Chapter 6 - AMELIA WAS NOT THE WOMAN CLARA EXPECTED
Amelia Vaughn called Clara at 1:06 a.m.
“I need to talk.”
Clara almost hung up.
Then Amelia said:
“Maribel is going to blame everything on me.”
They met at a twenty-four-hour diner.
No glamour.
No hotel room.
No Edmund.
Amelia looked exhausted.
She placed a phone on the table.
“I was sleeping with your husband.”
Clara appreciated the lack of euphemism.
“How long?”
“Fourteen months.”
That hurt.
Clara kept her face still.
“Did you know he planned to accuse me?”
Amelia hesitated.
“Yes.”
Clara stood.
Amelia grabbed the edge of the table.
“I didn’t know until last week.”
Clara remained standing.
“Why not tell me?”
“Because Edmund promised me he was leaving you.”
“That excuse belongs in a cheaper story.”
Amelia flinched.
“Fair.”
Then she unlocked her phone.
Messages.
Edmund to Amelia:
Once Clara is out before the vesting date, the trust stays clean.
Another:
Mother has Daniel handled.
Another:
If Clara contests, we use the foundation file.
Clara’s chest tightened.
“What foundation file?”
Amelia looked sick.
“A fabricated reimbursement trail.”
They planned to accuse Clara of misusing charitable funds if she challenged the adultery claim.
Clara sat back down.
Edmund had built layers.
Public shame.
Trust forfeiture.
Financial accusation.
All designed to make her leave fast and defend herself badly.
Then Amelia said:
“There’s one more thing.”
She slid over a photograph.
Maribel meeting with Clara’s private investigator three weeks earlier.
May you like
The man Clara had hired to watch Edmund.
Her own investigator had been compromised.
