Chapter 3 - The Mistress Who Knew Too Much
Three days after I left Manhattan, Sabrina Cole called me.
Her name appeared on my screen while I was sitting in the sunroom of my father’s estate, watching waves strike the gray shoreline. I had spent the morning meeting with a doctor recommended by Aunt Evelyn, ensuring my prenatal care could continue safely and privately.
For the first time in weeks, I had felt almost calm.
Then Sabrina’s name lit up my phone.
I let it ring once.
Twice.
Three times.
Finally, I answered.
“What do you want?”
There was silence on the other end.
Then she spoke.
Her voice was softer than I remembered.
“I need to talk to you.”
“You have nothing to say to me.”
“I know how that sounds.”
“You should have thought about that before sleeping with my husband.”
A breath caught in her throat.
“I didn’t know everything.”
I almost ended the call.
But something in her voice stopped me.
Not innocence.
Not guilt alone.
Fear.
“What didn’t you know?” I asked.
“Richard told me you were separating.”
“Of course he did.”
“He said you were only together because of the foundation and the family trust.”
I closed my eyes.
“Did he tell you I was pregnant?”
“No.”
The answer came too quickly to be a lie.
Sabrina inhaled shakily.
“I found out from the news this morning. Someone leaked that there was a legal freeze on the foundation accounts. Richard came to my apartment last night screaming. He said you were trying to ruin him.”
“What did he say about me?”
“He said you were unstable.”
I laughed once, bitterly.
“That is convenient.”
“He said you had manipulated the trust against him.”
“He stole from it.”
“I know.”
That made me go still.
“What do you mean, you know?”
Sabrina was silent for several seconds.
Then she said, “I found files on his laptop.”
I sat up straighter.
“What files?”
“He left the laptop at my apartment two nights ago. I thought it was because he was drunk, but I think he was in a hurry.” Her voice shook. “There are spreadsheets. Emails. Messages with someone named Victor Hale.”
The name meant nothing to me.
“Who is Victor Hale?”
“I don’t know. But Richard called him after the foundation accounts were frozen. He said, ‘If Clara talks, we need to control the situation before the auditors find everything.’”
My blood ran cold.
“What else?”
“There are messages about you,” Sabrina whispered. “About your pregnancy.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“What messages?”
“He wrote that once the baby was born, he could use custody to force you into a settlement.”
My hand pressed against my stomach.
Sabrina continued, her voice breaking. “He said you would come back because you were scared of raising a child alone.”
For a long moment, I could not speak.
I had imagined Richard was selfish.
I had imagined he was cruel.
But I had not understood how carefully he had planned to use my child as leverage.
“You need to send those files to my attorney,” I said.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because he knows I saw them.”
“Then leave the apartment. Go somewhere public. Call Marianne Holt.”
“Clara…”
I hated the way she said my name.
As if we were connected by the same wound.
“You helped him,” I said. “But if you are telling the truth now, you can still stop helping him.”
Sabrina began crying quietly.
“I didn’t know he was like this.”
“You knew he was cheating on his wife.”
“I know.”
“That should have been enough.”
“I know.”
I almost hung up.
But then I heard something in the background.
A door closing.
Sabrina went silent.
“Sabrina?” I asked.
Her breathing changed.
“He’s here,” she whispered.
My heart raced.
“Who?”
“Richard.”
The line went dead.
I called back immediately.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
I called Marianne.
Within minutes, she had Daniel’s team searching for Sabrina’s apartment. But by the time they arrived, the door was unlocked, the laptop was gone, and Sabrina had disappeared.
The police report classified her as missing.
I did not believe Richard had physically taken her. Not yet.
Richard was too careful to get his hands dirty.
But Victor Hale and Cobalt Strategic Solutions were another matter.
That night, Marianne uncovered the first connection.
Victor Hale had been a consultant for Richard’s company, but he had also worked for several high-profile clients facing financial investigations. His specialty was “reputation management.”
In reality, he specialized in intimidation.
Witness pressure.
Private surveillance.
Threats disguised as legal warnings.
Daniel studied the report in silence.
“He has men in New York,” he said. “And possibly here.”
Aunt Evelyn tightened her grip around her tea cup.
“Then Clara cannot remain unprotected.”
“I’m not running forever,” I said.
“No,” Daniel replied. “But you are not walking into a trap either.”
The next morning, a package arrived at the estate.
No return address.
Inside was a single photograph.
It showed me leaving my doctor’s appointment the day before.
I was alone in the frame.
Except for the shadow of a man standing across the street.
Written on the back were seven words.
A mother should be careful what she risks.
I stared at the message.
Fear tried to return.
It rose in my throat, cold and familiar.
Then I looked at my father’s portrait above the fireplace.
He had always told me that fear was not weakness.
Fear was information.
It told you when someone wanted power over you.
I handed the photograph to Daniel.
“Find Victor Hale,” I said.
May you like
Then I looked toward the ocean.
“And tell Richard I’m done being afraid.”
