Chapter 8 - MARK'S FATHER
Claire played the recording four times.
Then she called Rachel.
Rachel listened in stunned silence.
“Mark’s father?”
“That’s what Gregory said.”
Rachel sounded shaken.
“If Gregory is Mark’s biological father…”
Claire completed the thought.
“Then you and Mark are half-siblings.”
The implications were staggering.
For years, Lorraine had presented the Bennett family as rigidly traditional.
Family loyalty above everything.
Blood above marriage.
Claire almost laughed at the hypocrisy.
Apparently, Lorraine had spent decades hiding the truth about her own children.
Dana had heard only part of the conversation before Gregory noticed her.
Then chaos erupted.
Lorraine demanded Dana delete the recording.
Dana refused.
Mark appeared.
Gregory left.
Lorraine locked herself in her room.
Then Mark began calling Claire.
She answered on the fifth attempt.
“What?”
“Did Dana send you something?”
“Yes.”
“Delete it.”
“No.”
“Claire, this has nothing to do with our marriage.”
“You made your mother’s secrets part of our marriage when you used my financial identity to fund them.”
“I didn’t know that was why she needed money.”
Claire paused.
“What do you mean?”
Mark cursed.
Too late.
“Why did she need money?”
“She said someone was threatening her.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Gregory?”
“No.”
“How much did she say she needed?”
Mark didn’t answer.
Claire’s mind moved quickly.
The credit lines.
The transfers.
The investments that didn’t make sense.
Maybe some of the money had never been investments.
“Was Lorraine being blackmailed?”
“I don’t know.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Silence.
Then Mark finally admitted it.
“She said somebody had information that could destroy our family.”
Claire stood at the window of her Florence hotel.
“How long ago?”
“Three years.”
The same time Lorraine had written that Claire was “the cleanest option.”
Suddenly the entire scheme looked different.
Maybe Lorraine hadn’t simply stolen Claire’s money because businesses were failing.
Maybe she had been desperate for cash.
“What information?”
“She never told me.”
“Did you help her access my money?”
Mark’s voice broke.
“I thought we would put it back.”
Claire closed her eyes.
There it was.
Finally.
Not an excuse.
An admission.
“How much did you take?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“You always know numbers, Mark.”
“Claire…”
“How much?”
His answer was almost a whisper.
“Over a million.”
Claire’s eyes opened.
Everything she had discovered so far totaled less than that.
“There are more accounts.”
Mark said nothing.
“Mark.”
He began crying.
And for the first time, Claire heard genuine fear.
“Mom made me promise never to tell you about the trust.”
Claire’s heart thudded.
May you like
“What trust?”
“The one your father left you.”
