Chapter 8 - The Locked Office
After Claire drove away, the guests left quickly.
No one offered Judith comfort.
Daniel remained in the dining room beside the ring.
His mother ordered the staff to clear the broken glass.
Then she turned toward him.
“You will not call her.”
Daniel looked up.
“What did you know about the investigation?”
Judith’s expression hardened.
“Your fiancée is vindictive.”
“She didn’t know about tonight until this afternoon.”
“That proves nothing.”
Daniel followed Judith into the hallway.
“Did you know she flagged our contracts?”
Judith stopped outside her private office.
“You need sleep.”
She reached for the handle.
Daniel noticed her hand shaking.
Later, after Judith went upstairs, he returned.
The office was locked.
He had lived in the mansion most of his life.
His mother had never locked that door.
Daniel found the spare key in the butler’s pantry.
Inside, he discovered a cardboard box beneath the desk.
It contained military housing invoices.
Several had been marked with Claire’s unit number.
Beneath them was a printed background report on Claire.
Her service history.
Her medical records.
Photographs of her entering Daniel’s apartment.
And a typed media statement accusing her of retaliating against the Harper family after Daniel ended their engagement.
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The statement had been written before the dinner.
👉 Judith had planned Claire’s public breakdown in advance—but another document showed Daniel’s name had been used without his knowledge.
