Chapter 8 - THE MAN WHO COMFORTED HIM Samuel Price had known the Carter family for thirty years.
Gray hair.
Calm voice.
Fatherly manner.
He had stood beside Daniel at Gregory's funeral.
When Claire disappeared, Samuel said:
"Give her space."
When Daniel suggested freezing her shares:
"That could destabilize the company."
When the first fake message arrived:
"See? She's alive."
Everything Samuel had said pushed Daniel in exactly one direction.
Away from the truth.
Rebecca uncovered seven calls between Samuel and Marcus on the night Claire disappeared.
Secret payments followed.
Samuel was arrested.
Claire returned to the United States under protection.
Daniel went to meet her without the children.
When she appeared at the end of the hospital corridor, he almost didn't recognize her.
She walked with a cane.
She was thinner.
But when she saw him, her face became his sister's again.
They hugged.
Thirteen months collapsed between them.
"I'm sorry," Daniel whispered.
"Don't start."
"I should've searched harder."
"You thought I hated you."
"That's not an excuse."
Claire pulled back.
"We have the rest of our lives to fight about guilt. Right now, I want actual food."
Daniel laughed.
That was Claire.
Still there.
Still herself.
Noah ran into her arms the next day.
"I thought you were dead."
Claire held him.
"So did I sometimes."
Then she saw Lily.
Daniel carried the little girl toward her.
"This is Lily."
Claire smiled.
Then noticed Daniel's expression.
"Emma?"
Daniel lowered his head.
"She died giving birth."
Claire stopped breathing.
Another piece of life had been stolen from her.
She extended one hand.
Lily wrapped tiny fingers around it.
Claire cried.
Marcus was captured days later trying to leave Nova Scotia.
For Daniel, the arrest should have felt like victory.
Instead, Samuel's cooperation produced one final document.
Gregory Carter's original succession plan.
It named Claire—not Daniel—as the rightful successor to Carter Strategic Holdings.
Daniel stared at the signature.
Everything he had built professionally for five years suddenly seemed borrowed.
Claire looked at him.
May you like
And for the first time since she returned, the danger wasn't coming from Marcus.
It was coming from the truth.
Related Stories
