Chapter 6 - What Lily Found Upstairs
Daniel didn't question Lily directly.
A child therapist did.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Without leading her.
The answers came in pieces.
Lily had followed Claire upstairs one afternoon.
Claire entered Emma's room.
Lily followed.
Inside, she saw Claire placing papers in the black box.
Then Lily picked up a photograph of Emma.
"Mommy."
Claire snatched it away.
According to Lily, Claire became "mad."
After that, the door was locked more often.
But Lily kept asking about the room.
Then, on the night before the storm, Lily wandered upstairs again.
The door had been left open.
She entered.
The box was open.
Inside were photographs.
One showed Daniel.
Another showed Lily.
One showed Claire standing beside a man Lily didn't know.
When Claire caught her, she screamed.
The next day, Daniel went to work.
And Claire took Lily outside.
That was when Mark heard crying.
Daniel listened to the therapist's summary with his hands clasped tightly.
"Who's the man in the photograph?"
Investigators had wondered the same thing.
They found him.
Victor Shaw.
The financial consultant from Claire's emails.
And Victor wasn't just a consultant.
He was Claire's older half brother.
Daniel stared at Megan.
"She told me she was an only child."
"Apparently not."
Victor had previous convictions for financial fraud.
Nothing violent.
But enough to explain why Claire hid the relationship.
Investigators searched his office.
They found copies of Emma's estate records.
Projected guardianship expenses.
A spreadsheet titled:
L.C. ACCESS PLAN
L.C.
Lily Carter.
The spreadsheet estimated how much could legally be withdrawn each year for housing, education, childcare, transportation, and medical costs if Claire became guardian.
Many of the projected expenses were inflated.
Private school fees that didn't exist.
A leased luxury SUV.
"Home security."
"Therapeutic travel."
Renovations.
Nearly $300,000 a year.
Rosalie stared.
"They were going to drain it slowly."
Megan nodded.
"Slowly enough to look legitimate."
Daniel stood by the window.
"What happens now?"
"Victor's being questioned."
"And Claire?"
"She's claiming Victor came up with everything."
Daniel almost laughed.
Of course she was.
Then Megan's phone rang.
She listened.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
Daniel asked.
She ended the call.
"Victor is talking."
"Good."
"Maybe."
Megan looked troubled.
"He says Claire's plan wasn't only to become Lily's guardian."
Daniel felt dread crawl up his spine.
"What else?"
"He says she planned to marry you first."
Daniel stared.
Megan continued.
"Then six months later, she intended to file documents claiming you were mentally unstable and unsafe around Lily."
Rosalie whispered, "Based on what?"
Megan looked at Daniel.
May you like
"Your grief."
👉 Claire had turned Daniel's travel schedule into evidence of neglect—but Victor revealed she had an even crueler plan: use Daniel's grief over Emma to portray him as an unfit father.
