Chapter 13 - Claire’s Choice
Claire disappeared at 8:17 that morning.
One minute she was drinking coffee in the Half Moon Bay kitchen.
The next, her phone received a message.
She read it.
Turned pale.
Told Emily she needed air.
And walked outside.
Security saw her approach the front gate.
A black sedan stopped.
Claire entered voluntarily.
The vehicle left before anyone understood what had happened.
When I arrived forty minutes later, Emily met me at the door.
“I’m sorry.”
“This isn’t your fault.”
“I should have stopped her.”
“She’s an adult.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“You couldn’t know.”
Mother sat with Mia.
Rachel had returned to San Francisco after being cleared by her surgeon.
Aaron was already reviewing cameras.
“What did the message say?”
“Claire deleted it.”
“Recover it.”
“Working on it.”
Emily touched my arm.
“Daniel.”
I looked at her.
“She was scared.”
“Of her father?”
“I think for him.”
That made sense.
Claire loved Richard.
Even after learning what he had done.
Family loyalty did not disappear simply because truth arrived.
I knew that better than anyone.
Mother approached.
“Richard will try to use Claire.”
“For what?”
“To negotiate.”
“With whom?”
“You.”
“Why me?”
“Because he thinks you still love her.”
Emily went still.
Mother realized too late what she had said.
I looked at Emily.
“I care about Claire.”
“I know.”
“But—”
“You don’t have to explain.”
“I want to.”
Her eyes met mine.
“Later.”
Aaron recovered the message.
We gathered around his tablet.
Claire. Your mother is dead. Your brother wants nothing to do with me. You’re all I have left. I need you. Please come alone. Don’t tell Daniel. If I go to prison without seeing you, I won’t survive it.
Emotional manipulation.
Powerful because part of it was probably true.
Claire’s mother had died years earlier.
Her brother lived in Europe and rarely spoke to Richard.
Claire had spent much of her life managing her father’s emotional needs.
“Can we track the car?”
“Working.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Daniel.”
Richard.
“Where is Claire?”
“With me.”
“Is she safe?”
“For now.”
My hand tightened.
“If you hurt her—”
“I would never hurt my daughter.”
“That sentence doesn’t have the comforting effect you think it does anymore.”
He was silent.
“I need the trust documents.”
“Everyone seems to.”
“And Charles’s statement.”
“That belongs to investigators.”
“You can influence them.”
“No.”
“Don’t pretend you have no power.”
“I have enough power to understand when not to use it.”
Richard laughed.
“Emily changed you.”
“My daughter did too.”
A pause.
“You sound like William.”
“So I’m told.”
“He was self-righteous near the end.”
“Did you change his medication?”
Silence.
Emily watched my face.
“Richard.”
“No.”
“Did you pressure his doctor?”
“I asked questions.”
“What questions?”
“About cognitive decline.”
“Why?”
“Because William was making irrational business decisions.”
“Such as refusing to sell you assets?”
“Such as moving nearly half a billion dollars beyond corporate control.”
“For his descendants.”
“For a child who didn’t exist.”
“She exists.”
“I know.”
The way he said it made my blood cold.
“Where are you?”
“Bring me Robert Hayes.”
“No.”
“Then Claire and I leave.”
“You won’t get far.”
“I have resources.”
“Not anymore.”
Federal agents had frozen much of Beaumont International.
“You’re underestimating me.”
“Probably.”
I forced myself calm.
“What does Robert have that you need?”
“His testimony.”
“You want him silent.”
“I want him honest.”
“He survived an attempted murder.”
“I didn’t cause his accident.”
“Charles says you may have been involved in my father’s death.”
Richard breathed slowly.
“Charles is a thief trying to reduce his sentence.”
“That doesn’t make him wrong.”
“I did not kill William.”
“Then prove it.”
“How?”
“Turn yourself in.”
Silence.
“Let Claire go.”
“She came voluntarily.”
“Then let me speak to her.”
A pause.
Claire came on the phone.
“Daniel.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Can you leave?”
She hesitated.
“Claire.”
“I can.”
“Then do it.”
“My father needs help.”
“He needs a lawyer.”
“He’s terrified.”
“So are the people he hurt.”
“I know.”
“Come home.”
I regretted the word immediately.
Not because it was wrong.
Because Emily stood beside me.
Claire heard it too.
“Home?”
“The safe house.”
Claire gave a sad laugh.
“Don’t worry. I know what you meant.”
Emily looked away.
“I’m not leaving him yet,” Claire said.
“Why?”
“Because I can get the medical correspondence.”
My breath stopped.
“You said he took it.”
“Yes.”
“I know where it is.”
“Claire, don’t.”
“If it proves what happened to your father—”
“It isn’t worth your life.”
“He won’t hurt me.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know my father.”
“So did I.”
That stopped her.
“Claire.”
“Yes?”
“You do not owe me this.”
“I know.”
“You do not owe Emily.”
“I know.”
“You don’t even owe my father.”
“I know.”
“Then leave.”
Her voice softened.
“I owe myself one good decision.”
The line disconnected.
I swore.
Emily touched my hand.
“She’s going after the evidence.”
“Yes.”
“Then we help her.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
No jealousy.
No resentment.
Just compassion.
That was Emily.
The woman my mother had considered unsuitable because she lacked polish understood loyalty better than anyone in my world.
Aaron located Claire’s vehicle near a private marina in Sausalito.
Federal agents moved.
We followed but remained behind the perimeter.
Mother stayed with Mia.
At the marina, Richard had prepared a yacht.
Of course.
We watched from an unmarked vehicle.
Agents positioned along the docks.
Then Claire appeared.
She was walking alone down the pier.
Holding a brown envelope.
Richard followed twenty feet behind.
“Claire!” he shouted.
She kept moving.
“Stop!”
She did.
Turned.
Even from a distance, I saw her crying.
Richard approached.
“You would betray me?”
Her voice carried across the water.
“I’m trying to save you.”
“By giving them evidence?”
“By stopping this.”
“You don’t understand what I did for you.”
Claire laughed through tears.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“You did it for me.”
Richard stopped.
“You always say that.”
“Claire—”
“You pressured William’s doctor.”
He went pale.
My entire body tensed.
“You don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I read the emails.”
Federal agents listened.
So did I.
“You told Dr. Phelps that William was mentally unstable.”
“He was.”
“You threatened to remove your hospital funding.”
Richard’s face changed.
“You asked him to increase the anticoagulant.”
My heart stopped.
“No.”
“You wrote, ‘If William is medically impaired, the board can stop the trust transfer.’”
Emily grabbed my hand.
Richard looked around.
He finally understood.
Claire had led him into a recorded conversation.
“You set me up.”
“No.”
She cried openly now.
“I gave you a chance to tell the truth.”
Agents moved.
Richard stepped backward.
Toward the yacht.
“Dad.”
“Stay away.”
For the first time, Claire looked frightened.
“Please.”
Richard turned toward the boat.
An agent shouted.
“Richard Beaumont! Stop!”
He ran.
Two steps.
Three.
Then slipped on the wet dock.
He fell into the water.
Everything erupted.
Agents rushed.
Claire screamed.
Richard surfaced once.
Then disappeared beneath the dock.
I ran despite instructions.
An agent jumped in.
Another.
Seconds stretched.
Then they pulled Richard out.
He coughed violently.
Alive.
Claire collapsed to her knees.
Even after everything, she cried with relief.
Richard was arrested dripping wet.
The envelope contained emails, physician correspondence, financial transfers, and a recorded voicemail.
Enough to destroy reputations.
Maybe companies.
But not enough to bring my father back.
As Richard was placed in an ambulance, Claire stood alone.
I approached.
She looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
“I knew Dad had done questionable things.”
“You didn’t know this.”
“No.”
“You made the right choice.”
“Too late.”
“Not too late.”
She glanced toward Emily.
“She’s waiting for you.”
I followed her gaze.
Emily stood beyond the police line.
“She always was,” Claire said.
The sentence hurt.
“I wish you happiness.”
“Claire.”
“Don’t.”
Her smile was sad but real.
“I need to figure out who I am when I’m not trying to become someone’s perfect wife or perfect daughter.”
I nodded.
“You will.”
She wiped her face.
“And Daniel?”
“Yes?”
“Don’t waste another chance with Emily.”
I looked at the woman I had nearly married.
“Thank you.”
She walked away toward an agent who would take her statement.
Emily approached.
“What now?”
I exhaled.
“Now we go back to Mia.”
“And after?”
I looked at her.
“After, I stop reacting to crises and start building a life.”
“With whom?”
There was fear in her voice.
I took her hand.
“With my daughter.”
Her expression flickered.
“And?”
I moved closer.
“With you, if you’ll let me.”
Emily’s eyes filled.
Then she shook her head.
“Not yet.”
The answer hurt.
But it was honest.
“I understand.”
“You need to deal with your family.”
“I will.”
“Your father’s death.”
“I will.”
“Claire.”
“That’s over.”
“And us.”
I nodded.
“No shortcuts.”
“No shortcuts.”
For once, patience did not feel like losing.
It felt like love.
Then my phone buzzed.
Aaron.
One final update from the investigation.
Charles had agreed to cooperate.
In exchange, he wanted to reveal who helped my mother intercept Emily’s messages.
I thought we already knew.
We didn’t.
Mother had ordered the blocking.
But someone else had forged the cruelest message.
Someone Emily trusted.
Someone who had convinced her not to try again.
When Aaron told me the name, I stared at Emily in disbelief.
Because the betrayal had come from her side too.
May you like
And the woman who had helped keep my daughter from me wasn’t a Cole or a Beaumont. She was Emily’s own sister.
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