Chapter 4 - THE REUNION HAD ANOTHER PURPOSE
Daniel finally stopped asking to visit.
Instead, he sent one message.
YOU NEED TO KNOW WHY MOM WANTED YOU AT THE REUNION.
I almost deleted it.
Rebecca told me not to.
So I replied:
Why?
His answer came ten minutes later.
Because Thomas was coming.
I stared.
Dad was beside the window.
“You were already going to the lake house?”
He nodded.
“Marcus and I had a preliminary meeting with Whitmore that afternoon.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
“I didn’t know it was Evelyn’s reunion.”
Dad had been invited for a 4:30 private financing discussion.
Daniel knew.
Evelyn knew a major investor was arriving.
But according to Daniel, Evelyn did not know Thomas was my father.
That explained the timing.
The black SUVs had not magically appeared because I collapsed.
Dad had arrived for business.
He just happened to find his daughter crawling across the porch.
Then Daniel sent another message.
I WANTED YOU THERE BECAUSE I THOUGHT IF THOMAS SAW YOU, HE’D BE MORE OPEN TO THE DEAL.
My body went cold.
I called him.
First time.
He answered immediately.
“Claire.”
“You brought me to that house with a fever because Dad was coming?”
Silence.
“I thought you’d rest upstairs.”
“You told me Mom would think I was dramatic if I stayed home.”
“I know.”
“And when she made me cook?”
“I didn’t think she’d go that far.”
“You watched her dump ice water on me.”
“I froze.”
“No.”
My voice became quiet.
“You smiled.”
He stopped breathing.
That tiny awkward smile.
I had seen it.
So had half the room.
Daniel whispered:
“I was terrified of her making a scene before Thomas arrived.”
I laughed once.
“You were afraid she’d ruin your financing meeting.”
“Yes.”
Not me.
The meeting.
Then he said something worse.
“I was going to tell Mom who your father was after he arrived.”
“Why?”
“Because once she knew, she would treat you differently.”
I closed my eyes.
For seven years, he watched his mother humiliate me.
He had the one fact he believed could make her stop.
And he saved it for the day it could help his company.
I ended the call.
Ten minutes later, Dad’s due-diligence team called Marcus.
They had reviewed security footage from the Whitmore lake house.
The property used indoor cameras near entrances because the family stored expensive art.
One camera captured the kitchen.
Evelyn dumping ice water over me.
Daniel standing three feet away.
And after I crawled toward the door, it captured something none of us had heard.
Evelyn turned to Daniel and said:
“If she passes out before Morrison gets here, put her upstairs.”
Daniel answered:
May you like
“I know.”
He had known exactly what she was trying to hide.
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