Chapter 13 - The Offer Claire Refused
Victor Harrison did not contact Claire through lawyers.
He sent flowers.
White roses.
Two dozen.
No card except a phone number.
Daniel immediately wanted them thrown away.
Claire kept the card.
“Why?”
“Because he wants me to call.”
“Exactly.”
“So maybe I should find out why.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Claire smiled slightly.
“You always say information matters.”
“I also say don’t walk willingly into traps.”
Claire called from Michael Brennan’s office with the call being legally recorded.
Victor answered immediately.
“Claire.”
“How do you know this is me?”
“I hoped.”
“What do you want?”
“To apologize for the article.”
She almost laughed.
“You planted it.”
“Can you prove that?”
“No.”
“Then perhaps we shouldn’t begin with accusations.”
Claire hated how calm he sounded.
“What do you want?”
“A conversation.”
“We’re having one.”
“In person.”
“No.”
Victor sighed.
“You really are Daniel’s daughter.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone from your circle has said about me.”
He laughed.
Then his tone changed.
“Ethan is going to lose.”
“Lose what?”
“The company.”
“He doesn’t care about owning it.”
“Everyone cares when something inherited becomes someone else’s property.”
“My husband isn’t my father-in-law.”
“Are you sure?”
Claire went quiet.
Victor continued.
“I can end this.”
“How?”
“Carter withdraws financing.”
“No.”
“In exchange, I guarantee Ethan a senior role after acquisition.”
Claire nearly laughed.
“You think I’ll ask my father to destroy eight hundred jobs so my husband can keep a title?”
“Jobs would remain.”
“For how long?”
Victor didn’t answer.
Claire smiled.
“That’s what I thought.”
“You’re emotional.”
“Men like you always say that when women understand the deal.”
Michael glanced at Claire approvingly.
Victor’s voice became colder.
“You should consider Lily.”
Claire’s smile vanished.
“What about my daughter?”
“The life she could have.”
“Be careful.”
“I’m offering security.”
“No. You’re mentioning my child because you think it frightens me.”
“It does.”
“Yes.”
Claire’s voice hardened.
“But fear isn’t the same thing as obedience.”
She ended the call.
Michael saved the recording.
“That was useful.”
“How?”
“He implied knowledge of post-acquisition employment plans not included in the public offer.”
“So?”
“It supports evidence that Harrison’s rescue bid may not be as neutral as claimed.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
“You okay?”
“No.”
She looked at Lily sleeping in a portable crib.
“But I’m getting tired of men deciding my daughter is leverage.”
Meanwhile, Richard had begun his own investigation.
Suspended and isolated, he contacted retired executives.
Old consultants.
Former bankers.
One name kept appearing.
Robert Keller.
Richard remembered meeting him years earlier.
Not through Harrison.
At a fundraiser.
Keller had casually mentioned that Daniel Carter was overly cautious with expansion.
Richard dismissed him.
Years later, Victor introduced Keller as an “industry strategist.”
Richard had never connected the two.
Now he realized Keller had been studying Carter for years.
Then Richard remembered something else.
A dinner.
Seven years earlier.
Ethan had just started dating Claire.
Victor Harrison had asked Richard about “the Carter girl.”
At the time, Richard thought Victor was making conversation.
“How serious is Ethan about her?”
Richard had laughed.
“She’s a farmer’s daughter.”
Victor smiled.
“Some farmers own more land than bankers.”
Richard had forgotten the sentence.
Now it returned like a warning.
Victor knew exactly who Claire was before Richard did.
Richard immediately called Ethan.
No answer.
He called Claire.
She almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“What?”
“Victor knew.”
Claire frowned.
“Knew what?”
“Who your father was.”
“When?”
“Before you married Ethan.”
Claire’s blood ran cold.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
Richard explained the old conversation.
Daniel overheard.
His expression changed.
“That means Harrison may have been watching Whitmore before the warehouse deal.”
Michael nodded.
“And watching Carter.”
Claire sat down.
Her marriage had once seemed like the one thing untouched by business.
Now she wondered whether people around them had been calculating its value from the beginning.
Ethan arrived later.
Claire told him.
He looked sick.
“Did my father know when we met?”
Richard said no.
Claire believed that part.
Richard’s arrogance had been genuine.
But Victor?
Victor had seen an opportunity years earlier.
Ethan took Claire’s hands.
“I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Did you ever think I knew?”
Claire hesitated.
The delay hurt him.
“For a few hours.”
Ethan looked down.
“I didn’t.”
“I know.”
“How?”
Claire thought.
“Because if you knew how rich my father was when we met…”
She smiled weakly.
“…you would have been too nervous to ask him for permission to marry me while wearing muddy shoes.”
Ethan laughed.
The memory hit them both.
Daniel had made Ethan help repair a broken gate before giving his blessing.
Ethan had thought it was a test.
Daniel later admitted he simply needed the gate fixed.
For a few minutes, everything felt normal.
Then Michael received a call.
Federal investigators had located Natalie Pierce.
She and her son were safe.
She had fled after someone threatened her.
More importantly, Natalie was willing to testify.
Against Richard.
Against Keller.
And against Victor Harrison.
But she demanded one condition.
May you like
She wanted to speak with Claire first.
Alone.
