Chapter 9 - WHY CLAUDIA REALLY STAYED CLOSE TO ME
Claudia asked to meet.
Rebecca advised against meeting alone.
So we arranged it in a conference room at her law office.
Claudia arrived wearing no makeup.
She looked exhausted.
For fifteen years, she had known how to enter any room of my life without knocking.
Now she stood near the door like a stranger.
“I’m sorry.”
I said nothing.
She sat.
“Camila, I know there’s no excuse.”
“Then don’t give me one.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I loved him.”
“For nine years?”
Her head snapped up.
“How do you—”
“Lucia exists.”
Claudia’s face collapsed.
She started crying.
I felt nothing.
Maybe eventually I would.
Not then.
“How long?”
She wiped her cheeks.
“Almost ten years.”
Ten.
I had been wrong even about nine.
“Why stay my friend?”
Her answer came quietly.
“At first, because I was ashamed.”
“And later?”
She didn’t answer.
“Later, Claudia.”
“Alejandro said staying close to you made everything easier.”
There it was.
Not friendship.
Access.
She knew when I traveled.
When I was sick.
When I argued with Alejandro.
When I considered investments.
When my father became ill.
Claudia had been gathering information inside my life while calling herself my best friend.
“Did you impersonate me at the notary?”
She started crying harder.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Alejandro said it was temporary paperwork.”
“Did you read it?”
“No.”
“You signed my name without reading it?”
“I was scared he’d leave me.”
I stared at her.
“You forged my signature because you were afraid my husband would stop sleeping with you.”
She covered her face.
For once, the sentence sounded as ugly as the act.
Then I asked about CV Legacy Partners.
Her reaction changed.
Fear.
“You know about that?”
“Yes.”
“Alejandro said you agreed.”
“Obviously I didn’t.”
“He showed me drafts.”
“Did he promise you part of it?”
Silence.
“Claudia.”
“Five percent.”
I laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because after fifteen years of friendship, she had priced me.
Five percent.
Then she said something unexpected.
“He promised Lucia more.”
“I know.”
“He said everything he was doing was for the children.”
“What about your baby?”
Her face changed again.
“The baby is Alejandro’s.”
“Are you sure?”
She looked offended.
“Yes.”
I didn’t care.
Then Claudia leaned forward.
“There’s something you don’t know about Gregory.”
“What?”
“He and Alejandro stopped working together last year.”
That surprised me.
“Why?”
“Gregory wanted out.”
“Out of what?”
“I don’t know everything.”
She hesitated.
“But Alejandro was furious.”
According to Claudia, Gregory began refusing calls after discovering how much documentation had been forged.
“He told Alejandro things had gone too far.”
“Where is Gregory now?”
Claudia looked at Rebecca.
“Nobody knows.”
My stomach tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“He disappeared four months ago.”
Rebecca immediately began checking.
Gregory Lane had not disappeared officially.
His office told clients he retired suddenly for health reasons.
His house had been sold.
His phone disconnected.
No forwarding address.
May you like
Then Claudia whispered:
“Alejandro told me Gregory went somewhere he could never cause trouble again.”
