Chapter 12 - DIANA’S CONFESSION
Diana Sterling entered without jewelry.
Claire had never seen her that way.
No diamonds.
No pearls.
No silk scarf.
She looked older.
Smaller.
Afraid.
Eleanor did not offer her a seat.
Diana took one anyway.
Claire remained across the room.
“You visited me at St. Agnes.”
Diana closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“You let me stay there.”
Diana’s voice broke.
“I was afraid.”
Claire felt nothing resembling sympathy.
“Of whom?”
“My father.”
“Arthur Vale?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor stepped forward.
“What did he do?”
Diana looked at her.
“He took Claire.”
The room became silent.
Eleanor’s hands curled into fists.
Diana rushed on.
“Not personally.”
“He arranged it.”
“Malcolm paid him.”
Claire inhaled slowly.
The words felt strangely unsurprising.
The evidence had already led them there.
Still, hearing them spoken changed everything.
“Why?”
Claire asked.
Diana looked at her.
“Your grandfather was changing the family trust.”
“He planned to lock Malcolm out of control permanently.”
“Your existence made that possible.”
Claire frowned.
“How?”
Naomi answered.
“As Eleanor’s daughter, Claire preserved Eleanor’s branch of succession.”
Diana nodded.
“Malcolm believed that if Claire disappeared and was eventually declared dead, he could regain influence.”
Eleanor’s eyes filled with rage.
“He was willing to murder a three-year-old?”
“No.”
Diana shook her head violently.
“That was the agreement.”
“Claire was never supposed to die.”
“She was supposed to disappear.”
Claire stared at her.
“As if that’s better.”
Diana began crying.
“My father paid a woman to take you.”
“She drove you north.”
“She was supposed to leave you somewhere safe under another name.”
“What happened?”
“She panicked.”
“She left you outside St. Agnes.”
“And Malcolm knew?”
“Yes.”
“From the beginning?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor turned away.
Thirty years of grief hit her all at once.
Claire asked the question that mattered most.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
Diana looked ashamed.
“I was twenty-four when it happened.”
“I found my father’s records years later.”
“I confronted him.”
“He threatened me.”
“Then he died.”
“And after he died?”
Diana had no answer.
Claire’s voice hardened.
“You were no longer afraid of him.”
“No.”
“So why?”
Diana whispered.
“Money.”
There it was.
Raw.
Ugly.
Simple.
“Malcolm paid you?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Enough.”
Claire laughed without humor.
“Enough to leave a child in an orphanage?”
Diana covered her face.
“I told myself you were safe.”
“You watched me.”
“Yes.”
“You saw me there.”
“Yes.”
“You could have taken me home.”
“I know.”
“You could have called Eleanor.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t.”
“No.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“But you let your son marry me.”
Diana lowered her hands.
“That was Malcolm’s idea.”
Eleanor’s voice became dangerous.
“Richard knew?”
“Not at first.”
“When?”
“Before the wedding.”
Claire felt nauseated.
Richard had proposed knowing exactly who she was.
Diana continued.
“He wanted to tell you once.”
Claire looked up.
“When?”
“After you accepted his proposal.”
“What happened?”
“Malcolm reminded him how much Sterling Maritime owed.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Richard had chosen money.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Naomi asked.
“Why confess now?”
Diana stared at the floor.
“Because Malcolm is going to destroy Richard to save himself.”
Claire almost laughed.
“So this isn’t about me.”
Diana looked up desperately.
“I’m trying to fix what I did.”
“You cannot fix thirty years.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Claire’s voice cracked for the first time.
“You don’t.”
“You went home after visiting St. Agnes.”
“You slept in your own bed.”
“You celebrated birthdays.”
“You had a son.”
“You watched him grow.”
“My mother had an empty bedroom.”
Eleanor began crying silently.
“And I had nobody.”
Diana lowered her eyes.
Claire turned to Naomi.
“Call the investigators.”
Diana looked frightened.
“What are you doing?”
“Exactly what you should have done thirty years ago.”
Minutes later, federal agents arrived.
Diana gave them a full statement.
Before they escorted her out, she stopped beside Claire.
“There’s one more thing.”
Claire looked at her.
“Your father’s accident.”
Eleanor froze.
May you like
Diana whispered.
“It wasn’t an accident.”
