Chapter 8 - The Betrayal at Lake ForestDaniel Mercer had worn the same silver watch for fourteen years.
Sebastian knew because he had given it to him.
It was a retirement gift for Mercer's father, a former police officer who had helped Sebastian during the early years of his business.
When Mercer's father died, Daniel inherited it.
Now the watch had become an accusation.
Sebastian looked from Rose to Mercer.
“Take it off.”
Mercer frowned.
“Sebastian—”
“The watch.”
Mercer slowly removed it.
He placed it on a nearby table.
Claire watched both men carefully.
“Rose,” she asked gently, “did your daddy say Daniel's name?”
The little girl shook her head.
“Just the silver watch.”
Mercer exhaled.
“There are thousands of silver watches.”
Sebastian didn't move.
“Then you won't mind answering some questions.”
Mercer's expression hardened.
“After fourteen years?”
“Especially after fourteen years.”
Elena led Rose into another room.
Claire remained beside Sebastian.
“Where were you the night Arthur Bell was killed?” Sebastian asked.
Mercer stared.
“You know where I was.”
“Tell me.”
“I was at your house.”
“All night?”
“Until midnight. Then I went home.”
“Who can confirm that?”
Mercer laughed bitterly.
“Are you serious?”
Sebastian's face remained expressionless.
Mercer looked at Claire.
“This is what Evelyn wants. She wants us accusing each other.”
“Then help us prove it,” Claire said.
Mercer turned back to Sebastian.
“You think I sold you out?”
“I think somebody did.”
For a moment, Claire believed Mercer might strike him.
Instead, he removed his phone and placed it beside the watch.
“Check everything.”
Sebastian nodded toward one of his security officers.
“Preserve the device and have an independent examiner review it.”
Mercer stared at him.
“You're actually doing this.”
“Yes.”
The words seemed to wound him more than any accusation.
Mercer stepped back.
“Then I'm done.”
He walked toward the door.
Sebastian didn't stop him.
Claire waited until Mercer was gone.
“Do you believe he's involved?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why humiliate him?”
“Because Julian warned Rose about someone wearing a silver watch. I can't ignore that.”
Claire glanced toward the hallway.
“Neither can I.”
They spent the next six hours coordinating with police and a federal prosecutor whose contact information Elena had kept for emergencies.
The two men arrested at St. Agnes refused to identify whoever hired them.
One carried a forged driver's license.
The other had a phone containing only one saved contact.
A number registered to a business owned by Evelyn Cross.
By evening, investigators had obtained enough information to seek additional warrants.
But Margaret was still missing.
And Julian had vanished again.
Claire was standing outside Rose's temporary room when Sebastian approached.
“She finally fell asleep,” Claire said.
“Good.”
“She asked if you were angry with her.”
Sebastian looked startled.
“Why would she think that?”
“Because everyone became frightened after she mentioned the watch.”
He lowered his head.
“I'll talk to her tomorrow.”
Claire studied him.
“You're good with her.”
“I barely know her.”
“You listened.”
He looked through the glass.
Rose slept beneath a pink blanket, one hand curled around a stuffed rabbit.
“Julian used to talk about having children,” Sebastian said quietly.
Claire waited.
“He said he wanted a daughter. He thought little girls were smarter than boys.”
“Maybe he was right.”
Sebastian smiled faintly.
Then the smile disappeared.
“I spent years thinking he was dead. I inherited his businesses. His money. His responsibilities.”
“And now?”
“Now I find out he was alive and raising a daughter I never knew existed.”
Claire touched his arm.
“You didn't choose that.”
“I could have looked harder.”
“You did look.”
“Not hard enough.”
Claire recognized the guilt.
She had carried her own version for eight years.
If she had heard her father shouting sooner.
If she had smelled the smoke earlier.
If she had gone downstairs.
“Sebastian,” she said, “you can't change what you didn't know.”
He looked at her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then he said, “Your father saved my life.”
Claire felt her chest tighten.
“You told me you tried to save his.”
“He did more than that.”
Sebastian reached into his pocket and removed an old photograph.
It showed him at twenty-eight, standing outside a courthouse.
His face was bruised.
A bandage covered his hand.
“Three months before the fire, my father ordered me to sign off on a shipment I knew was illegal.”
Claire listened.
“I refused. He threatened to have me removed from the company. Robert found out. He gave me copies of the financial records so I could defend myself.”
“What happened?”
“I confronted Adrian. He said I was naive. That every empire had blood beneath its foundations.”
Sebastian looked down.
“Robert told me I had a choice. I could inherit my father's empire, or I could become a man worth remembering.”
Claire swallowed.
“He always said people could choose to be better.”
“I haven't always lived up to that.”
“No,” she said softly. “But you're still choosing.”
He looked at her.
Something shifted between them.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But understanding.
Then Sebastian's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What do you mean, the records are gone?”
Claire stepped closer.
Sebastian listened.
Then said, “Lock the office. Nobody leaves.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” Claire asked.
“The forensic copy of your father's files was stolen from Priya's office.”
Claire's blood went cold.
“Was Priya hurt?”
“No. She wasn't there.”
“Who took it?”
“Someone with authorized access.”
Claire remembered Mercer surrendering his phone.
“Daniel?”
Sebastian shook his head.
“He was already gone.”
“Then who?”
Sebastian's phone buzzed again.
A security photograph appeared.
It showed a woman entering Priya's building.
Dark hair.
Black coat.
A ring with a black stone.
Evelyn Cross.
Claire stared.
“She isn't hiding anymore.”
“No,” Sebastian said. “She's telling us she can reach anything.”
Another message arrived.
A video.
Margaret Bennett sat in a chair inside a dimly lit room.
She looked exhausted.
Her breathing was labored.
A woman's voice spoke from behind the camera.
“Sebastian, I have waited eight years for you to understand what your father built.”
Evelyn Cross stepped into view.
She smiled.
“Bring me Robert Bennett's original key, and Margaret goes home.”
Claire looked at Sebastian.
“The key?”
He shook his head.
“We gave it to the forensic examiner.”
Evelyn continued.
“And don't insult me by bringing a copy.”
She moved closer to the camera.
“Midnight. The old Vale shipping terminal. Come alone.”
Then she leaned toward Margaret.
“Tell your daughter what happened to Robert.”
Margaret lifted her head.
Her lips trembled.
“Claire,” she whispered, “I opened the door.”
Claire stopped breathing.
Margaret began to cry.
“I let them into the house.”
May you like
The video ended.
And the woman Claire loved most became the person she feared might have betrayed her father.
Related Stories
