Chapter 17
Dad ended the call with Victor only after authorities confirmed they were moving toward Chloe’s hotel.
Then he turned to Claire.
“What did you do?”
I had never heard his voice sound like that.
Not anger.
Betrayal.
Claire sat down.
“I didn’t give Richard her schedule.”
“What did you give?”
“Avery’s enrollment plan.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
She looked directly at me.
“Because I didn’t trust Westbridge.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I wanted someone monitoring you.”
“Who?”
“A private investigator.”
Dad’s face changed.
“Which investigator?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Ward Strategic.”
I felt sick.
Sienna’s father.
Dad stepped back.
“You hired Oliver?”
“Not Oliver personally.”
“You hired his company.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three weeks before Avery started school.”
I stood.
“You were having me watched?”
“For safety.”
“That photograph—”
“I thought those were from my investigator.”
Dad stared at her.
“You put our daughter into their system.”
“Our?”
Claire flinched.
Dad corrected himself.
“My daughter.”
The mistake revealed how much Claire had once been part of our daily family.
She whispered, “I didn’t know Oliver was involved with Richard.”
“I warned you about Richard,” Dad snapped.
“And you ignored me!”
The room exploded.
Claire stood.
“I spent five years telling you something was wrong!”
“So you secretly surveilled my child?”
“I was trying to keep her safe from the people you refused to investigate!”
Dad looked like he might shatter.
I stepped between them.
“Stop.”
Neither did.
Claire pointed at him.
“David Bennett died. You accepted the first report because Richard told you to.”
Dad shouted back.
“I know!”
Silence.
That single word filled the room.
Dad’s eyes were wet.
“I know what I did.”
Claire’s anger collapsed.
He continued.
“I know I failed David.”
His voice broke.
“I know Maya spent eighteen months imprisoned while people I trusted used my company.”
Claire started crying.
“And I know my daughter got hurt because I believed secrecy would protect her.”
He looked at me.
“I know.”
Nobody spoke.
Then I turned to Claire.
“But you still haven’t answered me.”
She wiped her face.
“Why did you hire Ward?”
“Yes.”
She sat slowly.
“Because your mother asked me to watch over you.”
I froze.
“What?”
Dad looked shocked too.
Claire continued.
“Before she died.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“She made me promise that if anything happened to her, I would look out for you when Ethan became too consumed by work.”
Dad looked hurt.
Claire shook her head.
“She loved you. She also knew you.”
He said nothing.
“She knew grief would make you controlling.”
“Apparently she was right.”
“Ethan—”
“No. Continue.”
Claire looked at me.
“For years I kept that promise normally. Calls. School events. Checking in.”
I remembered.
Aunt Claire used to attend almost everything.
Then after the fight with Dad, she disappeared.
“When your father stopped speaking to me, I lost access.”
My throat tightened.
“So you hired someone?”
“Only when I heard you were transferring to Westbridge.”
“Why were you worried?”
“David Bennett’s daughter had disappeared.”
I stared.
“You connected Westbridge to Richard?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell Dad?”
“I tried.”
Dad looked away.
Claire continued.
“He told me not to drag Avery into my obsession with Richard.”
I looked at Dad.
He whispered, “That happened.”
My anger burned.
“So both of you decided things about me without telling me.”
Neither argued.
“You decided I needed hiding.”
I pointed at Dad.
“And you decided I needed spying.”
I pointed at Claire.
“And neither of you trusted me enough to say anything.”
Claire’s face crumpled.
“You were sixteen.”
“Exactly.”
My voice shook.
“I was old enough to be targeted but apparently too young to be warned.”
I left the kitchen.
Dad called my name.
I kept walking.
I locked myself in Mom’s old sitting room.
Nobody used it anymore.
Dad had kept most of her books.
Her piano.
A framed photograph of all three of us.
I sat on the floor beneath it and cried.
Not because Claire had betrayed me.
Not exactly.
Because everyone loved me so much they had turned love into decisions I never got to make.
Mom.
Dad.
Claire.
Maybe every family told themselves protection justified secrecy.
That sounded too much like the language Westbridge used.
Culture.
Safety.
Reputation.
Protection.
Words became dangerous when they meant control.
An hour later, someone knocked.
“Avery?”
Claire.
I didn’t answer.
“I’m not coming in.”
Good.
“I just want to say something.”
Silence.
“I’m sorry.”
I covered my face.
“No explanation.”
She continued.
“No promise that I had good intentions.”
My crying slowed.
“Good intentions don’t erase what I did.”
I stared at the door.
“I should have told you.”
She paused.
“I should have trusted you.”
That mattered.
Then she said, “Your father should have trusted me five years ago.”
I almost laughed.
“Not helping.”
“I know.”
Another pause.
“I love you.”
I whispered, “I love you too.”
“But I’m still mad.”
“You should be.”
She left.
Ten minutes later Dad knocked.
“I’m also not coming in.”
“Did Claire give you a script?”
“No.”
Silence.
“I owe you an apology too.”
“I know.”
“I hate how much you sound like your mother.”
That made me smile through tears.
“She would have loved that.”
“Yes.”
He sat outside the door.
I could see the shadow of his feet beneath it.
“I thought knowing less would let you live normally.”
“It didn’t.”
“No.”
“I need you to stop deciding what I can handle.”
He was quiet.
“That’s difficult for me.”
“I know.”
“I can try.”
“Try harder.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I laughed.
Then Daniel’s voice sounded from farther down the hall.
“Mr. Harrison.”
Dad stood.
“What?”
“They recovered Chloe.”
I opened the door immediately.
“She’s safe?”
Daniel nodded.
“Mexican authorities located her in the hotel lobby.”
Relief hit me.
“And Victor?”
“Gone.”
Of course.
“He left through a service exit before officers arrived.”
Dad’s jaw tightened.
“Did Chloe know where he went?”
“No.”
Daniel held up a tablet.
“But he left something in the room.”
“What?”
“A laptop.”
Dad frowned.
“Careless.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at us.
“It was sitting open.”
My skin prickled.
“To what?”
“A live video feed.”
I swallowed.
“Of where?”
Daniel turned the tablet.
The screen showed our house.
Our front gate.
From outside.
Claire went pale.
Dad looked toward the security monitors.
The feed was current.
Someone was watching us right now.
Then the video angle moved.
Not a fixed camera.
A person holding a phone.
The image zoomed toward the window of Mom’s sitting room.
Toward me.
May you like
And a message appeared on screen.
NOW YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS.
