Chapter 5: The Woman Who Came Before Me
The emergency room smelled of antiseptic and burnt coffee.
A nurse helped me onto a bed while another attached monitors around my abdomen. The steady rhythm of my daughter's heartbeat filled the small room.
I gripped the blanket.
“Is she all right?””
Dr. Patel, a calm woman with silver-framed glasses, checked the monitor.
“Her heartbeat is strong. We're going to observe you for a while and make sure the contractions settle.””
“Is she coming early?””
“Not necessarily. Stress and dehydration can contribute to contractions, but we'll assess everything carefully.””
I nodded, trying to breathe slowly.
Daniel stood beside the bed, still holding my folder.
Ethan had arrived ten minutes earlier.
He paced outside the curtain, making calls in a low voice. Every few seconds, he glanced toward me.
When Dr. Patel stepped out, he came inside immediately.
“Claire, how are you feeling?””
I looked at him.
“Worried about our daughter.””
“Of course.””
He reached for my hand.
I moved it beneath the blanket.
His expression tightened.
“Are you really going to punish me by keeping me away from you?””
I stared at him.
“My body is having contractions, Ethan. This isn't about punishing you.””
“Then stop treating me like a stranger.””
I almost laughed.
“You've spent months treating me like one.””
He glanced toward Daniel.
“Can we have a moment alone?””
“No,” I said.
His jaw tightened.
“Claire, please.””
“Say what you need to say.””
He dragged a hand through his hair.
“I know last night was difficult. I know I said things I shouldn't have said.””
“You told me I had no place in my father's company.””
“I was under pressure.””
“You gave your mistress my chair.””
He looked toward the curtain.
“Keep your voice down.””
I stared at him.
“Why? Are you embarrassed?””
“I'm trying to keep this from becoming a public spectacle.””
“You should have thought about that before you humiliated me in front of the entire executive table.””
He lowered his voice.
“Vanessa and I made mistakes.””
The room went still.
I could hear the monitor beeping beside me.
“What does that mean?””
He looked at the floor.
“It means things became complicated.””
“Are you having an affair with her?””
He closed his eyes.
“Claire—”
“Answer me.””
He finally looked up.
“Yes.””
The word was barely audible.
Yet it seemed to fill the entire room.
I felt something inside me break, but not in the dramatic way I had imagined.
There was no scream.
No sudden collapse.
Only a strange emptiness, as if the last piece of a puzzle had fallen into place and revealed an image I had spent months refusing to see.
“How long?”” I asked.
He rubbed his face.
“About eight months.””
I looked at my stomach.
Eight months.
My daughter and his affair had grown together.
While I was buying baby clothes, he had been buying gifts for Vanessa. While I was reading books about newborn sleep, he had been planning weekends away. While I lay awake worrying about whether I would be a good mother, he had been building a second life.
“Did you ever love me?”” I whispered.
His expression softened.
“Of course I did.””
“Did you love me when you kissed her?””
“Claire—”
“When you lied to me about the hotel?””
He said nothing.
“When you told me I was imagining things?””
His eyes filled with frustration.
“I didn't know how to tell you.””
“You could have started by telling the truth.””
He sank into the chair beside the bed.
“I never intended for this to happen.””
“That doesn't make it less deliberate.””
He looked toward Daniel.
“Can you give us a minute?””
Daniel didn't move.
“Claire has asked me to stay.””
Ethan stood abruptly.
“Fine.””
He walked to the door, then stopped.
“I still love you.””
I watched him.
“No, Ethan. You love the life you thought you could keep while doing whatever you wanted.””
He flinched.
For a moment, he looked almost like the man I had married.
Then his expression hardened.
“You have no idea what you're throwing away.””
I turned toward the monitor.
“Please leave.””
He stared at me for several seconds before walking out.
When the door closed, I finally let myself cry.
Not because I wanted him back.
Because I was grieving the life I had believed we were building.
Daniel waited quietly until I wiped my face.
Then he placed the sealed company letter on the bedside table.
“There's something we need to discuss.””
I looked at him.
“The message I received said there was another woman who held my father's shares.””
Daniel nodded slowly.
“Your father had a business partner before he met your mother. Her name was Eleanor Price.””
I frowned.
“I've never heard of her.””
“Most people haven't. She was a brilliant financial strategist. She helped your father secure the company's first major contracts and contributed capital during the earliest years.””
“Why didn't Dad ever mention her?””
“Because their relationship ended badly.””
I sat up a little.
“What happened?””
Daniel opened his case and removed a photocopy of an old shareholder register.
The paper was yellowed at the edges.
Two names appeared at the top.
Robert Hawthorne.
Eleanor Price.
Beside Eleanor's name was a note indicating that she had transferred her shares to a family trust in 1998.
I stared at the date.
“I was a child.””
“Yes.””
“Why would she give up her shares?””
“That's what your father never fully explained to me.””
Daniel turned the page.
A second document showed a payment made from Hawthorne Industries to an account associated with Eleanor Price. The amount was substantial, but the accompanying description was vague.
“Your father told me Eleanor left the company after a disagreement about expansion strategy,” Daniel said.
“He believed they had settled their financial differences.””
“Believed?””
“Several years ago, during a routine audit, I found inconsistencies in the records associated with her departure. Your father asked me to investigate. Before I could finish, he became seriously ill.””
I looked down at the documents.
“Does Ethan know about her?””
Daniel hesitated.
“I don't know.””
I thought about the anonymous message.
Ask him what happened to the woman who held your father's original company shares before you.
Someone knew something.
Someone wanted me to find it.
My phone rang.
The number was unfamiliar.
I answered.
“Hello?””
A woman's voice came through, quiet and deliberate.
“Claire Hawthorne?””
“Yes. Who is this?””
“My name is Eleanor Price.””
I stopped breathing.
Daniel looked up sharply.
The woman continued.
“I understand you've discovered the restructuring proposal.””
“How do you know about that?””
“Because someone contacted me yesterday asking whether I would consider selling my remaining interest in Hawthorne Industries.””
I stared at Daniel.
“Your remaining interest?””
“Yes. I never sold everything, Claire. I transferred my voting rights under circumstances your father never fully explained to you.””
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“Why didn't you contact us?””
“Because I was asked to stay away.””
“By whom?””
There was a pause.
Then she answered.
“Your husband.””
A cold sensation traveled down my spine.
“When?””
“Three years ago. He came to see me shortly after your father began discussing his succession plans. He said Robert wanted a clean separation from the past. He offered me money to sign a new agreement.””
“Did you?””
“No.””
I closed my eyes.
“Why not?””
“Because the agreement contained a clause that would have transferred control of my remaining interest to a company I had never heard of.””
The room seemed to shrink around me.
“Was it Vanessa's company?””
“I don't know. But I kept a copy of the agreement.””
Daniel leaned closer, silently asking me to put the call on speaker.
I did.
Eleanor continued.
“There's something else you should know. Your father came to see me shortly before he entered the hospital. He was frightened, Claire. He said he had discovered that someone had been using old corporate documents to create the appearance of authority that didn't exist.””
“Did he tell you who?””
“No. But he asked me to protect the original shareholder records. He believed those documents would become important if anything happened to him.””
Daniel's face had gone pale.
“Mrs. Price,” he said, “do you still have those records?””
“Yes. And I have a letter from Robert explaining why he asked me to keep them.””
I pressed a hand against my stomach.
“Can you send them to us?””
“Not yet.””
“Why?””
“Because someone came to my home last night.””
I felt my heart begin to pound.
“Who?””
“I didn't see his face clearly. But he knew about the documents. He told me that if I wanted to keep my family safe, I should stop contacting Hawthorne Industries.””
Daniel moved closer to the phone.
“Mrs. Price, you need to contact the authorities if you believe you're being threatened.””
“I intend to. But first, Claire needs to understand what her father was trying to protect.””
“What was he protecting?””
Eleanor's voice softened.
“You.””
I stared at the wall.
“Me?””
“Your father didn't leave you those shares simply because you were his daughter. He left them to you because he discovered something about the company that made him believe you were the only person he could trust to protect it.””
My mouth went dry.
“What did he discover?””
“I'll explain everything when we meet. But you need to be careful. Ethan isn't the only person involved.””
The call ended.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Daniel slowly closed his folder.
“Claire, we need to secure those documents immediately.””
I looked at him.
“Who else is involved?””
He didn't answer.
Instead, he reached into his briefcase and removed a final sheet of paper.
It was a list of corporate transactions from the months before my father's death.
Several names appeared beside the entries.
Ethan Hawthorne.
Vanessa Cole.
And a third name I recognized immediately.
My father's younger brother.
Uncle Richard.
The man who had stood beside my hospital bed when I was born.
The man who had given a speech at my wedding about family loyalty.
The man who had helped Ethan become chief executive.
At the bottom of the page, someone had written a note in red ink.
Do not allow Richard Hawthorne to access the original trust records.
I looked at Daniel.
“Why would my father write this?””
Daniel swallowed.
“Because, Claire, your uncle was the last person to see the original shareholder agreement before it disappeared.””
The monitor beside me continued to beep steadily.
My daughter was still safe.
May you like
But the company my father had spent his life building was tangled in secrets I had never imagined.
And somewhere outside that hospital room, the people responsible were beginning to realize that I had finally started asking the right questions.
