Chapter 5 - The Mistress Who Wasn't Supposed to Know
Sloane Avery arrived at Claire's office on Monday morning wearing a cream-colored designer suit.
She wasn't smiling.
That alone was unusual.
Claire looked up from her desk.
Her assistant, Margaret, stood in the doorway.
“Ms. Whitmore, she insisted it was urgent.”
Claire studied Sloane.
The woman who had humiliated her before two hundred people.
The woman carrying Grant's child.
The woman wearing a diamond ring from a man who was still legally married.
“Give us ten minutes,” Claire said.
Margaret hesitated.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
When the door closed, Sloane remained standing.
Claire folded her hands.
“What do you want?”
Sloane looked around the office.
The shelves of books.
The photographs of foundation projects.
The framed picture of Claire's mother.
“You really do have everything,” Sloane said.
Claire stared at her.
“Except a faithful husband.”
Sloane flinched.
Then she looked down.
“I didn't come here to fight.”
“Then why are you here?”
Sloane reached into her handbag.
She removed a folded document.
“I think Grant is lying to me.”
Claire almost laughed.
“That would be consistent with his behavior.”
Sloane ignored the remark.
“He told me the engagement ring was purchased with his personal money.”
Claire waited.
“But I found an invoice.”
She placed it on the desk.
Claire looked at the document.
A jewelry purchase.
$186,000.
The purchaser was listed as a private client services company.
Claire recognized the company name.
Mercer Vale Administrative Holdings.
Her stomach tightened.
“Where did you get this?”
“Grant left it in his apartment.”
“Does he know you have it?”
“No.”
Claire pushed the document back.
“You need to speak with an attorney before sharing anything else.”
Sloane stared at her.
“You're not even going to look?”
“I've seen enough to know it needs proper review.”
Sloane sat down.
For the first time, she looked frightened.
“Grant says the firm is having temporary cash problems.”
Claire studied her.
“What kind of problems?”
“He won't tell me.”
“Then ask him.”
“I did.”
“And?”
“He screamed at me.”
Claire's expression changed.
Grant rarely screamed.
He preferred manipulation.
Quiet pressure.
The kind of cruelty that made other people question their own judgment.
“What did he say?”
Sloane swallowed.
“He said I ruined everything by announcing the engagement.”
Claire looked at her.
“You did make a deliberate choice to humiliate me.”
Tears filled Sloane's eyes.
“I know.”
Claire didn't comfort her.
“Why did you do it?”
Sloane looked down.
“Because he kept promising he would leave you.”
“And you believed him?”
“Yes.”
“Even after eleven months?”
Sloane nodded.
Claire leaned back.
“Then perhaps you understand how easy he makes believing him.”
For a moment, the two women sat in silence.
Then Sloane whispered, “I'm scared.”
Claire looked at her stomach.
“About the baby?”
Sloane nodded.
“Grant wants me to sign something.”
“What?”
“A confidentiality agreement. And a financial arrangement.”
Claire frowned.
“Have you had independent legal advice?”
“No.”
“Then don't sign anything until you do.”
Sloane wiped her eyes.
“He says it's just to protect the baby.”
Claire's expression hardened.
“Then he shouldn't object to you having your own lawyer.”
Sloane looked toward the door.
“There's something else.”
Claire waited.
“Grant has been meeting with Daniel Vale almost every night.”
“That isn't unusual. They're business partners.”
“Not at the office.”
“Where?”
“At a private apartment near Columbus Circle.”
Claire felt a flicker of concern.
“Whose apartment?”
Sloane hesitated.
“I don't know.”
Claire studied her.
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because I heard them arguing.”
“About what?”
Sloane's voice dropped.
“Your mother.”
Claire went completely still.
“What?”
Sloane looked frightened.
“Daniel said Grant should never have mentioned Evelyn Whitmore.”
Claire gripped the edge of her desk.
“What exactly did he say?”
“I don't remember every word.”
“Tell me what you do remember.”
Sloane closed her eyes.
“He said, ‘Evelyn's files were supposed to stay buried.’”
Claire stopped breathing.
Sloane continued.
“Grant said something about the money.”
“What money?”
“I don't know.”
Claire leaned forward.
“Did they mention an amount?”
Sloane hesitated.
Then she nodded.
“Forty million.”
Claire felt a chill move through her.
The same number Olivia had mentioned.
The same discrepancy the family office was investigating.
“Did they say where the money went?”
“No.”
“Did they mention my father?”
Sloane looked down.
“Yes.”
Claire waited.
“Daniel said Harrison Whitmore would never let the truth come out.”
Claire sat very still.
For years, she'd believed her father was the one person who would always tell her the truth.
Now she wasn't sure.
Sloane stood.
“I should go.”
Claire nodded.
“Get a lawyer, Sloane.”
Sloane paused.
“Do you hate me?”
Claire looked at her.
“I hate what you did.”
Sloane's eyes filled.
“That's fair.”
She turned toward the door.
Then she stopped.
“Claire?”
“Yes?”
“I really am pregnant.”
Claire swallowed.
“I believe you.”
Sloane placed a hand over her stomach.
“I don't know if Grant is going to be a good father.”
Claire looked at the woman who had once declared victory over her.
“I don't know either.”
After Sloane left, Claire sat alone for several minutes.
Then she called Nathan.
“We need to find out who owns the apartment near Columbus Circle.”
Nathan was silent.
“Why?”
“Because Grant and Daniel have been meeting there.”
“Claire—”
“And they're talking about Mom.”
Nathan exhaled.
“There's something you should know.”
“What?”
“We located the source of the $2.4 million payment to Mom.”
Claire's heartbeat accelerated.
“Where did it come from?”
“A company called Halcyon Strategic Holdings.”
“Who owned it?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Daniel Vale was one of the controlling shareholders.”
Claire stared at the wall.
May you like
Then Nathan added:
“And according to the records, Grant became a shareholder three years before you married him.”
