CHAPTER 13 — OLIVIA’S CHILD
Water climbed toward Claire’s knees.
Rebecca found a maintenance lever behind one filing cabinet.
The handle would not move.
Elaine joined her.
Together, they forced it downward.
Somewhere beyond the wall, a valve opened.
The water stopped rising.
A second emergency door released near the far end of the room.
They climbed through and followed a drainage tunnel until they emerged beside the cliffs.
Claire immediately called Olivia.
“Where is Lily?”
“Safe.”
“Let me hear her voice.”
There was movement on the line.
Then Lily whispered, “Mommy?”
Claire pressed one hand over her mouth.
“I’m here, baby.”
“Are you coming?”
“Yes.”
“Grandma said you would.”
Claire froze.
“What did you say?”
The phone moved away from Lily.
Olivia spoke again.
“Meet me at St. Matthew’s Church.”
“Is my mother with you?”
“Just come alone.”
“No more conditions.”
“I’m trying to save your daughter.”
“Who is the father of your baby?”
Olivia became silent.
Claire lowered her voice.
“Is it Daniel?”
“No.”
“Someone from Gray Tide?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Olivia took a shaky breath.
“Mason can’t have children.”
Claire stopped walking.
“What?”
“He found out after your miscarriage.”
Claire remembered Mason telling her the loss had been her fault.
He blamed stress.
He blamed her workload.
He claimed the doctor said her body had rejected the pregnancy.
“He had tests done,” Olivia continued. “He never told you.”
“Lily is his daughter.”
“No.”
Claire felt anger rise through her exhaustion.
“Do not bring Lily into your lies.”
“I’m not saying she isn’t yours.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“Mason knew before he married you that he couldn’t father a child.”
Claire thought back seven years.
She and Mason had struggled to conceive.
Then, after a fertility procedure arranged by Daniel’s private clinic, she became pregnant with Lily.
Mason had handled every appointment.
He said he wanted to protect Claire from stress.
“Whose child is Lily?” Claire whispered.
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I only found the medical file last month.”
“Where?”
“In Daniel’s office.”
Claire leaned against the side of the road.
“And your baby?”
Olivia began crying.
“The same clinic.”
“You underwent a procedure?”
“Mason arranged it.”
“Why would he arrange a pregnancy he knew wasn’t his?”
“Because he needed an heir.”
“To what?”
“North Harbor.”
Claire looked toward the distant coastline.
Her mother had placed North Harbor Point in a generational trust.
If Claire died or became legally incapacitated, ownership would pass to her biological children.
Mason could not own it directly.
But as Lily’s legal father and guardian, he could control it.
Olivia’s child offered another route.
If the baby could be presented as Claire’s family heir, or if Olivia gained guardianship through some hidden provision, Gray Tide would have another claim.
“Who is the biological father of your baby?”
“I don’t know his name.”
“You let Mason do this to you?”
“I thought the procedure used Mason’s sample.”
“But you knew he was sleeping with you while married to me.”
Olivia’s voice hardened.
“I know what I did.”
“No. You know what happened to you. That is not the same as admitting what you did to me.”
“I helped him because he told me Mom was planning to cut me out of everything.”
“Were you driving the night she crashed?”
The silence answered before Olivia did.
“Yes.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Did you force her off the road?”
“No.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
“Mason called and said Mom had stolen documents from him. He told me she was confused and might hurt herself.”
“So you followed her.”
“I tried to make her pull over.”
“You drove beside her on a cliff road during a storm.”
“She hit the barrier.”
“You left her there.”
“I called Daniel.”
“Why didn’t you call an ambulance?”
“He said he would handle it.”
Claire could barely speak.
“You abandoned our mother.”
“I was twenty-four and terrified.”
“You were old enough to lie to me at her funeral.”
Olivia began sobbing.
“I’ve lived with it every day.”
“And then you slept with my husband.”
“He promised to tell me where she was.”
Claire’s anger went silent.
“Mason told you she was alive?”
“Six months after the funeral.”
“And you never told me?”
“He said if I warned you, he would move her somewhere no one could find.”
Claire looked at Elaine.
Elaine had heard enough to understand.
“Where is St. Matthew’s?” Rebecca asked.
Claire told her.
They reached the church twenty-five minutes later.
The front doors stood open.
Claire entered alone.
Lily sat in the first pew.
Claire ran toward her and dropped to her knees.
Lily wrapped both arms around her neck.
Claire held her so tightly the little girl complained she could not breathe.
Olivia stood near the altar.
Her face was bruised along one cheek.
“What happened to you?” Claire asked.
“Mason realized I sent the address.”
Claire rose with Lily in her arms.
“Come with us.”
Olivia shook her head.
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because he has Mom.”
“Where?”
Olivia looked toward the confessionals.
“Daniel was moving her this morning.”
A noise came from behind the wooden screen.
Claire handed Lily to Olivia and approached cautiously.
Inside the confessional, Dana sat with her hands tied in front of her.
Tape covered her mouth.
Claire removed it.
Dana gasped.
“Don’t trust Olivia.”
Claire turned.
Olivia was no longer beside the pew.
Neither was Lily.
The side door of the church swung shut.
Claire ran outside.
A black SUV was pulling away.
Lily’s face appeared behind the rear window.
Olivia sat beside her.
In the driver’s seat was Mason.
Claire heard Dana behind her.
“She brought us here for him.”
Claire watched the SUV disappear.
Then her phone rang.
Olivia’s voice came through in a whisper.
“I’m sorry.”
“You gave him my daughter again.”
“I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
“No, Claire. Not this time.”
“Why?”
May you like
Olivia’s next words were almost lost beneath the sound of the engine.
“Because the person Mason calls your mother isn’t our mother.”
