Chương 7
“That’s not what happened.”
Thomas ignored him.
“Your father made choices.”
Mara felt the room shift.
Because that was the first time Thomas had spoken about her father like he knew him.
“You knew my father,” she said.
Thomas did not answer immediately.
Claire looked at him.
“You told me you didn’t.”
“I said I wasn’t involved.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Thomas looked away.
The movement was small.
But Claire saw it too.
“You lied to me.”
“I protected you.”
Claire laughed softly.
The sound carried more pain than anger.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
Thomas took a step toward her.
“Claire, listen to me.”
“No.”
Her voice surprised everyone.
Even herself.
“No, I’ve listened to everyone for years.”
She removed the engagement ring.
Her fingers shook as she placed it on the table beside the watch.
Thomas stared at it.
The first real emotion crossed his face.
Not rage.
Fear.
“Claire.”
“I need the truth.”
Thomas looked at the ring.
Then at her.
“You think Daniel is giving you the truth?”
“No.”
Claire swallowed.
“I think I don’t know anything anymore.”
That answer seemed to hurt him.
Mara noticed.
For all the suspicion surrounding Thomas, that pain looked real.
And that was the most dangerous part.
People were rarely just one thing.
Thomas looked at Daniel.
“You brought the file.”
Daniel did not respond.
“You found the records.”
Still nothing.
Thomas exhaled.
“You have no idea what you’re doing.”
Mara stepped forward.
“Then explain it.”
Thomas looked at her.
“You want me to explain everything in ten minutes before a wedding?”
“I want you to explain why you knew Daniel was here.”
Thomas looked at Claire.
“She called me yesterday.”
Claire’s face changed.
“What?”
“She asked questions.”
“What questions?”
“About my father.”
The room became silent.
Mara looked at Claire.
“You were investigating him?”
Claire looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid you would hate me.”
Mara did not know what to say.
That answer was too human.
Too honest.
Thomas rubbed his forehead.
“I knew something was wrong.”
Daniel shook his head.
“You knew enough.”
Thomas looked at him.
“Yes.”
The admission was immediate.
No hesitation.
That scared Mara more than denial.
“What did you know?” she asked.
Thomas looked toward the window.
The wedding guests were visible outside.
People laughing.
Taking pictures.
Waiting for a ceremony that might never happen.
“I knew my father was involved with your father’s business.”
Mara froze.
“Your father?”
Thomas nodded.
“My father worked with him.”
Claire looked confused.
“You told me your father had nothing to do with it.”
“He didn’t know everything.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Thomas looked at her.
“I know.”
The room held its breath.
Mara watched Claire process the information.
A person she loved.
A family she trusted.
A history she thought she understood.
All of it had become unstable.
“What happened to my father?” Mara asked.
Thomas looked at her.
And for the first time, he looked like someone deciding whether honesty would destroy him.
“I don’t know exactly.”
Nobody believed that answer.
Thomas continued before anyone could interrupt.
“But I know the night he disappeared was not an accident.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Evelyn sat down.
Mara felt a cold sensation move through her.
“Then what was it?”
Thomas looked at the watch.
“He was trying to expose people who were more powerful than he realized.”
“And you?”
Thomas looked at Claire.
“I was trying to keep you away from them.”
Claire shook her head.
“You were trying to marry me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas did not answer.
That silence was enough to make Mara afraid.
Because there were many reasons someone could want to marry a person.
Love.
Trust.
Partnership.
Control.
Thomas looked at Claire.
“I thought if you were connected to me, they couldn’t get to you.”
Claire stared at him.
“And if I wasn’t?”
Thomas’s face changed.
“They already were.”
A crash sounded downstairs.
Everyone turned.
The wedding music stopped.
A voice rose from the hallway outside the room.
Someone was shouting.
Then footsteps moved quickly toward them.
Daniel looked at the door.
“They’re here.”
Mara felt her heartbeat quicken.
“Who?”
Daniel looked at the people in the room.
“The people who came for the watch.”
The footsteps outside the room grew louder.
Not rushed.
Not confused.
Controlled.
That was what made Daniel move.
He crossed the room and locked the door.
Thomas watched him.
“You think that will stop them?”
“No,” Daniel said.
“But it gives us a few seconds.”
Mara looked around the room.
A few seconds for what?
Four people who had spent years hiding the truth.
A man she had trusted.
A man she had never met until today.
Her sister.
Her mother.
All of them suddenly standing in a room with nowhere left to hide.
Evelyn looked at Thomas.
“Who did you bring here?”
Thomas’s face tightened.
“I didn’t bring anyone.”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then how did they know?”
Thomas did not answer.
Mara noticed Claire looking at him.
Not with anger this time.
With disappointment.
That seemed to affect him more than anything else.
“I need you to believe me,” Thomas said.
Claire shook her head.
“I don’t know what to believe.”
A heavy silence followed.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Three slow knocks.
Not a request.
A signal.
Daniel’s expression changed.
“They’re not here for the wedding.”
Mara looked at him.
“They’re here for us?”
Daniel nodded.
The answer should have frightened her more than it did.
Instead, she felt something else.
A strange clarity.
For the first time all morning, nobody was pretending.
Nobody was smiling.
Nobody was saying everything was fine.
The truth was ugly, but at least it was standing in the room with them.
Another knock came.
Thomas stepped toward the door.
Daniel blocked him.
“No.”
Thomas looked at him.
“If they see all of us together, it’s worse.”
Daniel hesitated.
May you like
That hesitation bothered Mara.
“You know what happens if they come in.”
