Chapter 5 - My Mother
I couldn’t speak.
Daniel grabbed the tablet.
“What did she say?”
Linda remained on the screen.
Ethan lunged toward her.
Daniel’s security team appeared instantly.
Two men stepped between them.
Samantha backed away.
Daniel called the team leader.
“Bring Linda here.”
Then he looked at me.
“Claire—”
“My mother died of a stroke.”
His face told me enough.
“You don’t believe that.”
“I didn’t question it then.”
“Daniel.”
He sat beside me.
“Your mother was sick.”
“She had high blood pressure.”
“Yes.”
“Her doctor said the stroke was natural.”
“Yes.”
“But?”
Daniel rubbed his jaw.
“But Linda called me two weeks after the funeral.”
My hands went cold.
“What did she say?”
“She said some of your mother’s medication had gone missing before she died.”
“And you never told me?”
“I tried.”
I remembered another voicemail.
Claire, please call me. It’s about your mother.
I had deleted it after Ethan said Daniel was trying to upset me.
I covered my mouth.
“Oh my God.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“I had no proof.”
“Did Ethan have access to her?”
“He visited her with you.”
“He visited her alone too.”
Daniel went still.
“What?”
“Sometimes when I had work.”
I stared at the blanket.
“He said he wanted to build a relationship with her.”
Daniel stood slowly.
Before he could speak, Dr. Foster entered with a toxicologist.
The toxicologist introduced herself as Dr. Meyers.
“We have preliminary results.”
My heart hammered.
“What did you find?”
“Your blood contains traces of a prescription sedative.”
I shook my head.
“I’m not taking sedatives.”
“We know.”
Daniel’s jaw clenched.
Dr. Meyers continued.
“The concentration is low. It doesn’t appear to be at a level intended to cause an overdose.”
“What would it do?”
“Fatigue. Confusion. Dizziness. Depending on dosage, it could affect memory and judgment.”
My mind flashed through recent months.
Falling asleep on the couch.
Forgetting conversations.
Waking with headaches.
Ethan telling me I was emotional.
Ethan telling me pregnancy brain was making me forget things.
I whispered, “He was making me doubt myself.”
Dr. Meyers said, “We need the pills and tea tested before making conclusions.”
Daniel’s phone rang.
He answered.
“Yes?”
His expression hardened.
“Understood.”
He hung up.
“Police are at your house.”
I swallowed.
“And Linda?”
“On her way.”
Ethan arrived at the hospital twenty minutes later.
Without my vitamins.
Security stopped him outside my room.
I could hear him shouting.
“She’s my wife!”
Daniel opened the door.
“You came empty-handed.”
Ethan stared at him.
Then at me.
“Claire, please.”
“Where are my vitamins?”
“I couldn’t find them.”
“Interesting.”
His face twitched.
“I went home and your thugs were there.”
“My security team.”
“They attacked me.”
“No one touched you.”
“You’re destroying my marriage.”
I laughed softly.
“You slept with another woman for two years.”
His eyes filled.
“Claire.”
“And you knew about the trust.”
“I made mistakes.”
“And my tea?”
“I didn’t drug you.”
“You just tried to throw it away.”
Silence.
Daniel held up the tablet.
“We have video.”
Ethan looked sick.
“It’s not what you think.”
“What could it possibly be?”
“My mother gave me the tea.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She said it would help you sleep.”
“Then why destroy it?”
“Because I knew how it would look.”
“That is the weakest lie you’ve ever told me.”
His shoulders dropped.
“Claire, I swear I never wanted to hurt you.”
Behind him, the elevator opened.
Linda stepped out.
The color left Ethan’s face.
Linda walked toward us.
She carried a manila folder.
Ethan whispered, “You.”
Linda ignored him.
She entered my room.
For a moment she simply looked at me.
“You look like your mother.”
My throat closed.
“Tell me.”
Linda sat.
“The week before your mother died, she told me she was changing her will.”
Daniel frowned.
“She already had a trust.”
“Yes. She wanted to add a restriction.”
“What restriction?”
Linda looked at Ethan.
“She wanted to make sure Claire’s husband could never control the assets.”
My eyes snapped toward him.
Linda continued.
“Your mother had started asking questions about Ethan.”
Ethan shook his head.
“This is insane.”
“She hired a private investigator.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“What did he find?”
Linda opened the folder.
“Debt.”
She placed documents on my bed.
“Offshore accounts.”
More pages.
“False companies.”
Another page.
“And a relationship with Samantha Reed that began before Claire and Ethan were married.”
I stopped breathing.
“No.”
Samantha wasn’t a new affair.
She had been there before me.
Linda looked at me gently.
“Your mother planned to tell you.”
“When?”
“The night before she died.”
My eyes blurred.
Linda reached into the folder and removed a small digital recorder.
“She asked me to keep this.”
Daniel stared.
“You’ve had that for four years?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Ethan?”
Linda looked toward him.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Of Margaret.”
The room went silent.
Linda placed the recorder in my hand.
“Your mother recorded their conversation.”
Ethan suddenly lunged.
Security caught him before he reached the bed.
“Don’t play that!”
May you like
His scream echoed down the hallway.
And that was all the proof I needed to press PLAY.
