Chapter 6 - The Betrayal Inside the HouseBy eight the next morning, the Montgomery mansion had become a quiet investigation room.
Her second was better.
She stepped backward toward the window and deliberately dropped her phone behind the curtain.
The screen remained lit.
Edward’s number was still open.
If she could trigger the emergency call—
Daniel’s assistant entered the room.
His name was Marcus Hale.
Claire remembered seeing him twice before in photographs.
Always behind Daniel.
Always expressionless.
Now he closed the door.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Claire said.
“Neither should you.”
“I’m calling security.”
“No, you aren’t.”
Marcus extended his hand.
“The letter.”
Claire kept her face blank.
“I don’t have it.”
“Edward does.”
“Then why are you asking me?”
“Because Edward left headquarters forty minutes ago.”
Claire’s heart jumped.
She had not known that.
“You’re lying.”
“His car is on Sunset Boulevard.”
Marcus smiled faintly.
“He’ll be here soon.”
“That seems inconvenient for you.”
“I don’t plan to stay.”
He stepped closer.
“The letter.”
“I told you.”
“Emma gave it to Edward.”
Claire froze.
Marcus noticed.
There it was.
Proof.
Someone inside the house had been feeding Daniel information.
The dismissal.
The letter.
Edward’s movements.
Claire began thinking through the staff.
Mrs. Alvarez?
Impossible.
The gardener?
Unlikely.
Security?
Possible.
A maid?
Maybe.
Marcus moved closer.
“Where are the copies?”
“What copies?”
“Caroline never trusted single documents.”
Claire glanced at the blue cardboard on the floor.
He followed her gaze.
“The box was empty,” Marcus said.
“So you broke into the lake house.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t need to.”
A child’s voice sounded from the hallway.
“Claire?”
Lily.
Marcus’s eyes moved toward the door.
Claire stepped directly into his path.
“Don’t.”
He looked at her.
Something in her voice stopped him.
“Those girls have nothing to do with this.”
“Then give me what I came for.”
“I don’t have it.”
Marcus reached for the door.
Claire grabbed the heavy brass lamp from Caroline’s nightstand.
“Open that door and I will break this over your head.”
Marcus looked almost amused.
“Would you?”
“Yes.”
He studied her for a moment.
Then stepped away.
“Claire?” Lily called again.
Claire kept her eyes on Marcus.
“Go back to the playroom, sweetheart.”
“But Emma—”
“Now.”
A pause.
Then small footsteps retreated.
Marcus sighed.
“This is becoming unnecessarily dramatic.”
“You broke into a house with two children inside.”
“I used a window.”
“That distinction will comfort the police.”
He took another step.
Claire raised the lamp.
Then her phone, still behind the curtain, began ringing.
Edward.
Marcus’s eyes snapped toward the sound.
Claire moved first.
She swung the lamp.
Marcus ducked.
The base hit his shoulder.
He cursed.
Claire ran.
She tore open the door and shouted.
“Mrs. Alvarez! Get the girls!”
Marcus caught her arm.
Claire slammed her heel backward into his shin.
He released her.
She ran down the corridor.
Mrs. Alvarez appeared at the far end.
“What—”
“Lock the girls in your room and call police!”
Marcus emerged behind Claire.
Mrs. Alvarez understood instantly.
She disappeared toward the playroom.
Claire raced downstairs.
Marcus followed.
She reached the foyer.
The front doors opened.
Edward walked in.
He took in the scene in less than a second.
Claire running.
Marcus behind her.
The blood vanished from his face.
“What the hell—”
Marcus stopped.
Edward crossed the distance so quickly Claire barely saw him move.
He slammed Marcus against the wall.
“What are you doing in my house?”
Marcus struggled.
“Get off me.”
Edward drove him harder into the paneling.
“My daughters are upstairs.”
“I didn’t touch them.”
“That is the only reason you’re still standing.”
Claire grabbed Edward’s arm.
“Police are coming.”
Edward was breathing heavily.
Marcus smiled through the pain.
“You always were emotional when it counted least.”
Edward’s fist tightened.
Claire stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
Edward looked at her.
“He came into my house.”
“And if you hit him now, Daniel gets exactly what he wants.”
That stopped him.
Marcus straightened his jacket.
“You should listen to the nanny.”
Edward’s gaze turned icy.
“Say that again.”
“Edward.”
Claire physically pushed him back.
Sirens sounded beyond the gates.
Marcus’s confidence changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
Two officers entered minutes later.
Security footage showed Marcus climbing through the west-wing window.
That gave them grounds to detain him.
As police escorted him outside, Marcus looked at Edward.
“You have no idea who else is involved.”
Edward did not respond.
Marcus smiled.
“Ask your father’s lawyer.”
Then he was gone.
Edward turned to Claire.
“What happened?”
She told him.
Everything.
The questions.
The archive box.
The fact that Marcus knew Emma had given him the letter.
Edward’s expression darkened.
“There’s a leak.”
“Yes.”
He looked toward the security staff gathered near the entrance.
“Everyone’s access is suspended.”
Claire shook her head.
“You’ll terrify the staff and warn whoever is helping Daniel.”
Edward stared at her.
“What do you suggest?”
“Act normal.”
“Someone broke into my home.”
“And failed.”
“He could have hurt you.”
Claire gave him a level look.
“I had a lamp.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“It was a very heavy lamp.”
Edward stared at her for one beat.
Then unexpectedly laughed.
It was short.
Stressful.
But real.
Claire found herself smiling too.
The moment vanished when Emma came running downstairs.
“Daddy!”
Edward immediately crouched.
She threw herself into him.
“Mrs. Alvarez said a bad man came in.”
“He’s gone.”
“Did Claire beat him up?”
Claire opened her mouth.
Edward said, “Basically.”
“I threatened him with home décor.”
Emma looked impressed.
Lily appeared behind her.
“Can we get a bigger lamp?”
Edward looked at Claire.
“No.”
“Probably wise.”
He stood.
“The police will remain outside tonight.”
Claire noticed the time.
Seven twelve.
“You came home.”
Edward frowned.
“What?”
“Dinner.”
Emma noticed too.
“You promised!”
Edward looked toward the dining room.
For the first time in years, the table was set for four.
Mrs. Alvarez had apparently believed his promise before he did.
Edward slowly removed his suit jacket.
“I did.”
Emma smiled.
Dinner was chaotic.
Lily spilled juice.
Emma told a seven-minute story about a squirrel that had no recognizable ending.
Edward’s phone rang six times.
He ignored five calls.
On the sixth, Claire noticed the screen.
Montgomery Holdings General Counsel.
“You should probably take that.”
Edward hesitated.
Emma watched him.
Claire said, “You can take important calls and still be a father.”
He answered.
“Yes?”
His expression changed immediately.
“When did you discover it?”
Silence.
“Send everything to my private email.”
He ended the call.
Claire waited.
“What?”
Edward looked toward the children.
Then back at her.
“My father’s lawyer died eight months ago.”
Claire felt cold.
“So Marcus told you to ask a dead man.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Edward looked at Caroline’s photograph hanging across the dining room.
“Because someone wants me looking backward instead of forward.”
His phone chimed.
An email.
He opened the attachment.
His eyes widened.
“What is it?” Claire asked.
“A legal amendment.”
“To what?”
“The girls’ trust.”
He read more.
Then slowly looked at Emma and Lily.
“The amendment transfers control if I’m declared mentally incompetent.”
“To whom?”
Edward’s voice was barely audible.
“My brother.”
Claire sat very still.
Daniel had not merely stolen from the trust.
He had built a legal path to take everything.
The company.
The money.
And possibly control over the girls’ inheritance.
Then Edward scrolled to the final page.
His expression turned strange.
Claire leaned closer.
“What?”
He rotated the phone toward her.
At the bottom of the amendment was Edward’s signature.
Claire stared.
“Did you sign this?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
Edward looked at her.
“I would remember signing away my daughters’ future.”
Claire examined the date.
Three years earlier.
Two days after Caroline’s funeral.
Edward whispered, “Daniel forged my signature while I was burying my wife.”
May you like
And suddenly the fight was no longer about a missing letter.
It was about an empire built around two little girls who had no idea someone had been stealing their future since the day their mother died.
Related Stories
