DANIEL'S POV
The study door clicked shut. Clara didn’t look angry. She looked like a chess master who’d seen ten moves ahead. “She’s panicking. Making reckless threats. It’s what people do when they have no real power.”
I leaned against the desk, my head pounding. “She wants to meet. With Leo. Alone.”
“Of course she does,” Clara said, her voice smooth as oil. “She’s trying to bypass me and appeal to the part of you that still feels guilt. It’s transparent.” She walked to the window, her silhouette framed by the harsh mountain light. “But her power isn’t in her threats, Daniel. It’s in her alternative. It’s in him.”
I didn’t need to ask who. The name hung in the room like a ghost. Liam.
“The paternity suit was a warning shot. A piece of misdirection,” she continued, turning to face me
