Chapter 4
The police couldn't do much. One photo. No threat. No way to trace it.
But I took it seriously. I moved to a hotel. Changed my routine. Started taking different routes to work.
And I doubled down on the case.
If they wanted to play dirty, I'd play harder.
My team found more. Much more. Not just embezzlement—money laundering. Tax evasion. Bribery of building inspectors. The Hawthornes hadn't just been stealing from their company. They'd been running a criminal enterprise.
And Daniel's name was on several of the accounts.
He wasn't just complicit. He was active.
I presented everything to Marcus. He brought in the FBI.
The FBI moved quietly. They didn't want to tip the Hawthornes off. For two weeks, they built their case. Interviews. Subpoenas. Bank records.
Meanwhile, the Hawthornes were escalating.
They hired a private investigator. He followed me. Photographed me. Tried to get into my hotel room.
They called my colleagues. Tried to spread rumors that I was unstable. That I'd had a breakdown. That I was fabricating evidence because my marriage had fallen apart.
They even contacted my family. My mother called me, worried. Some man had called her, asking questions about my "mental health."
I filed a restraining order. Against all three of them. Margaret. Vanessa. Daniel.
The day it was granted, Vanessa showed up at my office.
Security stopped her in the lobby. She demanded to see me. She was screaming.
"Claire! You think you can destroy my family? You think you can take everything from us? I'll ruin you! I'll make sure you never work in this city again!"
Security escorted her out. But not before half the building heard her.
Marcus came to my office.
"You okay?" he said.
"I'm fine," I said. But my hands were shaking.
"Claire, if this is too much—"
"It's not." I looked up at him. "Marcus, they threatened my mother. They're following me. They're trying to destroy my reputation. And they're criminals. I'm not backing down. I'm not scared."
I was scared. Terrified, actually. But I'd be damned if I let them see it.
Marcus nodded. "The FBI is ready. They're moving in tomorrow morning."
I took a deep breath.
"Tomorrow," I said. "Okay."
That night, I didn't sleep. I lay in my hotel bed, the lights on, the door double-locked, and I thought about everything.
The wedding. The vows. The man I'd thought I loved.
And I realized something.
I hadn't loved Daniel. I'd loved the version of him he'd shown me. The charming, attentive, kind man. But that man had never existed.
He'd been a mask. And I'd fallen for it.
May you like
But that was over. The mask was off. And I was wide awake.
Tomorrow, it ended.
