{"id":12983,"date":"2026-09-18T11:20:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T11:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12983"},"modified":"2026-09-18T11:20:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T11:20:32","slug":"part-6-mark-claimed-aria-was-built-to-hide-money-from-richard-yet-the-reason-forced-emily-to-question-every-transfer-she-had-traced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12983","title":{"rendered":"PART 6 \u2013 Mark Claimed Aria Was Built to Hide Money From Richard, Yet the Reason Forced Emily to Question Every Transfer She Had Traced"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For several seconds, no one spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Emily had prepared herself for lies, half-truths, denials, and explanations complicated enough to make deception difficult to separate from fact.<\/p>\n<p>She had not prepared for Mark to say that the company he controlled existed to hide money from Richard Whitmore.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison recovered first.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou expect us to believe that Richard\u2019s own funds were routed into a company designed to conceal money from him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark shook his head.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot his funds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily turned the spreadsheet toward him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese transfers came from Whitmore Holdings affiliates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd from family investment accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo explain.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel placed a hand flat on the table.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMark, tell the sequence exactly as we discussed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily disliked the sentence immediately.<\/p>\n<p>It meant Mark\u2019s story had already been shaped by lawyers.<\/p>\n<p>Mark heard the suspicion in her silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not trying to manipulate this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou announced our divorce before dawn while money was moving through hidden companies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. You know the sentence. I\u2019m not convinced you understand what it did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Then he looked down.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The small concession surprised her.<\/p>\n<p>Mark began three years earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Richard, he said, had begun consolidating assets across Whitmore-controlled companies after a dispute with Mark\u2019s uncle, Thomas.<\/p>\n<p>Emily knew Thomas only vaguely.<\/p>\n<p>Richard\u2019s younger brother had left the family business nearly twenty years earlier after what Evelyn always called \u201can unfortunate disagreement.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one discussed specifics.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas accused Dad of diverting trust assets,\u201d Mark said.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison\u2019s pen moved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas the accusation true?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark stared toward the bookshelf.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPartly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily felt a familiar tightening behind her ribs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does partly mean?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt means Dad moved money from trusts he controlled into companies where ownership became harder to trace.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor what purpose?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtection, according to him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProtection from what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLawsuits. Tax exposure. Family claims. Anyone he thought might challenge him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison said, \u201cAsset protection is not inherently unlawful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut concealment can be, depending on purpose and representations.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s voice carried fatigue rather than irritation now.<\/p>\n<p>He explained that Aria had originally been a dormant company purchased through a corporate broker.<\/p>\n<p>At first it served as an intermediary for several legitimate real-estate transactions.<\/p>\n<p>Then Richard began ordering transfers through it without putting his own name on instructions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou were the manager,\u201d Emily said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou signed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you helped him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She waited.<\/p>\n<p>Mark did not defend himself.<\/p>\n<p>That absence mattered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did you start hiding money from him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAbout eighteen months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Around the same time Emily had first noticed irregularities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark looked toward Daniel again.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel said, \u201cTell her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Thomas came to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily knew the name mattered now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe claimed Dad had taken money from a trust established by our grandfather.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow much?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas said at least nine million.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Martha\u2019s house, Leo\u2019s bassinet, the threatening sedan\u2014all of it seemed to recede for a moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNine million?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was the estimate then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd you believed him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer came immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought he hated Dad and wanted leverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe gave me documents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison asked, \u201cDo you still have them?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCopies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark hesitated.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel answered.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSecurely held.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison\u2019s expression hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat means not currently being produced.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re discussing voluntary cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re discussing whether my client and her child have been pulled into a financial structure connected to surveillance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s jaw tightened.<\/p>\n<p>Mark raised a hand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll provide them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel turned sharply.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI said I\u2019ll provide them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the first time, Emily saw Mark oppose his own counsel.<\/p>\n<p>It was a small thing.<\/p>\n<p>But small things had become important.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did Thomas\u2019s documents show?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTransfers from a family trust into holding companies Dad controlled. Some were disguised as loans. Others as property investments. Several assets were sold below value to related entities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily understood immediately.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cValue stripping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas believed Richard intended to leave almost nothing inside the trusts that other beneficiaries could claim.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWere you a beneficiary?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo was Thomas.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho else?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s silence returned.<\/p>\n<p>Emily saw Daniel shift.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho else, Mark?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy sister.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another pause.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily stopped breathing for half a second.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy son was a beneficiary before he was born?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot specifically Leo. Descendants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The correction changed little.<\/p>\n<p>Richard was not merely moving money through abstractions.<\/p>\n<p>If Thomas was right, the structure implicated assets intended in part for Mark\u2019s descendants.<\/p>\n<p>Emily looked toward Harrison.<\/p>\n<p>His face had gone still.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen was this trust created?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy my grandfather in 1989.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRevocable?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRichard trustee?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCo-trustee initially. Sole trustee after my grandmother died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison wrote rapidly.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWho are current income or remainder beneficiaries?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d need the document.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark nodded.<\/p>\n<p>Emily returned to Aria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf you discovered Richard was diverting trust assets, why create another secret structure rather than go to court?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark gave a bitter laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ve met my father.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat is not an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is part of one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He leaned forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas had challenged him before. Dad destroyed him financially.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLitigation. Business pressure. Bought debt tied to Thomas\u2019s company. Called lenders. Convinced partners Thomas was unstable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily remembered family dinners when Evelyn described Thomas as irresponsible.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps that story had been cultivated.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you were afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was the first time Mark admitted the word plainly.<\/p>\n<p>Emily studied him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou still helped Richard move funds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen copied some of those movements into Aria?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot exactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark took a page from Daniel\u2019s folder.<\/p>\n<p>He drew three boxes.<\/p>\n<p>One represented Richard-controlled companies.<\/p>\n<p>One represented Aria.<\/p>\n<p>The third represented Seventeen North.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDad used Aria because he thought he controlled it through me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily watched his pen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you diverted a portion?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cInitially into reserve accounts Thomas and I could document.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison said, \u201cThat sounds dangerously close to unauthorized diversion of funds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Daniel\u2019s expression suggested he disliked admissions stated so cleanly.<\/p>\n<p>Emily pointed to the third box.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeventeen North.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s where things went wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A pulse beat visibly in his temple.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeventeen North wasn\u2019t ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhose was it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe thought it belonged to a private investor working with Richard.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou thought?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUntil six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily\u2019s mind moved backward.<\/p>\n<p>Six months earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Her removal from the joint investment account.<\/p>\n<p>Mark becoming secretive.<\/p>\n<p>Passwords changing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did you learn?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas discovered Seventeen North was controlled through a nominee structure linked to Victor Hale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison stopped writing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fixer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd Richard?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndirectly.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo Richard was routing money through Aria into a company secretly controlled by his own fixer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily pointed at the $1.9 million escrow.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t know that existed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison looked sharply at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou expect us to accept that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m telling you the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily believed one part of his reaction.<\/p>\n<p>The escrow seemed genuinely new to him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou said things went wrong six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark nodded.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThomas stopped answering me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought he had gone underground.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe sent me a message saying Victor knew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily felt cold again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKnew what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat Thomas and I had been tracking the diversions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen did you last hear from him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSix months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave you reported him missing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s face twisted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe isn\u2019t missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The room seemed to lose its air.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison\u2019s pen stopped.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel stared down at the table.<\/p>\n<p>Emily whispered, \u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCar accident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFive months and three weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy has no one in the family mentioned this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Thomas had been estranged for years. Dad told everyone he\u2019d been living overseas. There was a private funeral.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily remembered Evelyn mentioning flowers being delivered one afternoon around that time.<\/p>\n<p>When Emily asked who had died, Evelyn had said an old family acquaintance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think it wasn\u2019t an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark looked at her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut you\u2019re afraid it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That answered much.<\/p>\n<p>Emily looked at Harrison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWas there an investigation?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll find out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark pressed his palms together.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter Thomas died, I panicked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you changed passwords.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRemoved me from accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo keep your name out of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily stared at him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou stole my access to marital property to protect me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI knew how it looked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. You knew how it benefited you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoth can be true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The answer angered her because it was possible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have told me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI should have.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have told me before I left my job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore I put my father\u2019s money into your family\u2019s structure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore I had a child with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark flinched.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily leaned back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou keep saying that now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t have a better sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou had years for better actions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one spoke.<\/p>\n<p>Leo was not in the room, yet his presence seemed to fill everything.<\/p>\n<p>Finally Harrison asked about the morning of the divorce.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy September eighteenth?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark looked toward the window.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause the night before, Victor came to the manor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily remembered him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe told Dad someone had been requesting archived statements connected to Aria.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily\u2019s stomach dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid Richard know it was me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot then.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot until I checked the account portal later.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily thought of her request two weeks earlier.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo you came home at four-thirty and demanded a divorce because you wanted distance between us?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark looked ashamed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought if you were legally separating from me, Dad would assume you knew nothing and stop treating you as part of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison gave him a hard stare.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat may be the worst protective strategy I have heard in forty-four years of practice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou could have warned her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I said anything and she reacted\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sitting here,\u201d Emily said.<\/p>\n<p>Mark stopped.<\/p>\n<p>She continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou decided what I could handle. Again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou decided divorce would protect me without giving me the information required to protect myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou expected me to leave with nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She laughed without humor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMark, you told me divorce at four-thirty in the morning while I was holding our baby and cooking breakfast for your parents.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His face reddened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was trying to make it convincing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The words landed harder than shouting.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel looked away.<\/p>\n<p>Emily asked, \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you stop me from leaving?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted you away from the house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy did you threaten that I couldn\u2019t come back?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wanted you angry enough not to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd breakfast?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark closed his eyes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat part was unforgivable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily almost smiled despite herself.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf everything?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo. Just especially stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The meeting shifted after that.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison demanded documents.<\/p>\n<p>Mark agreed to produce Thomas\u2019s files, the trust instrument, communications concerning Victor, and records relating to Aria.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel negotiated protections against admissions being used outside the family litigation except where legally required.<\/p>\n<p>Harrison refused to promise more than the law allowed.<\/p>\n<p>By early afternoon, they had an agreement for document exchange.<\/p>\n<p>Emily was exhausted.<\/p>\n<p>Before leaving, Mark stopped several feet from her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not asking you to forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m asking you to believe that I didn\u2019t send Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know what I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She picked up her bag.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne more question.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark waited.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDid you have an affair?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He looked startled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou came home smelling like someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For the first time all day, genuine embarrassment crossed his face.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen whose perfume?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily stared.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy sister was crying. I hugged her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark glanced at Daniel.<\/p>\n<p>Then back at Emily.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause Thomas sent her something before he died.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily did not move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA key.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat does it open?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhere is it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s voice dropped.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cClaire lost it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Emily knew immediately from his expression that he did not believe that.<\/p>\n<p>Neither did Harrison.<\/p>\n<p>Outside the office, Emily stood under a gray afternoon sky.<\/p>\n<p>Mark\u2019s explanation had answered some questions.<\/p>\n<p>It had also opened worse ones.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas Whitmore had suspected Richard of draining a family trust.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas had died after warning Mark that Victor Hale knew about their investigation.<\/p>\n<p>Before his death, Thomas had sent Claire a key.<\/p>\n<p>And now Claire claimed that key had disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>Emily looked at Harrison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to talk to Claire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBefore Richard does.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Harrison checked his phone.<\/p>\n<p>His face hardened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat may be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He turned the screen toward her.<\/p>\n<p>An email had just arrived from Daniel Price.<\/p>\n<p>Claire Whitmore had left the country that morning.<\/p>\n<p>No one knew where she had gone.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<h2><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/?p=12984\">Click here to continue reading: PART 7: Claire Vanished With the Only Link Thomas Left Behind, and Emily Discovered Her Father\u2019s Money Had Purchased Something No One Mentioned<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For several seconds, no one spoke. Emily had prepared herself for lies, half-truths, denials, and explanations complicated enough to make deception difficult to separate from fact. She had not prepared &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12977,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13007,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12983\/revisions\/13007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}