Chapter 10 - THE COMPUTER ARTHUR TOOK
Arthur abandoned Clara’s computer inside a parking garage.
The hard drive had been removed.
He called her from an unknown number before police found the vehicle.
Clara answered on Rachel’s recorded line.
“You ruined my life,” Arthur said.
“You hit my daughter.”
“You attacked me.”
“The guest video has your voice.”
“You kicked me to the floor.”
“After you hit her.”
“She needed discipline.”
The words came without hesitation.
Arthur still did not believe the slap was wrong.
He believed the consequences were wrong.
“Where is the hard drive?” Clara asked.
“You don’t get to ask questions.”
“Then why call?”
Arthur breathed heavily.
“Charles used me.”
Clara remained silent.
“He said you would scream, hit me, and prove you were unstable. He said no one would care about one slap after they saw you lose control.”
“You knew Gigi would be hurt.”
“She’s fine.”
“She is afraid of dark jackets.”
“That doctor is coaching you.”
Clara looked toward Dr. Hart through the examination-room window.
“No. The doctor documented what you did.”
Arthur’s voice changed.
“Charles has another copy of Daniel’s file.”
“Where?”
“He keeps everything on the company server.”
“Why did you take my hard drive?”
“I thought Daniel’s original recording was there.”
“You hit a two-year-old for company control and did not even understand the plan.”
Arthur shouted an insult.
Then lowered his voice.
“Help me, and I’ll testify against Charles.”
“What do you want?”
“The assault complaint withdrawn.”
“No.”
“You’re choosing him over me.”
“I’m choosing Gigi over all of you.”
Arthur ended the call.
Rachel traced it to a convenience store, but he had already left.
The stolen hard drive appeared later inside a delivery locker. It had been damaged with a hammer, yet technicians believed portions could be recovered.
Arthur was panicking.
Charles remained controlled.
He issued a public statement through Monroe Development claiming Clara had exploited a minor family dispute to interfere with company governance.
He described Arthur as someone experiencing stress after years of carrying the business.
No mention appeared of Gigi’s bruise.
No mention of the prepared guardianship petition.
No mention of the altered trust page.
Victoria posted photographs from the birthday party showing Gigi smiling an hour before the assault.
The caption described a loving family celebration destroyed by Clara’s “unpredictable behavior.”
Rachel advised Clara not to respond publicly.
Evidence belonged in protected systems, not online arguments.
Clara agreed.
Then Victoria sent a private email offering a settlement.
Withdraw the report.
Return all estate documents.
Sign a three-year voting proxy.
Receive a formal apology from Arthur.
In exchange, Victoria and Charles would promise never to seek custody.
Clara forwarded the email to Rachel.
The detective read the final sentence.
Should Clara refuse, the family reserved the right to present concerns about Gigi’s home environment to appropriate authorities.
“This is coercion in writing,” Rachel said.
Victoria seemed to believe respectable language could clean any threat.
Clara replied with one sentence under Rachel’s supervision:
All future communication must go through investigators and independent counsel.
Victoria responded almost immediately.
Your father will not allow this humiliation.
Clara stared at the word father.
Charles had not behaved like one in years.
He had behaved like a trustee protecting assets.
At the hospital, Gigi woke from a nap and reached for Clara.
“Home?” she asked.
“Not yet.”
“Cake?”
Clara’s heart tightened.
The child remembered the birthday as fragments: ribbons, fear, the hospital sticker, the cake she never tasted.
“We’ll have another cake,” Clara promised. “A quiet one.”
Gigi touched her bruised cheek.
“No Arthur.”
“No Arthur.”
Rachel entered with the recovered contents of Clara’s damaged hard drive.
One file had survived because Daniel encrypted it separately.
Its title was:
May you like
CHARLES—FINAL CONTINGENCY.
👉 Arthur’s betrayal had exposed Charles as the architect, but Daniel’s recovered file suggested Charles had prepared one last strategy if the custody plan failed.
