Chapter 3 - The Lawyer's Confession
Christmas morning broke with a harsh, glaring sunlight over Manhattan.
Clare hadn’t slept.
She dressed in a thick wool coat, concealing her pregnant frame, and took a cab to Arthur’s office in Brooklyn.
Harrison had not returned home.
He hadn’t even texted.
Arthur was waiting by the front door of his small, dusty firm.
He looked ten years older than the last time Clare had seen him at William's funeral.
“Come inside quickly,” Arthur said, locking the deadbolt behind her.
He led her into a back room lined with cardboard boxes.
“You shouldn't have brought this up, Clare.”
“Tell me about Eleanor.”
Arthur sat down behind a cluttered desk.
“William had an affair before he met Harrison's mother. He had a daughter.”
“Eleanor.”
“Yes. He supported her secretly. But when he got sick, he felt guilty.”
Clare remembered the long nights she spent feeding William ice chips while Harrison was 'working late.'
“He wanted to leave her half the company?” Clare guessed.
“More than half,” Arthur corrected. “He wanted to leave her sixty percent.”
“Because he knew Harrison was reckless.”
“Because he knew Harrison was greedy.”
Arthur pulled a thin manila folder from his desk drawer.
“William drafted a new will. He signed it. I witnessed it.”
“Then why didn’t Eleanor get her share?”
“Because the night William died, Harrison got to the safe first.”
Clare felt a cold knot tighten in her stomach.
“Harrison destroyed the new will?”
“He burned it in the hospital fireplace. I saw the ashes.”
“And you did nothing?”
“He threatened to destroy my career, Clare. He had connections. I was a coward.”
“But the letter I found,” Clare said, pulling the envelope from her purse. “He wrote it to her.”
“William must have known Harrison would try something. He left a fail-safe.”
“The brass key,” Clare said, placing it on the desk.
Arthur’s eyes widened.
“Where did you find this?”
“In a box of William's old things.”
“This is a safety deposit box key. First National Bank on 5th Avenue.”
“What’s inside it?”
“The original copy of the new will. William always kept a duplicate.”
Clare picked up the key, her heart racing.
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“If I open it, I can prove Harrison stole the company.”
“If you open it,” Arthur warned, “Harrison will lose his entire empire. And he will destroy you to stop it.”
