Chapter 9 - The First Application
The original application was dated two years earlier.
Before Daniel met Claire.
Before Emma became ill.
Someone had already planned to place Lily at Hawthorne Academy.
The applicant was listed as a Lakeshore family trustee.
The signature was hidden beneath an attorney code.
Daniel ordered the archive opened.
The trustee was his father, Charles Reed.
Charles publicly opposed the redevelopment plan.
He praised employee housing at galas.
He called Emma’s work the conscience of the company.
Privately, he had negotiated with Claire’s father for years.
The first proposed sale offered Charles a private consulting fee of thirty million dollars.
Emma discovered it.
That was why she moved her shares directly into Lily’s name.
Daniel looked toward the ballroom entrance.
His father was supposed to give the wedding toast.
He had disappeared after hearing the ceremony was canceled.
Claire almost smiled.
“You blamed me because I was visible.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“You still hid a child in a service elevator.”
“And your father designed the plan.”
“Both can be true.”
The answer ended her attempt to shrink her guilt.
The hotel manager checked Charles’s room.
Empty.
His luggage remained.
His private elevator key was missing.
Then Lily looked at Claire’s phone.
“There’s another message.”
A recent recording began.
Charles’s voice:
“Once Lily is downstairs, complete the vows before Daniel starts asking questions.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Daniel went still.
His father had been directing her that morning.
Then Charles added:
“If Maya interferes, accuse her of stealing the phone.”
May you like
Maya stared at the device in Lily’s hand.
The next stage of the plan had already been prepared.
