Chapter 16 - The Mother by the Sea
Clara lived in Maine.
Under the name Claire Benton.
Emily spent the entire flight staring at the photograph.
Daniel sat across from her.
Margaret remained behind.
She had cried for nearly an hour after learning Clara might be alive.
Emily felt no joy yet.
Only fear.
What if the woman rejected her?
What if the photograph was another manipulation?
What if Clara had known where Emily was all along?
They arrived at a weathered house outside Camden just before sunset.
Emily walked to the door alone.
She knocked.
Footsteps approached.
The door opened.
The woman in the photograph stood there.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Clara looked at Emily’s eyebrow.
The birthmark.
Her hand covered her mouth.
“Emily.”
Emily’s knees nearly gave way.
“You know me.”
Clara began crying.
“I’ve known your face every day of my life.”
Emily’s anger arrived before the tears.
“Then why didn’t you come?”
Clara closed her eyes.
“I couldn’t.”
“That’s what everyone says.”
“I know.”
“Twenty-nine years.”
“I know.”
“You let me grow up believing no one wanted me.”
“No.”
Clara stepped forward.
Emily stepped back.
“Don’t.”
Clara stopped.
“I wrote letters.”
“I never got them.”
“Gerald intercepted them.”
“Then why not come yourself?”
“Because Richard was alive.”
“He died years ago.”
Clara looked toward Daniel.
“Richard wasn’t the only one.”
Emily stared.
“Gerald?”
“Yes.”
“He died two years ago.”
Clara nodded.
“I was preparing to come.”
“What stopped you?”
Clara’s face tightened.
“Vanessa.”
Emily felt cold.
“She found me.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Everything clicked.
Vanessa had learned about Emily around the same time.
Clara explained that Vanessa visited her in Maine.
She claimed Emily was happy.
Married.
Pregnant.
She showed photographs.
Then she offered Clara money to stay away.
“What did you say?”
“I refused.”
“Then?”
“She threatened you.”
Clara’s voice broke.
“She said if I came near New York, you would lose your job, your home, and everything connected to Daniel.”
Emily laughed bitterly.
“She tried that anyway.”
Clara looked confused.
Daniel explained the necklace.
The CCTV.
The trust.
Clara closed her eyes.
“My father’s poison survived him.”
Emily asked the question that mattered.
“Why did Vanessa hate me personally?”
Clara looked toward the ocean.
“Because she believed you were responsible for Gerald’s death.”
Emily stared.
“I never met him.”
“No.”
“But Gerald discovered your identity two weeks before he died.”
Clara turned back.
“He planned to change his will.”
Vanessa’s inheritance.
Vale Capital.
Everything.
“He wanted to give it to me?”
“No.”
May you like
Clara’s eyes hardened.
“He wanted to give it back to you.”
