Chapter 5 - THE OFFER
Richard recovered quickly.
He placed the document case on Daniel’s desk and removed his coat.
“Everyone needs to calm down.”
“No,” I said.
“You’ve depended on that sentence for too long.”
Daniel shut the office door.
“What did you take?”
“Copies of documents carrying my forged signature.”
“You’re making this sound criminal.”
Maya’s expression did not change.
“Forgery is criminal.”
Richard opened the case.
Inside was a postnuptial agreement.
He placed it on the desk in front of me.
“You will retain the house, two million dollars, and a generous annual payment.”
Daniel stared at him.
“What are you doing?”
“Solving the problem.”
Richard turned back to me.
“In exchange, you will transfer your interests in Bennett Surgical Partners and agree not to interfere with Daniel’s professional relationships.”
“You mean Claire.”
“I mean the hospital, the foundation, and the practice.”
Maya skimmed the first page.
“This also contains a confidentiality clause covering financial misconduct.”
Richard smiled.
“Standard language.”
“It protects fraud.”
“It protects a family.”
I looked at Daniel.
“Were you going to give me this after Cancun?”
He avoided my eyes.
Claire appeared in the hallway behind him.
She had followed them to the house.
Her mascara was smudged.
Her confidence was gone.
“Daniel told me you were already divorced,” she said.
“Stop talking,” Richard ordered.
Claire ignored him.
“He told me the practice was his.”
“It is mine,” Daniel said.
I almost felt sorry for him.
He still did not understand his own documents.
When my mother financed the practice, she had insisted on protecting the investment.
Daniel held forty-nine percent.
My family trust held fifty-one.
He managed the medical work.
I controlled major transfers.
That was why they needed my signature.
That was why they had forged it.
Richard leaned toward me.
“Take the offer.”
“Why?”
“Because public accusations will destroy Daniel.”
“Daniel seems willing to destroy me.”
“You will destroy the children too.”
Sophie and Noah had already been used as weapons once that day.
I would not allow it again.
“Leave them out of this.”
“You are their stepmother.”
“I am the woman who raised them.”
“And a scandal will follow them everywhere.”
Daniel finally spoke.
“Rachel, take the money.”
I stared at him.
He sounded almost bored.
As though twelve years could be converted into a number and entered on a form.
“Did you ever love me?” I asked.
He exhaled sharply.
“Don’t do this.”
“That is not an answer.”
“We had a good life.”
“That is not an answer either.”
Claire looked at him.
For the first time, she seemed to realize she might not be the exception.
Daniel glanced at the postnuptial agreement.
“You were safe with me.”
“No.”
I placed the unsigned agreement back inside Richard’s case.
“I was useful to you.”
Richard’s phone rang.
He answered, listened, and turned pale.
“What happened?” Daniel asked.
Richard ended the call.
“The transfer to Northstar was rejected.”
Daniel looked at me.
I had not done anything.
Maya had not done anything.
Someone inside the practice had stopped them before I even reached the airport.
Then my phone received a message from an unknown number.
May you like
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Do not trust anyone in Daniel’s family.
They know about the dead patient.
