Chapter 10 - THE VISIT CLAUDIA NEVER ADMITTED
Claudia claimed she went to see Dad about business.
That was plausible.
She had worked for Vale Harbor twenty-two years.
What wasn't plausible was the missing footage.
The camera outside Dad’s study stopped recording for thirty-seven minutes during her visit.
Then resumed when she left.
Someone disabled it.
Julian traced the system access.
Credentials belonged to a Vale Harbor IT administrator.
The same man Claudia promoted six months earlier.
Investigators took over from there.
For the first time, I stepped back.
I wasn't interested in becoming judge, jury and grieving daughter all at once.
I wanted facts.
While they worked, my marriage collapsed in slow motion.
Adrian moved into a furnished apartment.
I asked him to leave.
He did.
No dramatic refusal.
No promises shouted from the hallway.
That almost made it worse.
Three days later, he requested a meeting through my attorney.
I agreed.
Margaret sat nearby.
Adrian looked exhausted.
“Elise, I need to tell you everything.”
I folded my hands.
“Start with Celeste.”
He admitted the affair began five months earlier.
Not because he stopped loving me.
Not because our marriage was unhappy.
Because MorganWell was failing and he was ashamed.
Celeste understood the business crisis.
She didn't ask him to admit failure.
Their old history became comfort.
Then secrecy.
Then betrayal.
I stared.
“You cheated because she made you feel less ashamed?”
“Yes.”
“That might be the saddest excuse I've ever heard.”
“I know.”
Then he told me about Claudia.
She approached him eight months earlier.
Said Vale Harbor could rescue MorganWell.
But only if Adrian helped convince me to support the partnership once Dad’s estate transferred.
“You knew I might inherit control.”
His eyes lowered.
“Not how much.”
“You never asked me.”
“I was afraid you'd think I married you for it.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So you hid it and made yourself look exactly like someone who married me for it.”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
Then came the forged signature.
Claudia told him it was an internal placeholder.
Adrian knew it wasn't legitimate.
But he told himself it would be corrected after I approved the partnership.
He chose not to ask questions because he needed the money.
Again.
Silence as convenience.
Then he placed something on the table.
A handwritten note from my father.
Adrian had stolen it from Project Harborlight the night after the funeral.
My stomach turned.
“You took Dad’s file.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because it mentioned me.”
I opened the note.
Dad had written:
Adrian may not be the architect. Determine whether Claudia is using him.
My eyes filled.
Dad hadn't concluded Adrian was using me.
He was still investigating.
Then Adrian whispered:
“I stole that because I was terrified you'd see it and leave me.”
I stared.
“You made sure I should.”
He nodded.
Then my phone rang.
Margaret answered.
Her expression changed.
“Elise.”
I turned.
“Claudia Vance has disappeared.”
My stomach tightened.
Then Margaret continued:
“And she transferred twenty-six million dollars out of the hidden account before leaving.”
May you like
But the destination wasn't overseas.
It was MorganWell.
