Chapter 13 - The Woman Waiting in Vancouver
I stopped feeling hurt.
Hurt was too simple.
This was something colder.
“Who is Monica?” I asked.
Daniel glanced at his phone, saw the message, and flipped it face down.
“Business contact.”
“She’s waiting for us in Vancouver.”
His eyes narrowed.
“How do you know that?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
Valery stayed near the galley, giving us space without actually leaving.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Claire, Monica handles private banking introductions.”
“For what?”
“Our future.”
“You mean my money.”
“Our money.”
“My family trust is not our money.”
He smiled then.
It was small and exhausted.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“What you really think of me.”
I almost laughed.
He had forged signatures, hidden accounts, carried another passport, and somehow he was offended.
“You want to make this about pride?”
“I want you to remember who was there when your father cut you off from the board.”
“You were.”
“Who helped you rebuild your confidence?”
“You did.”
“Who made you believe you could run something without your family name?”
“You did.”
He relaxed slightly.
Then I finished.
“And apparently while you were doing that, you were opening accounts in my name.”
His face closed.
I stood.
“We’re done.”
“Don’t say things you can’t take back.”
“I don’t want them back.”
He stood too.
The plane jolted in turbulence.
I reached for the seatback.
Daniel instinctively reached for me.
For one second, his hand hovered in the air.
Then he dropped it.
Valery’s phone chimed through the cabin system.
The captain’s voice followed.
“We’ve received instructions to divert.”
Daniel looked up sharply.
“Divert where?”
Valery listened, then looked directly at him.
“Sacramento.”
Daniel went pale.
“Why Sacramento?”
Valery’s answer was quiet.
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“Because federal agents requested it.”
Private Jet Story - 20 Chapters
