Chapter 6 - THE LAST LIE
“Don't move.”
Natalie's voice echoed through the garage.
Dad immediately stepped in front of me.
Natalie laughed.
“You really haven't changed, have you?”
Dad stared at her.
“You're going to prison.”
“Maybe.”
She looked at Ethan.
“But not alone.”
Ethan slowly raised his hands.
“You don't have to do this.”
“Yes, I do.”
Natalie looked at me.
“You ruined everything.”
I stared at her.
“You burned my house.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“Your mother did.”
I felt my blood run cold.
“You were there.”
“I was.”
“Then why didn't you stop her?”
“Because I wanted the trust destroyed.”
Ryan stepped forward.
“You tried to kill Claire.”
Natalie looked at him.
“I tried to make you choose.”
“Choose what?”
“Her or us.”
Ryan stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Natalie laughed bitterly.
“You were never supposed to love her.”
My stomach tightened.
“You knew Ryan before our marriage.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“My father knew his father.”
She lowered the gun slightly.
“Your marriage was arranged long before you met.”
I stared at Ryan.
He looked broken.
“I didn't know.”
“You knew enough.”
Natalie continued.
“Your father wanted access to the Bennett trust. Ryan was supposed to marry you, gain control, and transfer everything.”
I shook my head.
“But I never gave him control.”
“No.”
She smiled.
“That was the problem.”
Ryan stepped toward her.
“Why did you marry me?”
“I didn't.”
She laughed.
“You think I loved you?”
Ryan looked devastated.
“I thought—”
“You were useful.”
The words destroyed whatever remained between them.
Natalie glanced toward me.
“But then you became useful too.”
“Why?”
“Because you became pregnant.”
I froze.
“I wasn't pregnant.”
She smiled.
“I know.”
“What?”
“You were never pregnant.”
The garage went silent.
Ryan looked at her.
“What are you talking about?”
Natalie looked at me.
“Your doctor was working for us.”
I felt dizzy.
My mind raced back to the medical records, the tests, the appointments.
The miscarriage I thought I had suffered after the fire.
The months of grief.
The doctor's strange insistence that I needed rest.
All of it.
A lie.
I looked at Ryan.
“Did you know?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Natalie laughed.
“Neither did I.”
That made no sense.
Then Ethan spoke.
“She didn't know.”
Everyone looked at him.
Ethan pointed toward Natalie.
“Her father did.”
Natalie's smile disappeared.
“What?”
“Your father had been using the same doctor to falsify medical records for years.”
Dad understood first.
“They needed Claire to believe she had lost a child.”
Ethan nodded.
“So the trust would eventually be redirected.”
I stared at the floor.
My supposed pregnancy had been part of a larger financial manipulation.
But there was one thing I still didn't understand.
“Why tell me now?”
Ethan looked toward the garage entrance.
“Because the person who ordered everything is here.”
A black SUV rolled into the garage.
The rear door opened.
An older man stepped out.
Ryan's father.
Victor Vance.
He looked at his son.
Then at me.
May you like
And smiled.
“You've caused quite a mess, Claire.”
