Chapter 10 - The Break-InRachel called Claire at 2:13 in the morning.
“My office was broken into.”
Claire sat upright in bed.
Daniel slept beside her.
Or pretended to.
“What did they take?” Claire whispered.
“The recorder from your handbag. Copies of the settlement. Marcus’s contact information.”
Claire’s pulse raced.
“The financial files?”
“Still secure. I stored them elsewhere.”
A floorboard creaked behind Claire.
She turned.
Daniel stood in the bedroom doorway.
“Who are you talking to?”
Claire ended the call.
“Rachel. I couldn’t sleep.”
Daniel studied her face.
“Something happen?”
“Her office alarm went off.”
For one second, satisfaction flickered in his eyes.
Then it vanished.
“That’s terrible.”
The next day, police found no usable fingerprints.
Daniel had an alibi.
He had been home with Claire.
But she remembered waking briefly around midnight and finding his side of the bed empty.
Rachel insisted Claire leave the house.
Claire packed one suitcase.
Before she reached the front door, Daniel blocked her path.
“Where are you going?”
“To a hotel.”
“You’re carrying my child.”
“Our child.”
“You don’t make decisions alone.”
Claire lifted her phone.
“Move, or I call the police.”
Daniel stepped aside, but his voice followed her.
“If you walk out, I’ll tell the court you abandoned the marriage.”
Claire turned.
“No, Daniel. I’m leaving because I’m afraid of you.”
A neighbor across the street heard every word.
That witness would later matter.
Claire moved into a secure apartment arranged by Rachel.
The courthouse conference was scheduled for the following Monday.
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Then Marcus disappeared.
👉 Without Marcus, Daniel believed the fraud case would collapse—but a message hidden inside Claire’s stolen recorder pointed to someone much closer to Vanessa.
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