CHAPTER 4 — CHLOE'S REAL PURPOSE
CHAPTER 4 — CHLOE'S REAL PURPOSE
At 11:47 PM, Clara was still awake.
The hospital room was dark except for the pale glow of the city beyond the window.
She had read the message twelve times.
Your mother is alive.
She had spent years believing Margaret was simply frightened of the Vances.
Now she wondered whether fear had been the wrong word.
Maybe her mother had been running.
Running from Arthur.
Running from Julian.
Running from the secret that had apparently been buried inside Clara's own life.
Clara looked at the second message.
She knows who the real father of your baby is.
Her hand moved instinctively to her stomach.
The baby shifted.
A small kick.
Clara whispered:
"Whatever the truth is, I'll protect you."
Then the hospital door opened.
She expected Mercer.
Instead, Chloe stepped inside.
Clara immediately reached for the call button.
"Don't."
Chloe raised both hands.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
"Then why are you here?"
Chloe closed the door.
"Because you need to know why Julian brought me into your life."
Clara stared at her.
"I already know."
"No."
Chloe shook her head.
"You don't."
THREE MONTHS EARLIER
Chloe had never met Clara when Julian first approached her.
She had only heard the name.
Clara Morgan.
The wife.
The quiet one.
The woman who never attended the right parties.
The woman Arthur Vance considered temporary.
Julian had invited Chloe to a private restaurant.
She remembered the night clearly.
Julian sat across from her.
A glass of untouched wine stood between them.
"You want a job?" he asked.
Chloe smiled.
"I already have one."
"I can give you a better one."
"Doing what?"
He slid a photograph across the table.
Clara.
Pregnant.
Walking out of a medical clinic.
Chloe looked at it.
"Who's she?"
"My wife."
"Why are you showing me?"
Julian leaned back.
"I need you to become her friend."
Chloe laughed.
"You're asking me to spy on your wife?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I need to know what she knows."
Chloe stared at him.
"And if she doesn't know anything?"
Julian's voice became colder.
"Then you'll find out."
PRESENT DAY
Clara listened without interrupting.
"So you were spying on me."
Chloe nodded.
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Six months."
Clara's expression hardened.
"And the affair?"
Chloe looked away.
"That part was real."
Clara's jaw tightened.
"So you slept with my husband because you were investigating me?"
"At first."
"And later?"
Chloe's eyes filled with shame.
"I fell in love with him."
Clara almost laughed.
"That's convenient."
"I know how it sounds."
"It sounds exactly like what it was."
Chloe swallowed.
"Julian promised me things."
"Money?"
"Yes."
"Marriage?"
"Yes."
"A future?"
"Yes."
Clara stared at her.
"And you believed him."
"I did."
"Until when?"
Chloe took a breath.
"Until I discovered what he really wanted."
Clara's expression changed.
"What?"
"Your baby."
Silence.
Chloe walked toward the bed.
"Julian wasn't interested in replacing you."
Clara stared.
"He wanted access to your child."
"Why?"
"Because Arthur believed the baby would unlock the Morgan Trust."
Clara's hand tightened around the blanket.
"That's what Julian told me."
"It's true."
"But why does my baby matter?"
Chloe hesitated.
"Because of your blood."
Clara's eyes narrowed.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's the truth."
Chloe pulled a folded photograph from her coat.
She placed it on the bed.
Clara picked it up.
It showed a group of people standing outside an old mansion.
One man immediately caught her attention.
Her grandfather.
Beside him stood Arthur Vance.
And beside Arthur—
a woman.
Clara stared.
"Who is she?"
Chloe answered:
"Arthur's first wife."
Clara looked closer.
She had never seen the woman before.
"What happened to her?"
"She died."
"How?"
Chloe looked at her.
"She was murdered."
Clara froze.
"By whom?"
"We don't know."
"Then why are you showing me?"
"Because she was investigating Arthur."
Clara turned the photograph over.
There was handwriting on the back.
One sentence.
If anything happens to me, trust no Vance.
Clara's fingers went cold.
THE WOMAN BEHIND THE AFFAIR
"Chloe."
"Yes?"
"Who sent you?"
"Arthur."
Clara stared.
"Not Julian?"
"Julian recruited me."
"But Arthur paid me."
"Why?"
"To make sure you stayed distracted."
Clara's eyes hardened.
"From what?"
"Your own investigation."
Chloe looked down.
"Arthur knew you were collecting evidence."
"When?"
"Long before the baby shower."
"How?"
"Someone inside your house was reporting to him."
Clara's stomach tightened.
"Who?"
Chloe shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then tell me what you do know."
Chloe hesitated.
"Your housekeeper."
Clara's eyes widened.
"Maria?"
"No."
Chloe shook her head.
"Not Maria."
"Then who?"
Chloe whispered:
"Your personal assistant."
Clara froze.
"Lena?"
"Yes."
Clara remembered.
Lena had worked for her for almost a year.
She had access to her appointments.
Her emails.
Her schedule.
Her medical records.
Her home.
Everything.
"Why would she do that?"
"Money."
"How much?"
"Enough."
Clara closed her eyes.
Another betrayal.
Another person.
Another lie.
She had spent months surrounded by people who smiled at her while secretly reporting everything she did.
Then Chloe said:
"But Lena wasn't the most dangerous person."
Clara opened her eyes.
"Who was?"
Chloe looked terrified.
"Me."
THE REAL PURPOSE
Clara stared at her.
"What did you do?"
Chloe's voice dropped.
"I wasn't sent here simply to spy on you."
"Then why?"
"To make you leave Julian."
Clara frowned.
"Why would Arthur want that?"
"Because if you divorced Julian before giving birth, the baby would not automatically remain under Vance control."
Clara understood.
"So he wanted me emotionally unstable."
"Yes."
"And the affair?"
"To make you angry enough to leave."
"Then why did Julian bring you to the baby shower?"
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
"Because the plan changed."
"What plan?"
"They decided to take your baby."
Clara went still.
"That was why they wanted me to leave?"
"No."
Chloe shook her head.
"They wanted you to leave without the baby."
Clara's breath caught.
"They planned to claim you were mentally unstable."
"Why?"
"Because they had medical records."
Clara stared.
"What records?"
"Your pregnancy anxiety."
Clara remembered.
The appointments.
The sleepless nights.
The panic attacks after discovering Julian's affair.
"They were building a case against me."
"Yes."
Chloe nodded.
"They planned to tell the court you were emotionally unstable and incapable of raising the child."
Clara's hands began trembling.
"And then?"
"Julian would get custody."
"Of my baby."
"Yes."
"And Arthur would control the trust."
"Exactly."
Clara looked at Chloe.
"Why tell me now?"
Chloe looked away.
"Because I saw what Julian did today."
"The punch?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"I realized something."
"What?"
Chloe's voice broke.
"People like the Vances don't stop when you obey them."
Clara said nothing.
"They keep asking for more."
Chloe wiped her eyes.
"I helped them destroy you."
"Yes."
"I'm sorry."
"Sorry doesn't erase it."
"I know."
"Then why are you here?"
Chloe reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small black flash drive.
"Because I stole this from Julian."
Clara stared at it.
"What's on it?"
"Everything."
THE FLASH DRIVE
Clara connected the drive to her laptop.
A folder appeared.
PROJECT MIRACLE
Inside were dozens of files.
Medical reports.
Bank transfers.
Private investigators' reports.
Photographs.
Surveillance footage.
Clara opened one file.
Her blood ran cold.
It was a recording of her entering a fertility clinic.
Another showed her leaving.
Another showed her speaking with her doctor.
Another showed Julian watching from across the street.
Clara whispered:
"They were following me."
Chloe nodded.
"Yes."
She opened another file.
A document appeared.
SUBJECT: CLARA MORGAN
Underneath:
OBJECTIVE: PRODUCE FEMALE/MORGAN DESCENDANT.
Clara stopped.
"Female?"
Chloe nodded.
"That was the original plan."
"But I'm having a boy."
"That's why Arthur panicked."
Clara stared.
"What does the baby's sex have to do with anything?"
Chloe took a breath.
"The Morgan Trust can only be transferred through a specific bloodline."
"Which means?"
"Your child has to carry the Morgan blood."
Clara looked down at her stomach.
"Any child?"
"No."
Chloe's expression became grim.
"The first male descendant."
Clara froze.
Her unborn son.
The first male descendant.
The heir.
Suddenly Julian's words at the baby shower made sense.
She's carrying the real heir.
He hadn't meant Chloe.
He had meant Clara's unborn child.
But there was something else.
Clara scrolled through the files.
Then stopped.
A DNA report.
She opened it.
Her eyes widened.
"Chloe."
"What?"
"This isn't my baby's DNA."
Chloe looked at the screen.
"That's not the final report."
"What is it?"
"A preliminary test."
"Whose?"
Chloe stared at the name.
"Julian."
Clara's heart pounded.
"Why would they test Julian?"
Chloe whispered:
"Because Arthur wasn't sure Julian was the father."
Silence.
Clara stared at the screen.
"Then who is?"
Chloe looked away.
"I don't know."
Clara opened another file.
There was a photograph.
A man.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
A familiar face.
Clara's blood turned cold.
She knew him.
Not well.
But she had seen him.
Several times.
At the Vance company.
At charity dinners.
In the background of photographs.
Clara whispered:
"Who is that?"
Chloe answered:
"Daniel Reed."
Clara stared.
"Arthur's former financial director."
"Yes."
"He's dead."
Chloe shook her head.
"No."
Clara looked at her.
"He's alive."
THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED
Daniel Reed had disappeared three years earlier.
Arthur told everyone he had stolen money and fled the country.
But according to Chloe, that was a lie.
"He discovered the Morgan accounts."
"And Arthur killed him?"
"No."
"Then what happened?"
"He ran."
"Why?"
"Because he discovered what the Vances were really doing."
Clara looked at the photograph again.
"Where is he now?"
Chloe shook her head.
"I don't know."
"But someone does."
"Who?"
Chloe looked toward the window.
"Your mother."
Clara's heart stopped.
"My mother knows where Daniel Reed is?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Because he helped her disappear."
Clara stared at Chloe.
Suddenly everything connected.
Her mother's disappearance.
The secret trust.
Arthur's obsession.
The marriage.
The pregnancy.
The surveillance.
The affair.
The raid.
None of it had been random.
It had been planned for years.
Then Chloe whispered:
"There's one more thing."
Clara looked at her.
"What?"
"Julian knows Daniel Reed is alive."
Clara's eyes hardened.
"How?"
"He spoke to him."
"When?"
"Last week."
Clara's heart began racing.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
"Why?"
Chloe's face became pale.
"Because Daniel threatened to expose everything."
"Then why didn't he?"
"Because Julian made him an offer."
"What offer?"
Chloe whispered:
"Your baby."
A sudden noise came from the hallway.
Both women froze.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Approaching the room.
Chloe immediately turned off the laptop.
"Someone's coming."
Clara reached for the call button.
The footsteps stopped outside.
Then a man's voice came through the door.
"Mrs. Vance?"
Clara recognized it.
Mercer.
She exhaled.
The door opened.
Mercer entered.
He looked at Chloe.
His expression changed instantly.
"What is she doing here?"
Clara answered:
"She came to tell me the truth."
Mercer looked at the flash drive.
"Did she give you that?"
"Yes."
Mercer took it.
He examined it carefully.
Then looked at Chloe.
"Where did you get this?"
"Julian's office."
Mercer nodded.
"Then we have a serious problem."
"Why?"
Mercer looked at Clara.
"Because we just found Julian."
Clara's stomach tightened.
"Where?"
Mercer's expression was grim.
"He left federal custody twenty minutes ago."
"What?"
"He wasn't released."
"Then how did he leave?"
Mercer hesitated.
"Someone inside the building helped him."
Clara stared.
"Who?"
Mercer looked toward Chloe.
Then back at Clara.
"We don't know."
His phone vibrated.
He answered.
"Mercer."
He listened.
His expression changed.
"Repeat that."
Silence.
"Are you sure?"
Another pause.
"Send the location."
He hung up.
Clara stared at him.
"What happened?"
Mercer looked at her.
"We found Daniel Reed."
"Where?"
"He was attacked."
"Is he alive?"
"Yes."
Clara breathed again.
"Where is he?"
Mercer looked at the door.
"Three miles from here."
"Then let's go."
"You can't."
"I'm going."
"You're eight months pregnant."
"He knows something about my baby."
Mercer shook his head.
"No."
Clara stared.
"What?"
Mercer lowered his voice.
"Daniel Reed wasn't attacked because he knows about your baby."
"Then why?"
Mercer handed her his phone.
A photograph filled the screen.
Daniel Reed was lying unconscious in an alley.
Beside him was a message written in black ink.
SHE KNOWS TOO MUCH.
Clara stared.
Then she noticed something else.
A small silver pendant lying beside Daniel's hand.
The same pendant her mother had given her.
Clara's face went white.
"That's my mother's."
Mercer nodded.
"And that's why this isn't just about the Vances anymore."
Clara looked at Chloe.
Chloe was crying.
"Then who is it about?"
Mercer answered:
"Someone who has been controlling the Vances from behind the scenes."
The monitor beside Clara suddenly accelerated.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Her baby kicked hard.
Clara placed both hands over her stomach.
And for the first time, she understood the terrifying possibility.
May you like
Arthur Vance might never have been the mastermind.
He might have been only another pawn.
