Chapter 7 - The Mother Who Never Looked Back
Margaret Voss aged ten years in a single second.
Her confidence vanished.
“Sophie.”
“Still remember me?”
The police officers exchanged uncomfortable looks.
Claire stepped onto the porch.
“This is a civil property dispute. We have documents proving we’re beneficiaries.”
Margaret recovered quickly.
“Those papers were invalidated.”
“By forged signatures?”
One officer raised his eyebrows.
Margaret looked at Claire sharply.
“You found the box.”
Claire understood.
“You knew it existed.”
“I knew Peter hid records.”
“And you never found them.”
Margaret stared past her toward Sophie.
“You should have stayed away.”
Sophie laughed.
“You said that when I was nine too.”
Margaret’s face tightened.
The officers decided they were unwilling to become part of a family argument layered over disputed property rights.
One officer said, “Unless someone is in immediate danger, this belongs in civil court.”
Victor had not gotten the removal he wanted.
Margaret waited until the police left.
Then she climbed the porch steps.
Claire blocked the doorway.
“Start talking.”
Margaret looked exhausted.
“You think Peter was a hero.”
“He was my father.”
“He was weak.”
“Did he steal from the trust?”
Margaret said nothing.
“That means no.”
“He made choices.”
“So did you.”
Margaret looked at Sophie.
“Your father destroyed this family.”
Sophie’s voice trembled.
“You told everyone he kidnapped me.”
“He took you without permission.”
“You forced him.”
“I protected Claire.”
Claire stared.
“From what?”
“Poverty.”
The answer was so unexpected Claire almost missed it.
Margaret continued.
“When your grandfather died, the trust controlled almost everything. Peter wanted to preserve it. Victor showed me how much value was trapped inside.”
“So you stole it.”
“I used it.”
“For yourself.”
“For this family.”
Sophie stepped forward.
“What family? The one you split in half?”
Margaret’s mouth hardened.
“You were a child.”
“So you erased me.”
“I let you go with your father because he threatened to expose everything.”
Claire heard the truth hiding inside the sentence.
“You traded Sophie.”
Margaret looked away.
“You traded one daughter to protect the money.”
“No.”
“That is exactly what you did.”
Margaret snapped.
“You have no idea what it was like. Your father was going to destroy every business, every property, everything I had built.”
“With money belonging to us.”
“You were children.”
Claire shook her head.
“That didn’t make it yours.”
For a moment Margaret appeared almost frightened.
Then she turned to Sophie.
“You came for money.”
Sophie looked wounded.
“I came because Dad died believing Claire hated him.”
Claire’s chest tightened.
Sophie continued.
“I came because June deserves to know her family.”
Margaret glanced toward the upstairs window.
“Where is she?”
Sophie moved immediately.
“Don’t.”
Margaret looked surprised.
“She’s my granddaughter.”
“No. Biology does not buy access.”
Claire saw Margaret flinch.
Good.
Margaret lowered her voice.
“Victor is dangerous.”
“Then help us.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
Margaret looked toward the road.
“Because everything is tied together.”
“What does that mean?”
“The trust. My company. Victor’s company. Your house. Daniel’s firm. Retirement accounts. Investors.”
Claire understood slowly.
“If we expose the original fraud, everything collapses.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
Margaret whispered, “More than thirty million.”
Sophie stared.
“You stole thirty million dollars?”
“Over eighteen years, the value multiplied.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Victor moved money. I signed things.”
Claire’s anger gave way to something colder.
“Then testify.”
Margaret laughed sadly.
“You think Victor left the evidence only in your hands?”
“What?”
“He has records too.”
“Of your crimes.”
“And of Daniel’s.”
Claire went still.
“What did Daniel do?”
Margaret looked at her.
“You should ask your husband why Victor gave his firm six hundred thousand dollars.”
Claire knew about the investment.
But not that number.
Margaret continued.
“And ask him why no loan agreement exists.”
Claire felt betrayed all over again.
Sophie stepped closer to Margaret.
“You’re trying to divide us.”
“I’m trying to tell you what happens next.”
“What?”
“Victor destroys anyone who threatens him.”
Headlights appeared at the end of the street.
Margaret turned.
A black SUV.
Her expression changed.
“Go inside.”
Claire almost mocked her.
Then she saw genuine fear.
“Now.”
They rushed inside.
The SUV did not stop.
Instead, something flew from the passenger window.
A bottle shattered against Hawthorne House’s porch.
Liquid spread.
Claire smelled gasoline.
May you like
Sophie screamed.
A second later, flame climbed the railing.
