Chapter 2 - EAT THIS
The slap came over dinner.
Not the shares.
Not Rachel.
A plate.
Daniel came home late, irritated, and asked where dinner was.
Claire had not cooked.
She had spent the afternoon with Maya making forensic copies of:
the fake consent,
property records,
hotel receipts,
photographs,
emails,
and an encrypted flash drive containing corporate records.
Daniel walked into the dining room.
“Where’s my dinner?”
Claire looked at him.
“I didn’t make one.”
Gloria’s eyebrows rose.
Vanessa laughed softly.
Daniel stared.
Then suddenly slapped Claire across the face.
She crashed against the edge of the table.
“WHERE’S MY DINNER?!”
Claire looked at him in shock.
Gloria pointed toward the kitchen.
“GO COOK!”
Vanessa leaned back.
“Try being useful for once.”
Daniel pointed.
“Twenty minutes.”
Claire slowly stood.
She did not argue.
That disappointed them.
She walked into the kitchen.
Closed the door.
Then opened the hidden drawer beneath the lower cabinet.
Inside:
photographs,
copies of the forged shareholder consent,
hotel invoices,
payment schedules,
and the flash drive.
Then she reached behind a stack of baking sheets.
The red lingerie.
Bra.
Panties.
Bright red lace.
Claire placed everything onto a large silver serving tray.
Documents underneath.
Photographs above them.
Lingerie on top.
Then covered the whole thing with the serving lid.
She looked at herself in the dark microwave door.
One side of her face red from Daniel’s hand.
Tears in her eyes.
She wiped them away.
Then Daniel pounded the dining table.
“CLAIRE! MOVE YOUR ASS!”
Claire carried the covered tray into the room.
Gloria smiled.
“Finally learned your place.”
Claire placed it on the table.
Daniel reached for the lid.
She slapped his hand away.
“What the hell?”
Claire looked directly at him.
“You wanted dinner?”
She gripped the handle.
“Eat this.”
Then ripped the lid away.
Bright red lace.
Photographs.
Documents.
Silver flash drive.
Daniel’s face drained of color.
Vanessa gasped.
Gloria stood.
“Daniel... WHAT IS THAT?!”
Claire lifted the red lingerie with a fork.
“Recognize these?”
Daniel froze.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“Oh my God.”
Not because she recognized Daniel’s affair.
May you like
Because she recognized the lingerie.
She had bought it for Rachel.
