Amanda placed another sheet on the table. “There’s one more issue. We recovered drafts of the fake lab report from an iCloud account linked to Claire’s laptop. The report was created three days ago.”
Claire’s mouth opened, but no words came out.
Diane sank into her chair. “Claire, tell me that’s not true.”
When Claire finally spoke, her voice had lost its sharpness. “I just needed Dad to delay tomorrow’s meeting. That’s all.”
I looked at Walter. “What meeting?”
He rubbed his face. “I was restructuring the trust. I planned to make Robert and Elena co-trustees if something happened to me. Claire would still receive her share, but she wouldn’t control distributions.”
There it was.
Not jealousy.
Money.
Then we heard soft footsteps in the hallway. Sophie stood near the doorway in her socks, clutching her tablet. Her eyes were wet.
“Mom?” she whispered. “Is Daddy my dad?”
Everything inside me shattered.
I moved toward her, but Robert got there first. He dropped to one knee and opened his arms. She ran straight into him.
“Yes,” he said, holding her tightly. “I am. I always will be. Nothing anyone says changes that.”
She buried her face against him. “Then why did Aunt Claire say it?”
No one at the table answered.
Robert did. “Because she said something cruel and untrue. And grown-ups have to answer for that.”
Sophie turned toward Claire. For the first time that night, Claire looked like she understood the weight of what she had done.
And for the first time, regret crossed her face.
After Sophie spoke, the room shifted.
