Chapter 7: The Building
The revelation came three days later.
Claire had arranged a meeting with the board of Voss Capital through her lawyers. She didn’t attend in person. Instead, she had Margaret deliver the documents.
The documents showed that the company had been paying rent on the top three floors of Voss Tower to a holding company called Lumen Holdings LLC for the past eighteen months.
What the board didn’t know — until that meeting — was that Lumen Holdings LLC was owned entirely by Claire.
When Harrison found out, he lost control.
He showed up at her penthouse again, this time without Patricia and without a locksmith. He stood outside her door and pounded on it until building security threatened to call the police.
Claire watched him through the security feed for several minutes before she finally spoke through the intercom.
“Go home, Harrison.”
“You own the building?” he shouted. “You’ve been collecting rent from my own family’s company this entire time?”
Claire’s voice was calm.
“I bought it last year. Your family was about to lose it in a foreclosure. I saved it. And now your company pays me for the privilege of staying in it.”
Harrison pressed both hands against the door, his voice breaking.
“Claire… why? Why are you doing this?”
She was quiet for a long moment.
“Because for five years, you and your mother made me feel like I was lucky to be part of your family. You made me feel small. Now I’m simply showing you how small you actually are without my money.”
Harrison was silent on the other side of the door.
When he finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper.
“You’re going to regret this.”
Claire looked at the camera feed, at the man who had once been her husband.
“No, Harrison,” she said quietly. “I already regret marrying you. Everything after that has been me fixing that mistake.”
She turned off the intercom and walked away from the door.
Behind her, Harrison stood in the hallway for a long time before he finally turned and left.
May you like
Claire didn’t watch him go.
She had already moved on to the next step.
