Chapter 5 - What Daniel Had Not Seen
Daniel returned to the hotel.
Claire was still there.
She had changed into a cream sweater and jeans, but her wedding makeup remained faintly visible around her eyes.
Marianne sat near the window.
Richard was gone.
“Where’s your father?” Daniel asked.
Claire’s expression hardened.
“Good morning to you too.”
“Where is he?”
“He had a meeting.”
“On Sunday morning?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Marianne.
She lowered her eyes.
He understood.
“Bennett Urban owes millions.”
Claire froze.
“How much did Mom tell you?”
“This isn’t about Mom.”
“It is always about her.”
“Two-point-three-million-dollar secured loan. Contractor lawsuit for four hundred eighteen thousand.”
Marianne closed her eyes.
Claire whispered, “You looked up my family?”
“Your father submitted a payment method in my name.”
“I told you I didn’t know about that.”
“I believe you.”
Claire blinked.
Daniel continued.
“But somebody created wedding amendments on a computer with your name in the metadata.”
She said nothing.
Daniel took out the printed page Eleanor had given him.
“Did you create this document?”
Claire stared.
“Yes.”
His stomach tightened.
“Did you add my mother’s signature?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“How does her signature get onto a file you created?”
“Dad said he’d handle approvals.”
Marianne looked sharply at Claire.
“Richard?”
Claire turned.
“Mom, don’t.”
“No.”
Marianne stood.
“You told me Eleanor approved the upgrades.”
“She approved the wedding.”
“Not the same thing.”
Claire’s jaw tightened.
Daniel watched the exchange.
Something had shifted.
Marianne knew more than she had said last night.
“What did Richard tell you?” Daniel asked.
Marianne hesitated.
Claire stepped between them emotionally if not physically.
“Do not interrogate my mother.”
“I am asking because your father used my identity.”
“He was trying to keep the wedding running.”
“With a credit card that doesn’t exist?”
Claire frowned.
“What?”
Daniel showed her the authorization.
She read it.
Her confusion looked real.
Then fear followed.
“Where did he get your Social Security information?”
Daniel went still.
The payment form only showed the last four digits.
He had not noticed.
Now he looked.
They were correct.
Marianne whispered, “Oh my God.”
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
“Claire.”
“I didn’t give him that.”
“Who had it?”
“You gave me tax documents for the mortgage preapproval.”
That was true.
Six months earlier, they had considered buying a house after the wedding.
Daniel had sent Claire a folder containing financial documents.
Tax returns.
Brokerage statements.
Identification.
“Where are those files?”
“In our shared drive.”
“Does your father have access?”
“No.”
Claire paused.
“He did use my laptop.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
Daniel stared.
Marianne sat down heavily.
“Richard said he needed to print something.”
Claire looked at her mother.
“You knew?”
“I knew he used your computer. I didn’t know why.”
Daniel felt nausea rise.
“Call him.”
Claire shook her head.
“Daniel.”
“Call him.”
“He won’t answer if you’re standing here.”
“Then put it on speaker without telling him.”
Claire stared.
“That’s insane.”
“So is using my Social Security number.”
Her face twisted.
“Stop acting like I did this.”
“Then help me find out who did.”
Claire looked at her mother.
Marianne whispered, “Call your father.”
Claire dialed.
Richard answered on the fourth ring.
“Sweetheart.”
“Dad, where are you?”
“Handling business.”
“What business?”
A pause.
“The wedding aftermath.”
Claire’s eyes hardened.
“What card did you give the transportation company?”
Silence.
“Claire—”
“Answer me.”
“I was fixing a temporary payment issue.”
“In Daniel’s name?”
“It’s complicated.”
Daniel’s fists tightened.
Claire continued.
“Where did you get his information?”
“Don’t do this over the phone.”
“Did you take it from my computer?”
“Claire.”
“Dad.”
Richard exhaled.
“I was trying to prevent Eleanor from holding every contract over your head.”
Daniel watched Claire absorb the statement.
“You opened something in Daniel’s name?”
“No.”
“Then what was the card?”
“A business facility.”
“Whose business?”
Another silence.
Then Richard said:
“Yours.”
Claire went pale.
“I don’t own a business card.”
“You own half of Claire Bennett Interiors.”
“That company has been inactive for eight months.”
“Not anymore.”
Claire’s lips parted.
Daniel stared.
Richard continued.
“I reactivated it.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I helped establish it.”
“You are not an owner.”
“I had power of attorney for business filings.”
“That expired two years ago.”
Richard’s breathing changed.
“Claire, we need to discuss this privately.”
She whispered:
“How much debt is in my company’s name?”
Marianne stood.
Richard did not answer.
Claire’s voice rose.
“How much?”
Finally:
“One hundred eighty-six thousand.”
Claire dropped the phone.
It struck the carpet.
Daniel did not move.
Neither did Marianne.
From the floor, Richard’s voice continued through the speaker.
“Claire?”
She stared down at it.
The perfect wedding had lasted less than twenty-four hours.
May you like
And already Claire was discovering that while she had been fighting Eleanor for control of her new family, her own father had quietly put a nearly two-hundred-thousand-dollar obligation inside the business carrying her name.
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