Chapter 14 - The Man Who Repaired Watches
Richard’s father had not been poor.
That was another story Richard had shaped.
Arthur Mercer had owned a respected watch-repair shop in Boston.
He served wealthy clients.
Collected rare movements.
Lived comfortably.
Richard had told Claire that his childhood consisted of “watching rich men look through us.”
The truth was less dramatic.
His father had been respected.
Richard simply hated being the person who repaired wealth rather than possessed it.
Claire learned this from Richard’s older sister, Melissa.
They had met only twice.
Melissa called after seeing the scandal.
“I haven’t spoken to Richard in three years.”
“Why?”
“He stole from our father.”
Claire went quiet.
“What?”
“After Dad developed dementia, Richard sold several client watches from the shop’s secure inventory.”
“Was he charged?”
“No. Dad refused.”
“Why?”
“He thought Richard would change.”
The family pattern was older than Claire.
Melissa sent copies of civil correspondence from the watch shop.
One description caught Claire’s attention.
A vintage silver chronograph belonging to a private client had disappeared.
The serial number matched the duplicate Richard bought eleven months earlier.
Claire stared.
Not the exact same watch.
Same rare model.
Richard had used the symbol of his father’s profession to humiliate Noah.
A watch was not random.
It was part of Richard’s psychology.
He understood watches.
Valued them.
Knew how people projected sentiment onto them.
He knew Claire would recognize her father’s silver watch from across a room without checking the movement.
The duplicate was designed to exploit emotion.
Just like the marriage.
Melissa also remembered Silver Ridge.
“Richard used that name in college.”
“For what?”
“A fake investment club.”
Claire almost laughed.
“He’s been using it that long?”
“He liked the idea of mountains. Said silver sounded expensive.”
Motive accumulated in layers.
Ambition.
Resentment.
Entitlement.
But not desperation.
Richard was not stealing to survive.
He was stealing to transform himself into the person he believed he deserved to be.
Meanwhile, the shareholder battle intensified.
Richard circulated a proposed board slate.
Three candidates.
All publicly respectable.
Maya uncovered financial relationships between two candidates and Silver Ridge lenders.
Hidden conflicts.
One candidate withdrew immediately when confronted.
Another denied wrongdoing but distanced himself from Richard.
The board coup weakened.
Then Claire suffered a blow.
Paul Danner, the retired internal auditor, finally responded from Oregon.
He agreed to speak.
During video interview, he confirmed he had warned both Claire and Richard about unusual payroll patterns.
Claire stared.
“You warned me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“April of last year.”
“I don’t remember.”
“I emailed you.”
Maya found it.
Paul had indeed sent Claire a report.
Claire forwarded it to Richard twenty minutes later with the message:
Can you handle this? I’m buried in expansion planning.
Richard responded:
Absolutely. Looks routine.
Claire never opened the attachment.
She felt nauseated.
Paul continued.
“Two weeks later, Richard told me the discrepancies were explained by seasonal tax processing.”
“Did you believe him?”
“No.”
“What did you do?”
“I escalated to Vanessa.”
Claire almost laughed from despair.
The two people overseeing the fraud had controlled every escalation channel.
But Claire had received the warning.
She had handed it back to Richard.
Again.
“I failed,” she whispered.
Paul answered, “You delegated.”
“Without checking.”
“Yes.”
That testimony would hurt Claire publicly.
She chose to preserve it anyway.
Rebecca asked why.
“Because if I hide it, Richard gets to expose it later and say I’m exactly like him.”
The clip eventually leaked.
Headlines were vicious.
HEIRESS IGNORED FRAUD WARNING
Noah saw one.
He came into the kitchen holding his phone.
“Is it true?”
Claire turned off the faucet.
“Yes.”
“You knew he was stealing?”
“No.”
“You got the report.”
“I didn’t read it.”
Noah stared.
“That’s like not reading my school email and then saying you didn’t know.”
Claire nodded.
“Exactly.”
He seemed surprised she agreed.
“Are you going to jail?”
“I don’t expect to. Not reading an audit is not the same as knowingly stealing. But I may face consequences at the company.”
Noah became scared.
“What if Richard wins?”
Claire sat beside him.
“Then we keep telling the truth.”
“What if that’s not enough?”
Claire looked at her son.
“Sometimes it isn’t enough to win immediately.”
“That’s terrible.”
“Yes.”
Noah leaned against her.
For the first time since the lounge, he did it without hesitation.
Claire rested her cheek against his hair.
Then her phone buzzed.
A message from Helen.
We lost another director. Richard likely has the votes.
Claire closed her eyes.
The shareholder meeting was tomorrow.
The truth was arriving.
May you like
But power might move faster.
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