Diana whispered, “That is enough.”
But the video continued.
Lydia asked, “And if the babies are born?”
Marissa’s answer was cold.
“If those babies are recognized, my father loses the trust vote. Reid loses the board. And I lose everything I was promised.”
The screen went black.
Claire sat still for a long time.
Then another email arrived.
One sentence.
Marissa is not the end of this. She is the distraction.
The File At The Door
A few minutes later, the hallway lights flickered.
One of Claire’s security officers spoke sharply outside the room.
Diana stood.
Claire carefully placed Nora back into the bassinet and reached for the nearest object on the table, a metal water pitcher.
Diana looked at her.
“Claire, stay behind me.”
Claire did not move back.
Not with her children behind her.
The door opened only a few inches.
A black leather folder slid across the floor.
Then the door shut again.
Footsteps rushed down the hallway.
A voice shouted.
Then another.
Claire stared at the folder.
Stamped across the front were three words.
TWIN CONTINGENCY FILE
Diana picked it up carefully and opened it.
Inside was an old photograph.
A private clinic.
A young Vivian Ashford.
A younger man Claire recognized from Marissa’s family photos: Grant Blake, Marissa’s father.
