“What does she mean?”
Claire’s lips parted, but no words came out.
Anna stood carefully, still holding her daughter against her.
“Six years ago, I was pregnant.”
Daniel went completely still.
Claire whispered, “Don’t listen to her.”
Anna’s voice sharpened.
“She found out before I had the chance to tell you.”
Daniel looked at the little girl again.
The same dark eyes.
The same tiny crease in her chin.
His voice broke.
“How old is she?”
Anna swallowed.
“Five.”
The room fell silent.
Daniel staggered backward.
Claire suddenly shouted:
“She LEFT you! I saved you!”
Anna stared at her.
“No. You threatened me.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
Anna continued.
“Claire told me that if I stayed, she would destroy my family. Then she paid someone to send you fake messages from my phone.”
Daniel looked at Claire in disbelief.
“You told me Anna wanted nothing to do with me.”
Claire began crying.
“I loved you!”
“You lied to me for six years.”
Claire shook her head violently.
“I did it because she was going to take everything from me!”
Anna suddenly reached into the pocket of her soaked uniform.
She pulled out an old folded envelope.
Claire’s face changed instantly.
“No.”
Anna held it toward Daniel.
“I kept the proof.”
Claire lunged forward.
Daniel grabbed the envelope first.
Inside was a bank transfer receipt.
A name.
A date.
And a payment made three days before Anna vanished.
Daniel stared at the signature.
It was Claire’s.
But underneath it was another name.
A name Daniel recognized immediately.
His hands began shaking.
“No…”
Anna nodded through tears.
“She wasn’t working alone.”
Daniel slowly looked toward the doorway.
Someone had been standing there listening the entire time.
His own mother.
And when Daniel met her eyes…
She whispered:
“Claire, you were supposed to destroy that receipt.”
