Chapter 3 - ANNA’S SECOND LIE
Anna arrived at the hotel crying.
I did not invite her.
Daniel did.
I nearly made her leave.
Then she said:
“I’ll tell you everything.”
So I let her sit.
Three chairs.
Me.
Daniel.
Anna.
No touching.
No screaming.
No Carter family theatrics.
I placed the guardianship petition in front of her.
“Your signature?”
She looked at it.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Mom told me—”
I raised a hand.
“No.”
She stopped.
“You are thirty-four years old. Start with ‘I.’”
Anna stared.
Then nodded.
“I signed it because I believed you were going to destroy Daniel financially.”
“Based on what?”
“Mom showed me bank statements.”
“What bank statements?”
She opened her phone.
Screenshots.
Supposed transfers from my trust into personal speculative investments.
Large losses.
Except the account numbers were wrong.
Not mine.
Fabricated.
Anna had never verified.
“Did you ask me?”
“No.”
“Did you ask Daniel?”
“No.”
“Did you speak to my attorney?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly did you know?”
Her eyes filled.
“Nothing.”
Correct.
Daniel leaned back.
Ashamed.
Anna continued.
“Mom said if you became unstable, Daniel could lose everything.”
“So you helped her declare me unstable.”
“I thought I was protecting him.”
I almost laughed.
Everyone in this family had the same religion.
Protection.
They used the word whenever they wanted permission to control someone.
I asked:
“Did you know about the necklace?”
“No.”
“Property transfer?”
“No.”
“Adrian Mercer?”
She froze.
That was different.
“You know him.”
“I saw him once.”
“When?”
“At Mom’s house.”
“How long ago?”
“Six months.”
“What happened?”
Anna came downstairs late at night.
Saw Evelyn and Adrian arguing in library.
She heard one sentence.
Adrian:
“If Daniel won’t cooperate, use Anna.”
My skin went cold.
Anna had never told anyone.
“Why?”
“Mom said it was business.”
“You believed her?”
“Yes.”
Of course.
Then Daniel asked:
“What did she mean, use Anna?”
We found out the next day.
Anna owned fifteen percent of Carter Residential.
Inherited from her father.
Evelyn controlled voting rights through family proxy agreement.
The guardianship petition contained a hidden supporting structure.
If Daniel separated from me and refused to participate in Lakeview transfer, Anna could vote with Evelyn to remove him as company president.
Pressure from both sides.
Daniel faced a choice:
Help take my property.
Or lose his company.
Evelyn was not only manipulating me.
She was controlling both children.
Then Anna revealed the most disturbing thing.
Two weeks before the birthday, Evelyn told her:
“If Claire steals from me publicly, Daniel will finally see who she is.”
Anna had laughed.
Thought it was a figure of speech.
Now she understood.
The necklace scene was rehearsed.
Evelyn had been planting expectation.
Making Anna ready to attack.
I stared.
“You were weaponized.”
Anna nodded.
Then I said:
“You still chose to put your hands on me.”
Her tears increased.
“Yes.”
Good.
No excuse.
Then Samantha uncovered Adrian Mercer’s deal with Evelyn.
If Lakeview transferred, Carter Residential would borrow against it.
Adrian would receive twelve million dollars as “consulting compensation.”
Then after planned separation, a shell company connected to Adrian would acquire part of Lakeview at old valuation.
They were going to divide my inheritance.
Evelyn gets company rescue.
Adrian gets land.
Daniel gets manipulated into ownership.
I get publicly discredited.
Elegant.
Cruel.
Then police searched Adrian’s office.
Found forged documents.
Fake medical reports.
Draft statements for Anna.
And one handwritten note from Evelyn:
Daniel must believe leaving Claire is his choice.
I read it twice.
That was the real strategy.
Not force Daniel.
Shape reality until he chose what Evelyn wanted.
That night, Daniel finally broke.
He sat on hotel floor.
“I let her do this.”
I said nothing.
“I kept saying she was difficult.”
Yes.
“I kept telling you not to take it personally.”
Yes.
“She was building a case against you in front of me.”
Yes.
“And I taught you that I wouldn’t defend you.”
That one hurt.
Because it was true.
Daniel looked at me.
“I don’t deserve another chance.”
I answered:
“Maybe not.”
He nodded.
Then my phone rang.
Police.
They had found Evelyn’s missing necklace.
Not behind ballroom cabinet.
That velvet box was empty when they searched.
Someone removed it after video recording.
Who?
Security footage showed Anna returning to gift room after the confrontation began.
Anna stared.
“That’s impossible.”
We played it.
A woman wearing Anna’s dress entered.
Same height.
Same hair.
Face turned away.
She retrieved the box.
Then left through service door.
Anna whispered:
“That isn’t me.”
I believed her.
Because during that timestamp Anna was physically dragging me into a cake table in front of one hundred witnesses.
Someone had dressed like her.
Someone wanted the evidence to point two directions.
Toward me first.
Then Anna.
And Adrian was already in police custody.
May you like
Which meant there was another person inside Evelyn’s plan.
Someone still free.
