Chapter 2 - THE RAIN BEHIND THE GATES
Claire did not put it down.
That was the moment everything escalated.
Victoria crossed the library quickly.
Claire stepped backward.
“Dad left this for me.”
“You do not know when he wrote it.”
“My name is on it.”
“That does not make the contents safe.”
Claire laughed in disbelief.
“Safe for who?”
Matthew appeared in the doorway behind Victoria.
His eyes moved once to the envelope in Claire’s hand.
Then to Victoria.
Then to the security men approaching from the hall.
That look told Claire more than anything anyone said.
The envelope mattered.
A lot.
Victoria held out her hand.
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“Your father was sick in the final months.”
“He had heart disease.”
“He had paranoia.”
Claire stared at her.
There it was.
A new version of a dead man.
“He thought people were manipulating company records,” Victoria continued. “He accused senior executives without evidence. He hid documents from the board. He trusted outside investigators over his own family.”
Her eyes flicked toward Matthew.
Claire noticed.
“You mean him.”
Matthew said nothing.
Claire looked at him.
“Did my father hire you?”
“Yes.”
Victoria snapped, “This is not the time.”
Claire looked back at her mother.
“That means it is exactly the time.”
One of the security men stepped closer.
Claire backed toward the side door leading from the library to the terrace.
Victoria said, “Do not make this theatrical.”
Claire looked down at the envelope.
Then at the two men.
Then back at Victoria.
“You brought security into a room because I’m holding a letter from Dad.”
“They are here because you are agitated.”
Claire smiled in disbelief.
“Of course. There it is.”
“What?”
“The word you needed.”
Victoria’s expression went still.
Agitated.
Unstable.
Emotional.
Confused.
A record being created.
Claire opened the terrace door and ran.
Rain hit her like a wall.
She kicked off her heels after six steps because the stone path was too slick. The silver dress clung instantly to her legs. Wet hair slapped across her face.
Behind her, Victoria shouted:
“CLAIRE! COME BACK!”
Claire kept running.
Two men came after her.
Not Matthew.
The security men.
That mattered.
She did not know why yet.
She cut across the east lawn, through the garden gate, and toward the long private drive.
The envelope was shoved beneath the front of her dress, pressed against her skin to keep it dry.
Her bare feet hit gravel.
Pain shot through both heels.
She kept going.
“Claire!” Victoria screamed from behind. “STOP!”
One of the men was gaining.
Claire reached the main gate.
Closed.
Locked.
Of course.
She veered instead toward the service road that ran along the outer wall.
Headlights appeared through the rain.
A black luxury sedan.
Claire ran straight into the road.
The sedan braked hard in front of her.
She slammed both hands against the passenger window.
“PLEASE! HELP ME!”
The glass lowered.
Matthew Cole was inside.
His face changed instantly when he saw her bruised cheek, wet hair, and bare feet.
“GET IN!”
Claire opened the rear door and threw herself inside.
Matthew pulled her across the seat.
The sedan accelerated away.
Through the rear window, Bennett Manor receded into rain and darkness.
Victoria became smaller.
Then nearly invisible.
Claire collapsed against the leather seat.
“Thank God…”
For three seconds, she believed she had escaped.
Then the driver spun the wheel.
The sedan made a sharp U-turn.
Claire looked up.
The mansion was getting closer again.
“No.”
Matthew looked toward the front.
The driver said nothing.
Claire’s relief turned to horror.
“No! Why are we going back?!”
She grabbed the door handle.
Locked.
She pulled again.
Nothing.
“LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT!”
Matthew grabbed her around the shoulders and pulled her away from the door.
Claire screamed and fought him.
“DON’T TAKE ME BACK THERE!”
“Claire—”
“LET GO OF ME!”
She struck his arm.
Tried to twist free.
Reached again for the handle.
Matthew held her firmly as the sedan turned through the mansion gates.
Victoria was already standing beneath the front portico waiting.
Claire saw her and became hysterical.
“NO! PLEASE!”
The car rolled directly toward the steps.
Matthew restrained Claire as she desperately reached for the door.
Then, close to her ear, beneath the sound of rain and tires, he whispered:
“If you jump from this car, you break your neck. If I fight the driver now, Victoria burns everything downstairs.”
Claire froze for half a second.
“What?”
Matthew’s grip loosened slightly.
“Your father left evidence in this house.”
The sedan stopped.
CLICK.
The locks released.
May you like
Matthew looked straight ahead and whispered one final sentence before the door opened.
“Make them think I brought you back willingly.”
