“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
“Because your father made me promise.”
“My father knew she was alive?”
“Yes.”
Outside, Reed stepped away from the porch and spoke into his phone.
Evelyn closed the curtains.
Daniel’s voice trembled. “Claire, I failed you in ways I cannot repair. Vanessa and I betrayed you. Nothing about Northstar changes that. But I never stole the company money for myself. I redirected payments because Marcus threatened to expose your father.”
“My father is dead.”
“The records could destroy his name.”
“Then let them.”
“You don’t understand what he did.”
I gripped the phone. “Stop deciding what I can survive.”
Silence followed.
“You’re right,” Daniel said.
It was the first time I had ever heard him surrender an argument without reshaping it.
James returned from the kitchen. “The sedan is there.”
Evelyn looked at me. “We have two choices. Trust the federal agent outside, or trust the husband who lied about nearly everything.”
