Chapter 6 - The Ghost of ClaireThe snowstorm intensified overnight, wrapping the penthouse in a cocoon of howling wind and swirling white. In the deep hours of the morning, the pain in my chest woke me up. It wasn't the dull ache of the previous days; it felt like a branding iron pressed against my ribs.
I slipped out of bed, careful not to wake Lucy, who was sleeping soundly in the guest suite next to mine, tucked under heavy down comforters.
I walked down the dim hallway toward my private study, looking for the medical files Dr. Bennett had given me. As I pushed open the door, the ambient light from the snow outside illuminated a framed photograph resting on my desk—a picture of Claire and Noah, taken just weeks before the accident on the rain-slicked highway.
Claire’s radiant smile and Noah’s infectious, gap-toothed grin seemed to look right through me, judging my sins, mourning my grief.
"I tried, Claire," I whispered to the empty room, my voice cracking in the dark. "I tried to keep them safe. I built walls of steel and money. But sixteen minutes... sixteen minutes was all it took."
"You couldn't save them, Vincent. And you won't save her, either."
The voice came from the shadows near the balcony doors.
I froze. Slowly, I turned around.
Standing near the floor-to-ceiling glass, holding a heavy, silenced Beretta 9mm, was Raymond. The glass pane of the balcony door had been carefully shattered, the cold winter wind howling into the study, whipping his tailored shirt into a frenzy. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled, the calm, collected corporate shark completely replaced by a raving, broken lunatic.
"Raymond," I said, my voice dropping an octave as I slowly shifted my weight, calculating the distance between us despite the searing agony in my chest. "You broke into my penthouse. Have you completely lost your mind?"
"I lost everything because of you!" Raymond screamed, raising the barrel of the gun directly toward my chest. "You humiliated me! You stripped my shares, locked my accounts, and handed my legacy to a street brat! Dad always loved you best, and now you're dying like a coward while I'm left with nothing!"
"You did this to yourself," I said calmly, taking a slow step forward. "The embezzlement, the offshore accounts, the greed—it was all you, Raymond."
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"Shut up!" he shrieked, his finger tightening on the trigger. "It doesn't matter anymore! Without you, the board will cave. Once I put a bullet in your heart, I'll take care of the girl, file for emergency estate control, and declare your death a tragic home invasion by a disgruntled former employee!"
He pulled the hammer back. The metallic click echoed like thunder through the silent study.
