CHAPTER 5
The plan was simple.
In theory.
Megan would continue playing her part—the dutiful wife, scared but supportive. She’d feed Ryan and Dad small bits of information that made me look vulnerable.
I would act like I was crumbling.
Let them think their threats were working.
Let them think Mom’s secret would destroy me.
And all the while, we’d be gathering evidence.
Documenting everything.
Waiting for them to make their move.
Megan showed up at the house the next morning with the kids.
Ryan was with her.
I watched them pull up through the kitchen window, my stomach tight.
“Stay calm,” I whispered to myself.
I opened the door before they could knock.
Ryan’s eyes narrowed when he saw me.
“Megan said you wanted to talk,” he said.
“I do,” I said. “Come in.”
They filed inside.
Lila ran straight to the window, pressing her hands against the glass to look at the lake. Tyler stood awkwardly in the entryway, looking at his shoes.
Megan gave me a tiny, almost imperceptible nod.
She was scared.
But she was playing her part.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said, making my voice shake slightly. “About what Dad said. About Mom.”
Ryan’s head snapped up.
“What about her?”
“I don’t want a fight,” I said, looking at the floor. “Not with my own family. If there’s something I don’t know… if Mom really did something that affects the settlement…”
I let my voice trail off.
Ryan exchanged a look with Megan.
I could see the hope spark in his eyes.
The greed.
He thought I was breaking.
“Maybe we can work something out,” he said, trying to sound reasonable. “A fair arrangement. You keep a share of the house. We all benefit.”
Lila turned from the window.
“Aunt Claire,” she said. “Can we go down to the lake?”
I looked at her.
Her eyes were bright.
She had no idea what was happening.
“Sure, honey,” I said. “Tyler, you go with her. Stay where I can see you.”
The kids ran outside.
As soon as the door closed behind them, Ryan dropped the act.
“Here’s how it’s going to work,” he said. “Dad has the proof about Mom. If we go to court, your settlement gets voided. You lose everything. But if you sign the house over to the family now, we’ll give you twenty percent of the sale price. You walk away with some money. No scandal. No court.”
“Twenty percent?” I said.
“Take it or leave it,” he said. “And before you say no, think about what happens if this goes public. Your reputation. Your career. Everyone knowing your mom was on the take.”
I let tears well up in my eyes.
Real ones, surprisingly.
Not because of Ryan’s threats.
Because of how easy this was for him.
How little he cared about anything but himself.
“I need a few days,” I said.
“Three days,” he said. “That’s all you get. Sign the papers by Friday, or we go to the press and the courts.”
He walked to the door and called the kids back.
Lila hugged me before she left.
“Bye, Aunt Claire,” she said. “Your house is pretty.”
I hugged her back, holding on a little longer than necessary.
“Bye, sweetie.”
They left.
Megan texted me ten minutes later.
*He bought it. He’s calling Dad now. He says you’re cracking.*
I sat down heavily on the couch.
It was working.
But it felt wrong.
Manipulating my own brother.
Even though he was trying to destroy me.
The next three days were a blur.
Megan fed me updates.
*Dad’s getting the “evidence” together. He’s meeting with a lawyer friend.*
*Ryan told Voss everything is on track. Voss said if it falls through, he’s sending the spider to collect.*
*Dad mentioned a press release. He wants to go to the local paper. “Ruin her so she can’t show her face in this town again.”*
Each text made my chest tighter.
My own father wanted to ruin me.
Not because I’d done something to him.
Not out of some twisted sense of justice.
Because Ryan needed money.
Because in his eyes, I was the sacrifice that had to be made.
Thursday night, I got a text from an unknown number.
*I know what you’re doing.*
My blood ran cold.
I stared at the message.
Who was this?
Another text came in.
*Playing games with Voss is dangerous. Ask your mother.*
I dropped the phone.
The screen cracked against the hardwood floor.
Ask your mother.
Whoever this was, they knew about Mom’s payments.
They knew about the plan.
They knew about me.
I picked up the phone, my hands shaking.
The cracked spiderwebbed across the glass.
Spider.
Voss’s enforcer.
The one with the tattoo.
He was watching me.
I called Eleanor immediately.
“He knows,” I said. “Voss’s man. The spider. He texted me. He said he knows what I’m doing.”
Eleanor was quiet for a moment.
“Did he threaten you?”
“Not directly. But he mentioned my mother. He knows about the payments.”
“Then we need to move faster,” she said. “Marcus must suspect something. Or someone talked. I’ll have my lawyer file the divorce papers tomorrow morning. Once he’s served, his assets will be frozen. He won’t be able to touch the loan business without triggering a contempt charge.”
“And Ryan?”
“Once Marcus is distracted, Ryan will panic,” she said. “That’s when he’ll make a mistake. That’s when we get him.”
She hung up.
I went around the house, locking every door and window.
I pulled the curtains closed.
I turned off all the lights.
And I sat in the dark, listening to the lake, wondering if someone was out there watching me.
The next morning—Friday, the day Ryan had given me to sign—I got a call from Sarah.
“Claire,” she said. “You need to see this.”
She emailed me a link to the local newspaper’s website.
The headline made my stomach drop.
*LOCAL WOMAN’S MILLION-DOLLAR SETTLEMENT TIED TO MOTHER’S SECRET PAYMENTS*
The article was brutal.
It quoted “a family source” who claimed I’d known about my mother’s corrupt arrangement with the company. That I’d used my position to cover it up. That the settlement was hush money, not compensation for wrongful termination.
Dad had gone to the press.
He hadn’t waited.
He’d struck first.
My phone started ringing.
Text messages poured in.
Friends.
Former colleagues.
Family members.
Everyone had read the article.
Everyone had an opinion.
I opened Facebook.
The story was everywhere.
People I hadn’t spoken to in years were sharing it, adding their own comments.
*Always knew there was something off about her.*
*Like mother, like daughter.*
*Greedy witch got what she deserved.*
I closed my eyes.
Dad had wanted to ruin me.
And for a moment, it felt like he had.
Then my phone rang again.
It was Megan.
“Claire,” she said, her voice panicked. “Ryan’s on his way over. He’s furious. He said the article was supposed to come out after you signed. He said you leaked something. He’s bringing your dad. And… Claire, there’s another car following them. A black SUV. I think it’s Voss’s men.”
I stood up and looked out the window.
Sure enough, three vehicles were coming up the driveway.
Ryan’s truck.
Dad’s sedan.
And a black SUV, its windows tinted.
They were here.
May you like
All of them.
And they weren’t coming to talk.
