Chapter 11: The Woman Behind the Door
The study door opened another inch.
Daniel didn't move.
Neither did the figure standing in the darkness beyond it.
“Who's there?”
No answer.
Daniel reached for the lamp.
The light snapped on.
A woman stepped into the room.
Daniel's face changed instantly.
“Victoria?”
His second wife stood in the doorway, pale and motionless.
She was still wearing the black dress she'd worn to the charity gala earlier that evening.
But there was something different about her now.
She looked frightened.
“Were you listening?”
Victoria swallowed.
“I heard voices.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You heard everything.”
She didn't deny it.
His father rose from the chair.
“Victoria, you need to leave.”
She looked at Arthur.
“No.”
Her voice shook.
“I'm tired of leaving.”
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
Victoria stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
“It means you deserve to know the truth.”
Arthur's face hardened.
“Don't.”
Victoria looked at him.
“You've protected her long enough.”
Daniel's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Protected who?”
Victoria looked at him.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“What did she do?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“She didn't just lie about Claire being infertile.”
She took a breath.
“She paid someone to make sure Claire never told you the truth.”
Daniel felt a chill move through him.
“Who?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don't know his name.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Because I saw him.”
“When?”
“The night Claire was supposed to meet you.”
Daniel's eyes widened.
“What night?”
Victoria looked toward Arthur.
“The night of the divorce.”
Arthur suddenly moved toward her.
“Enough.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Dad. Don't touch her.”
Arthur stopped.
Daniel turned back to Victoria.
“Tell me everything.”
Victoria hesitated.
Then she whispered:
“Claire wasn't supposed to sign those divorce papers.”
Daniel's heart stopped.
“What?”
“She was going to tell you something.”
“What?”
Victoria's voice broke.
“She was pregnant.”
Daniel stared at her.
The room seemed to disappear.
“No.”
“She had discovered she was pregnant shortly before the divorce.”
Daniel shook his head.
“That's impossible.”
“Isn't that what you were told?”
His silence was answer enough.
Victoria continued.
“She tried to contact you. Your mother intercepted the messages.”
Daniel's hands curled into fists.
“And the man in the photograph?”
Victoria nodded.
“He followed Claire to the clinic.”
“Why?”
“Because Claire had found another medical report.”
Daniel looked toward the black folder.
“What report?”
Victoria's eyes dropped.
“The original fertility report.”
Daniel's breathing became heavy.
“So Claire knew.”
“Yes.”
“And she knew my mother had lied.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn't she come to me?”
Victoria's face crumpled.
“Because she was threatened.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Threatened with what?”
Victoria whispered:
“Your life.”
The words hit him harder than a bullet.
“What?”
“Your mother told Claire that if she came to you, people would get hurt.”
Daniel looked at Arthur.
His father had gone completely still.
“You knew.”
Arthur didn't answer.
Daniel stepped toward him.
“You knew!”
Arthur finally spoke.
“I knew your mother was trying to control the situation.”
“You knew she threatened Claire?”
“I didn't know how far she'd go.”
Daniel slammed his hand against the desk.
“You let me destroy my marriage!”
Arthur flinched.
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
Arthur's voice dropped.
“From the people who were after this family.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What people?”
Before Arthur could answer, every light in the mansion went out.
Darkness swallowed the room.
A second later—
CRASH!
Glass shattered downstairs.
Victoria screamed.
Daniel immediately pulled her behind him.
“Stay here.”
Arthur reached beneath the desk and pulled out a handgun.
Daniel stared at him.
“You have a gun?”
“Not now.”
Footsteps echoed through the mansion.
Slow.
Heavy.
Getting closer.
Daniel's phone vibrated.
He looked down.
Another message from the unknown number.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO YOUR FATHER.
Then a second message appeared.
THE CHILDREN ARE NEXT.
Daniel's blood ran cold.
He immediately called Claire.
No answer.
He called again.
Still nothing.
Then his phone rang.
A different number.
He answered.
A distorted voice whispered:
“Mr. Carter.”
“Who is this?”
“You wanted the truth.”
Daniel gripped the phone.
“Where is Claire?”
A quiet laugh came through the speaker.
“She's alive.”
Daniel exhaled.
“For now.”
His entire body went rigid.
“What do you want?”
The voice answered:
“Come to the old Carter warehouse alone.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes.”
“And if I don't?”
There was a pause.
Then:
“You'll receive a photograph of one of your children.”
The call ended.
Daniel stared at the phone.
Victoria stepped closer.
“What happened?”
He looked at her.
Then at his father.
His expression had changed completely.
“Someone has Claire.”
Arthur's face went pale.
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“And they're threatening the twins.”
Victoria shook her head.
“You can't go alone.”
Daniel looked at her.
“I have to.”
“No.”
She stepped in front of him.
“Because if you go there alone, you may never come back.”
Daniel stared at her.
For the first time, Victoria wasn't the woman he had once trusted.
She wasn't his wife.
She wasn't his mother's chosen replacement for Claire.
She was someone who knew the truth.
And perhaps the only person who could help him uncover it.
Daniel reached for the folder.
“Then you're coming with me.”
Victoria froze.
Arthur immediately said:
“No.”
Daniel looked at his father.
“Why?”
Arthur's face had gone white.
“Because the warehouse isn't abandoned.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes.
“Who owns it?”
Arthur whispered:
“Your mother.”
And somewhere across the city, a security camera flickered on.
A woman sat alone in a dark room.
Claire.
Her hands were tied.
Her face was bruised.
But she was alive.
She looked directly into the camera.
Then she whispered:
May you like
“Daniel… don't trust Victoria.”
The screen went black.
