Chapter 7 — Lauren's Secret
Chapter 7 — Lauren's Secret
Lauren Thorne disappeared before sunrise.
By the time I found out, three people had already called me.
My father.
Daniel.
And Matthew.
None of them knew where she was.
That was the first thing that frightened me.
The second was the message I received at 6:13 a.m.
Lauren knows what happened to your mother.
I read it twice.
Then a second message appeared.
But she isn't the woman you think she is.
I immediately called the number.
Disconnected.
I called again.
Nothing.
I showed my father.
His expression hardened.
“Where did you get this?”
“Anonymous number.”
“Delete it.”
“No.”
“Clare.”
“I've spent seven years being told what I can and cannot know.”
I slipped the phone into my pocket.
“That ends today.”
My father stared at me.
Then he nodded.
“Good.”
The Empty Apartment
Daniel traced Lauren's last known location to a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side.
The building manager let us in after my father identified himself.
Lauren's apartment looked as though someone had searched it.
Drawers were open.
Clothes were scattered across the floor.
A mirror had been smashed.
The safe was empty.
But Lauren was gone.
I walked toward the bedroom.
A photograph sat on the floor.
I picked it up.
It showed Lauren at twenty-two.
She was standing beside an older woman.
My mother.
I stared.
“No.”
Daniel looked over my shoulder.
“That's Elena Sterling.”
“I know.”
“But why would Lauren have a photograph with her?”
I turned it over.
There was handwriting on the back.
If Clare ever comes looking, give her the truth.
My mother's handwriting.
My hands began trembling.
Lauren hadn't been Matthew's mistress for seven years.
She had known my mother.
Before she knew Matthew.
Before my marriage.
Before NexusCore.
I looked at Daniel.
“Find her.”
The Hidden Room
We searched the apartment again.
Daniel noticed something behind the wardrobe.
A narrow panel.
He pulled it open.
Behind it was a small room.
No windows.
No furniture.
Just shelves.
Files.
Photographs.
And boxes.
I stepped inside.
The first box contained newspaper clippings.
STERLING FAMILY LEGACY
ELENA STERLING'S DEATH
BLACKWELL DISPUTE
STERLING TRUST CONTROVERSY
The second box contained photographs.
My mother.
My father.
Richard.
Edward.
Matthew.
And Lauren.
I picked up a photograph of Matthew.
He was standing beside Richard.
The date was six months before I met him.
But there was something strange.
Lauren stood between them.
And she wasn't smiling.
On the back:
The girl knows.
I felt cold.
“Who wrote that?”
Daniel examined the handwriting.
“Not Lauren.”
I opened another box.
Inside was a small cassette recorder.
An old-fashioned one.
I pressed play.
Static.
Then my mother's voice.
“If you're hearing this, Lauren, then I'm already gone.”
I stopped breathing.
Daniel looked at me.
The recording continued.
“You are the only person I trust to protect my daughter.”
My heart broke.
My mother knew Lauren.
She had chosen Lauren.
But why?
Elena's Warning
My mother's voice continued.
“Clare believes love will protect her.”
A pause.
“It won't.”
I closed my eyes.
“Matthew has been approached by Richard.”
My stomach tightened.
“He is frightened.”
The recording continued.
“He believes he has no choice.”
I looked at Daniel.
My mother knew.
She knew about Matthew.
She knew about Richard.
And somehow, she knew about me.
“If Matthew accepts the assignment, don't expose him immediately.”
I stared at the recorder.
“Watch him.”
My mother's voice became quieter.
“Find out whether he is a prisoner or a willing participant.”
The recording ended.
Silence.
I couldn't move.
Daniel finally spoke.
“Mrs. Hayes…”
“My mother knew.”
“Yes.”
“She knew Matthew was coming.”
“Yes.”
“She knew I would marry him.”
“Apparently.”
I looked at the recorder.
Then I noticed a second cassette.
I pressed play.
My mother's voice returned.
But this time she sounded terrified.
“Lauren, if Richard discovers what I've hidden, he will come after Clare.”
A man's voice suddenly interrupted.
“Who are you talking to?”
My mother gasped.
The recording ended.
I stared at Daniel.
“Who was that?”
“We need to find out.”
Then I heard footsteps.
Behind us.
Lauren
I turned.
Lauren stood in the doorway.
Her face was bruised.
One side of her lip was split.
She held a gun.
Daniel immediately reached for his weapon.
“Don't.”
Lauren raised the gun.
“Don't come closer.”
I stared at her.
“Who hurt you?”
She looked at me.
“Richard.”
My stomach tightened.
“You escaped?”
“Yes.”
“Where were you?”
“His people took me.”
“Why?”
“Because they thought I had the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
Lauren laughed bitterly.
“The ledger your mother left.”
I frowned.
“My mother left a ledger?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Lauren looked at the floor.
“You already have it.”
I didn't understand.
“What are you talking about?”
She looked toward the shelves.
“The black notebook.”
My breath caught.
Matthew's notebook.
The one I had taken from the penthouse.
“That's not my mother's.”
“It contains her records.”
“Matthew kept it.”
“Matthew was told to keep it.”
“By Richard?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Lauren's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother.”
The Woman Behind the Affair
I stepped toward her.
“You're lying.”
“I wish I were.”
“Then explain.”
Lauren lowered the gun.
“Your mother knew Matthew would be forced into the marriage.”
My heart tightened.
“Why didn't she stop him?”
“Because she couldn't.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard had something against him.”
“The accident.”
Lauren nodded.
“But that wasn't the only thing.”
“What else?”
Lauren looked at me.
“Matthew's sister.”
I frowned.
“He doesn't have a sister.”
Lauren's face hardened.
“That's what everyone was told.”
I remembered Chapter Six.
The missing millions.
The false identities.
The Blackwell network.
Everything was beginning to resemble a carefully constructed maze.
“Who is his sister?”
Lauren whispered:
“Emma Hayes.”
I stared.
“Where is she?”
“Dead.”
My breath caught.
“When?”
“Eight years ago.”
I looked at her.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
Lauren's voice broke.
“She died the same week your mother did.”
Two Deaths
My mother's death.
Matthew's sister's death.
Same week.
Same city.
Same conspiracy.
I suddenly felt dizzy.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?”
“Because the deaths were connected.”
“How?”
Lauren shook her head.
“I don't know everything.”
“Then tell me what you know.”
She looked toward the window.
“Emma discovered that Richard was moving money through the Sterling trust.”
“She knew about the missing millions?”
“Yes.”
“She tried to expose him.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Lauren's eyes filled with fear.
“She disappeared.”
“And Matthew?”
“He blamed Richard.”
“So why did Matthew work for him?”
“Because Richard found her.”
My stomach dropped.
“Emma was alive?”
“For a while.”
“Where?”
Lauren whispered:
“In a private facility in Connecticut.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Can we verify that?”
He was already reaching for his phone.
Lauren continued.
“Matthew was told that if he cooperated, Richard would let Emma live.”
I felt something crack inside me.
“So Matthew didn't marry me for the money.”
“Not entirely.”
“What does that mean?”
“He was supposed to get access to your trust.”
“Yes.”
“But there was another objective.”
“What?”
Lauren looked directly into my eyes.
“Your mother had hidden the original trust ledger.”
I swallowed.
“Where?”
“Inside your family.”
“Who had it?”
Lauren whispered:
“You.”
The Memory
I tried to remember.
My childhood.
My mother's bedroom.
Her jewelry.
Her books.
Her desk.
Nothing.
Then something surfaced.
A memory from when I was seventeen.
My mother had given me a small silver locket.
She told me:
“Never lose this.”
I wore it for years.
Until the day I married Matthew.
Then I put it away.
I looked at Lauren.
“The locket.”
She nodded.
“Your mother hid a key inside it.”
My heart pounded.
“A key to what?”
“The original trust ledger.”
I reached into my bag.
The locket was there.
I had carried it for years.
I opened it.
A tiny compartment sat beneath the photograph of my mother.
Inside was a key.
I stared.
Lauren whispered:
“Your mother trusted you.”
The Ledger
We returned to my father's residence.
My father was waiting.
When he saw the key, his face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
“Mom.”
He sat down.
“She gave it to you?”
“Yes.”
He looked devastated.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know.”
Lauren entered behind me.
My father's eyes narrowed.
“You.”
Lauren lowered her head.
“You knew my wife.”
“Yes.”
“You knew what she was doing.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Matthew.”
“Yes.”
My father walked toward her.
“Why didn't you come to me?”
“Because your wife told me not to.”
He stopped.
“Why?”
“Because she didn't trust you.”
My father closed his eyes.
I looked at him.
“Dad…”
Lauren interrupted.
“She had a reason.”
My father looked at her.
“What reason?”
Lauren whispered:
“She believed someone in your household was working for Richard.”
Everyone became silent.
My father looked at Daniel.
Then the guards.
Then Edward's name came up without anyone saying it.
“Who?”
Lauren shook her head.
“She never told me.”
“But you know.”
“I know one thing.”
“What?”
“The person helping Richard isn't outside the family.”
She looked at me.
“They're inside.”
The Secret Compartment
My father took me to the old Sterling estate.
We entered my mother's bedroom.
The room hadn't changed.
Her perfume bottle still sat on the dresser.
Her books remained on the shelves.
I touched the photograph on the wall.
My mother smiled back at me.
My father opened a drawer.
“Your mother spent her final months here.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“She knew she was in danger.”
“Yes.”
I inserted the key into a small lock hidden beneath the desk.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a ledger.
Black leather.
Old.
Heavy.
I lifted it.
My father whispered:
“That's it.”
I opened the first page.
Names.
Companies.
Accounts.
Dates.
Payments.
Then I saw something.
Blackwell Holdings — $48,000,000
Hayes Family Holdings — $48,000,000
Vale Strategic — $27,000,000
I froze.
“Edward.”
My father looked at the page.
His face went white.
But there was another name.
One that neither of us expected.
Sterling Family Security — $12,000,000
I looked at my father.
“What's that?”
He didn't answer.
I turned the page.
A handwritten note appeared.
My mother's handwriting.
The money was not stolen. It was used to pay someone inside the Sterling family.
Below it:
I know who.
Then the page had been torn out.
I looked at my father.
“Who was she going to name?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Lauren suddenly whispered:
“I do.”
We turned.
She pointed toward the ledger.
“Your mother told me.”
“Who?”
Lauren's voice trembled.
“Your father's brother.”
I stared.
“My father doesn't have a brother.”
Lauren looked at me.
“That's what your family believes.”
The Brother Who Was Erased
My father stood completely still.
Lauren continued.
“Your grandfather had another son.”
My father's face drained of color.
“He died before you were born.”
“No,” my father whispered.
“He didn't.”
I looked between them.
“What are you saying?”
Lauren answered:
“Your uncle is alive.”
My father's hands began shaking.
“That's impossible.”
“He's the one who helped Richard move the money.”
“Who?”
Lauren looked at me.
Then she said the name.
“Alexander Sterling.”
My father stumbled backward.
I had never heard that name in my life.
But my father had.
Because he whispered:
“Alex.”
And for the first time since I had begun uncovering the truth, I saw genuine terror in my father's eyes.
Lauren lowered her voice.
“Your mother found him eight years ago.”
“Where?”
“She was going to expose him.”
“What happened?”
Lauren looked at me.
“She never got the chance.”
My heart pounded.
“Did he kill her?”
Lauren didn't answer.
Instead, she looked at my father.
“Ask him.”
I turned.
My father was crying.
Not silently.
Not discreetly.
The powerful man who had faced billion-dollar lawsuits without blinking was standing in his wife's old bedroom, shaking.
I stepped toward him.
“Dad.”
He looked at me.
“I thought Alex was dead.”
“But he's alive.”
“Yes.”
“And Mom found him.”
“Yes.”
“And he was working with Richard.”
My father nodded.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
He looked at the ledger.
“Because I thought I killed him.”
I froze.
“What?”
My father swallowed.
“The night your mother died…”
His voice broke.
“Alex was there.”
The room seemed to tilt.
My mother hadn't died alone.
My father had lied.
Richard had lied.
Edward had lied.
Matthew had lied.
And now another Sterling had emerged from the shadows.
A man everyone believed was dead.
A man connected to the missing millions.
A man my mother had tried to expose.
Then my phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
It showed an older man standing outside a train station.
The caption read:
Hello, Clare.
A second message followed.
I'm your uncle.
Then:
And your mother asked me to protect you.
I stared at the screen.
My father whispered:
“No.”
Another message appeared.
But I failed her once.
I won't fail her twice.
Then the final message:
Richard will come for you tonight.
I looked at my father.
For the first time, the fear in his eyes was unmistakable.
Because whoever Alexander Sterling was—
he knew exactly what had happened to my mother.
May you like
And if his warning was true, Richard Blackwell wasn't waiting forty-eight hours anymore.
He was coming for me tonight.
