Chapter 8 - Rebecca
Rebecca Price had always been elegant.
Even now.
She sat in the Whitmore mansion wearing a cream blouse and pearls.
Claire stood across from her.
“Why?”
Rebecca looked at her.
“Because your mother was going to destroy everything.”
“My mother owned everything.”
Rebecca smiled sadly.
“Exactly.”
“You hired Daniel.”
“I did.”
“Did you kill my mother?”
“No.”
Claire believed her.
Somehow.
“Then what did you do?”
Rebecca looked toward the window.
“After Anne died, Charles was broken.”
“He wasn't.”
“He was.”
Claire shook her head.
“You married him six months later.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“You were fifteen.”
“I remember.”
“I loved him.”
Claire almost laughed.
“And me?”
Rebecca's face crumpled.
“I tried.”
“You erased me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“That you would take everything.”
Claire stared.
“You stole from me because you were afraid.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Yes.”
Dominic stood behind Claire.
Rebecca looked at him.
“You're Marcus's son.”
“Yes.”
“He would have hated what you became.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“You don't know what I became.”
“I know what your father wanted.”
“What?”
“He wanted to expose Charles.”
“And Daniel?”
“Daniel worked for Charles.”
“Not you?”
Rebecca shook her head.
“I hired him later.”
“Why?”
“To recover the documents.”
“Which documents?”
“The ones proving Anne owned the company.”
Claire's eyes narrowed.
“Why would you want them?”
Rebecca whispered:
“Because I wanted to give them back.”
Claire froze.
“What?”
Rebecca stood.
“I realized too late that I had become exactly what I hated.”
She walked to a cabinet.
Inside was a small recorder.
“I found this years ago.”
She handed it to Dominic.
“Your father's recording.”
Dominic stared at it.
“Why keep it?”
“Because I couldn't destroy it.”
He pressed play.
Marcus Vale's voice filled the room.
If anyone finds this, Charles Whitmore is not the only man involved.
A second voice.
Daniel.
Then another.
A voice Claire recognized.
Her father's.
Charles.
And then a fourth voice.
Rebecca's brother.
Richard Price.
Claire looked at Rebecca.
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“Control.”
The recording revealed the truth.
Richard had been orchestrating the financial collapse for years.
He had used Daniel.
He had manipulated Charles.
He had funded Madison's debt.
He had created Raven Harbor.
The goal was simple.
Drive Whitmore Freight into bankruptcy.
Buy it cheaply.
Then use the company's port contracts to build his own logistics empire.
Rebecca had discovered it too late.
She tried to stop him.
But Richard threatened her.
Claire sat down.
“So the person destroying my company isn't my father.”
“No.”
“It's my uncle.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Richard was obsessed with what he believed Anne stole from his family.”
“But Anne didn't.”
“No.”
Rebecca's voice broke.
“She inherited it.”
The door opened.
Richard walked in.
Everyone froze.
He smiled.
“Family meeting?”
Dominic stepped forward.
Richard raised his hands.
“Relax.”
Claire looked at him.
“You knew.”
Richard smiled.
“I knew everything.”
“You destroyed the company.”
“I corrected an old injustice.”
“It wasn't yours.”
“Neither was it yours.”
Claire's voice became steady.
“My mother built it.”
Richard's smile disappeared.
“And she should have left it to me.”
“Why?”
“Because men like me understand power.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“No.”
Richard looked at him.
“Men like you understand fear.”
Dominic's expression remained cold.
“And women like Claire understand how to build what men like us destroy.”
Richard laughed.
Then his phone rang.
He looked at it.
His expression changed.
Police sirens sounded outside.
Claire had secretly recorded the conversation.
Samuel had contacted federal investigators.
Daniel had agreed to testify.
Madison had turned over financial records.
And Rebecca had given them the recording.
Richard looked at Claire.
“You think you've won?”
Claire nodded.
“I know I have.”
He was arrested.
As officers led him away, he looked at Dominic.
“You're making the same mistake your father made.”
Dominic watched him disappear.
“What mistake?”
Richard smiled.
“Trusting her.”
The door closed.
Dominic turned toward Claire.
She looked at him.
“I don't know if that's a compliment.”
“It isn't.”
She smiled.
May you like
Then he took her hand.
This time, she didn't hesitate.
