Chapter 10 - The Midpoint Betrayal
Savannah kept the original recordings inside a safe-deposit box.
At least, that was what Claire believed.
At 11:40 p.m., Savannah called.
Her voice sounded wrong.
“Claire, we need to meet.”
“Where are you?”
“San Diego.”
“Go somewhere public.”
“I can’t.”
Claire stood.
“What happened?”
“Adrian offered me ten million dollars.”
Claire went silent.
Savannah continued.
“He said if I give him the original recordings and testify that you manipulated me, he’ll make sure my father’s name is cleared.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“And what did you say?”
A long pause.
“I told him I’d think about it.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
“Savannah.”
“My father died believing everyone hated him.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know what that feels like.”
Claire looked toward the photograph of Eleanor on the desk.
“Yes, I do.”
Savannah began crying.
“I’m sorry.”
The call ended.
Claire immediately contacted Rebecca.
“Move everything Savannah gave us into evidentiary escrow.”
Rebecca hesitated.
“Already done.”
Claire blinked.
“You expected this?”
“I expect everyone to break when enough pressure is applied.”
The next morning, Adrian entered Vale Industries headquarters smiling for the first time in days.
He had a sworn statement.
Signed by Savannah Reed.
It claimed Claire had recruited her to fabricate allegations of financial misconduct.
Adrian distributed the statement to every board member.
Vale Industries shares recovered six percent before lunch.
News commentators questioned Claire’s credibility.
At 2:00 p.m., Adrian called her.
“You chose the wrong accomplice.”
Claire kept her voice neutral.
“Did I?”
“She gave me everything.”
“Then congratulations.”
“You thought you understood people.”
“I understand you.”
Adrian laughed.
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“You married me.”
“That was my biggest mistake.”
“No.”
His voice lowered.
“Your biggest mistake was believing money made you dangerous.”
Claire walked toward the window.
“And yours?”
“What?”
“Believing Savannah’s statement.”
Silence.
Adrian stopped breathing.
Claire continued.
“Did you read the final paragraph?”
Adrian grabbed the document.
He scanned it.
The last paragraph was not a confession.
It was consent.
I, Savannah Reed, agree to cooperate with Adrian Vale while wearing recording equipment at the direction of counsel.
Adrian’s face drained.
Claire heard him whisper.
“No.”
Across San Diego, Savannah sat inside a parked car beside two federal investigators.
A recording device rested on the dashboard.
Adrian’s voice from the previous night filled the speakers.
Ten million.
Your father’s reputation.
Tell them Claire fabricated everything.
One investigator stopped the audio.
“That’s enough.”
Savannah looked toward the ocean.
“No.”
She remembered her father’s funeral.
The whispers.
May you like
The shame.
“Play the part where he explains how his father moved the money.”
