Chapter 14 - Natalie’s Betrayal
Claire needed evidence.
Natalie claimed she had it.
They met inside an empty church near the Whitmore house.
Natalie carried a flash drive.
“Julian keeps copies of everything.”
Claire did not take it immediately.
“Why are you helping me?”
Natalie looked exhausted.
“Because he chose the company.”
Claire almost laughed.
“So this is revenge?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Owen.”
Natalie’s voice broke.
“Julian wants me to sign a statement saying Owen isn’t his.”
Claire stared.
“He wants to destroy his own son’s paternity?”
“He says it’s necessary.”
“Why?”
“Because Dad knew about Owen.”
Claire understood.
Thomas’s knowledge connected Julian to the conspiracy years earlier.
If Owen’s paternity became public, investigators could establish motive for Thomas’s private investigation.
Natalie handed over the drive.
“It has emails between Julian and his father.”
Claire inserted it into her laptop.
Folders appeared.
She opened the first.
Messages dated fifteen years earlier.
Richard Mercer to Julian.
SHE IS VOSS’S DAUGHTER.
COURT HER.
DO NOT DISCUSS THE TRUST UNTIL AFTER MARRIAGE.
Claire kept reading.
Julian’s reply was only one sentence.
What about Natalie?
Richard answered.
End it.
Claire looked at her sister.
“You knew he was told to leave you.”
Natalie nodded.
“But you kept seeing him.”
“Yes.”
Claire closed the laptop.
“I don’t know whether I can ever forgive you.”
“I know.”
Natalie wiped her cheeks.
“But I’m done protecting him.”
A sound came from the rear of the church.
Both women turned.
Julian stood near the doors.
He had heard everything.
Natalie went pale.
“How did you find us?”
Julian held up his phone.
“You still share your location with Owen.”
Natalie stepped backward.
Julian’s eyes moved to the flash drive.
“Give it to me.”
Claire closed her fist around it.
“No.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
He took another step.
Natalie moved between them.
“Leave her alone.”
Julian looked at Natalie with contempt.
“You think she’ll forgive you?”
Natalie flinched.
“She doesn’t have to.”
Julian smiled.
Then he said the sentence Claire would remember for the rest of her life.
“You were always the disposable sister.”
Natalie slapped him.
The sound echoed beneath the church ceiling.
Julian stared at her.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face slowly changed.
“What do you mean she filed it?”
Claire watched.
Julian turned toward her.
“Your mother just testified.”
“About what?”
His voice was barely audible.
“About my father.”
May you like
And suddenly Evelyn Whitmore, the woman who had lied for thirty-eight years, had become the witness who could bring the entire Mercer family down.
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