaries. Pay back loans. Restore your shares.”
I laughed bitterly.
“How generous.”
“I know.”
“After fourteen years.”
“I know.”
“And after eleven months sleeping with the woman he hired to spy on you.”
He flinched.
“Yes.”
“Why would Lauren spy on you if she was your mistress?”
“Because those two things aren't mutually exclusive.”
That sentence made me feel sick.
“Did she love you?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you love her?”
Daniel looked at me.
“No.”
I hated that his answer brought relief.
It shouldn't have mattered.
But betrayal is not logical.
“Then why destroy us?”
“I didn't think I was destroying us.”
I stared.
He laughed bitterly at himself.
“I know how insane that sounds.”
“It sounds worse than insane.”
“I thought I could separate everything.”
“Your wife.”
“My mistakes.”
“Your mistress.”
“My father.”
“Our company.”
He looked around the empty house.
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“Now everything collided.”
A phone vibrated.
Not mine.
Daniel pulled a second phone from his pocket.
“Who has that number?”
“Only one person.”
He answered.
“Lauren?”
I stiffened.
Her voice was loud enough for me to hear.
“They know.”
Daniel turned pale.
“Where are you?”
“Parking garage.”
“Whose?”
“Mercy Hospital.”
“Why are you at a hospital?”
Lauren started crying.
“I couldn't go through with it.”
Daniel's face changed.
“Go through with what?”
“I thought I could.”
“Lauren.”
“I thought if I fixed it before Richard found out—”
She sobbed.
Daniel looked at me.
“What?”
Then she said the words that made my entire body numb.
“I'm pregnant.”
Daniel shut his eyes.
I stopped breathing.
Lauren continued.
“Almost twelve weeks.”
The room became silent except for her crying through the phone.
Daniel looked at me.
“I didn't know.”
I believed him.
Unfortunately.
Lauren whispered, “Richard does.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“What?”
“He found out last week.”
“How?”
“I told him.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought he'd help me.”
“Help you do what?”
Her voice became smaller.
“Leave.”
Daniel frowned.
“Leave where?”
“The company. Chicago. All of it.”
She inhaled shakily.
“He said I couldn't.”
“Why?”
“He said the baby changed things.”
My blood turned cold.
“What does that mean?” Daniel asked.
Lauren started crying harder.
“He said if it's a boy, he finally has what he needs.”
Daniel looked completely lost.
“What?”
Lauren whispered something.
I leaned closer.
“What did she say?”
Daniel put the call on speaker.
Lauren repeated it.
“Richard said Ellie was the wrong heir.”
The wrong heir.
My daughter.
Something inside me changed.
This was no longer about marriage.
Or money.
Or humiliation.
This was about my child.
I walked toward the phone.
“Lauren.”
Silence.
Then, “Claire?”
“Listen carefully.”
“I am so sorry.”
“I don't care right now.”
That wasn't entirely true.
But apologies could come later.
“Is Richard with you?”
“No.”
“Does he know where you are?”
“Probably.”
“Do you have a car?”
“Yes.”
“Do not go home.”
“Where should I go?”
Daniel started to answer.
I stopped him.
“Lauren, do you trust me?”
A broken laugh.
“Why would you help me?”
“I'm not helping you.”
I looked at Daniel.
“I'm protecting the baby from a man who just called my daughter the wrong heir.”
Silence.
Then Lauren whispered, “Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“I trust you.”
“Drive to St. Anne's police station. Park directly in front. Stay in your locked car. I'm sending someone.”
Robert could arrange protection.
Maybe police.
Maybe lawyers.
Whatever it took.
We ended the call.
Daniel stared.
“You just protected my mistress.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
My voice was cold.
“I protected a pregnant woman from your father.”
Then my phone rang.
Robert.
The private investigator had lost the shooter's car.
But he'd gotten part of the license plate.
And there was something else.
“Claire,” Robert said, “we found out who owns the vehicle.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Who?”
Robert hesitated.
“Harrison Custom Homes.”
Daniel went white.
I whispered, “Your father used our company car to shoot at us?”
“No.”
Daniel looked genuinely confused.
“That fleet was sold.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“To whom?”
He stared at me.
May you like
Then his face changed.
“Lauren.”
