Chapter 3 - THE PASSWORD
Mark had once told Claire that marriage meant there should be no secrets.
Apparently, that rule had only applied to her.
Claire returned to her hotel and opened the secure folder where she kept years of business records.
She searched the date Elena had given her.
Chicago.
Three-day conference.
Mark had stayed home.
Claire remembered calling him from her hotel room on the second night.
He had sounded distracted.
“Everything okay?” she had asked.
“Just catching up on paperwork.”
Now that harmless sentence felt poisonous.
Mark called again.
Claire answered.
“Did you use my computer while I was in Chicago last year?”
A pause.
Too long.
“For what?”
“Answer the question.”
“I might have.”
“To create financial authorization credentials?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Mark.”
His breathing changed.
“Claire, you’re letting lawyers turn this into something it isn’t.”
“What is it, then?”
“My mom was trying to build a family investment portfolio.”
“With stolen access?”
“Nobody stole anything.”
“Then why was my signature used without me?”
Silence.
Claire closed her eyes.
“Did you give Lorraine my password?”
“No.”
“Did you give Gregory Pike access?”
“No.”
“Did you know Pike was Lorraine’s ex-husband?”
Another pause.
Claire almost smiled.
“There it is.”
“Claire…”
“You knew.”
“I knew they had history.”
“History?”
“I didn’t know they were still connected financially.”
Still connected.
Claire caught the wording immediately.
“You knew they were connected personally.”
Mark cursed under his breath.
Then the line went dead.
An hour later, Elena sent another discovery.
Security logs from Claire’s business platform showed the fake authorization had been created at 11:43 p.m.
The IP address matched Claire’s home.
But the device fingerprint wasn’t her desktop computer.
It was Mark’s laptop.
Claire stared at the report.
For the first time, there was direct evidence linking Mark to the unauthorized access.
Priya called.
“This changes the situation.”
“How much?”
“A lot.”
“Can Mark explain this away?”
“He can try.”
Claire looked out at Paris glowing after sunset.
“What do you need from me?”
“Nothing tonight. Enjoy your dinner.”
Claire laughed.
“You’re serious?”
“Completely. They created the chaos. You don’t have to live inside it.”
Claire followed the advice.
She went downstairs.
Ordered dinner.
Turned her phone face down.
Then, halfway through dessert, a message arrived from an unknown number.
I know what Lorraine did with your money.
Claire stared at it.
A second message appeared.
But the Arizona house isn't the real reason she needed it.
Then a photograph loaded.
Claire nearly dropped her phone.
It showed Mark standing outside a private medical clinic beside a woman Claire had never seen.
May you like
The timestamp was eight months old.
And the woman beside him was visibly pregnant.
