Chapter 6: Dangerous Curiosity

Raymond could not stop thinking about her.

This irritated him. He was not a man ruled by emotions or distracted by women. In thirty-one years of life, he had never pursued anyone. People came to him, brought by his money, his power, or his name, and he either accepted or dismissed them without a second thought.

But three days after giving Claire that folder, her face still occupied his mind at odd hours. During board meetings. Over morning coffee. In the quiet moments before sleep.

It was not her beauty that pulled him, although she was undeniably beautiful. It was the fire he saw behind her calm exterior. The intelligence in her questions. The way she stood on that sidewalk holding evidence of her husband's betrayal and did not cry, did not crumble, did not beg him for help. She took the information, evaluated his motives, and walked away with her spine straight.

That kind of strength in the face of destruction was rare. And Raymond recognized it because he possessed the same quality himself.

Tuesday morning, Benjamin entered his office with the weekly briefing. Raymond listened with half an ear while reading contracts until Benjamin said something that made him look up.

"Victor's company filed for a design patent yesterday. Under Felicia's name. For the vertical farm tower concept."

Raymond set down his pen. "They're patenting Claire's work."

"Yes, sir. If the patent goes through, Claire loses all legal claim to her own design. Permanently."

Raymond's jaw tightened. He stood from his desk and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window. The city sprawled below him, steel and glass reflecting the morning sun. Somewhere in that maze of buildings, Claire was waking up next to a man who was erasing her existence piece by piece.

"How long before the patent is approved?"

"Sixty days from filing. Possibly less if Victor's legal team pushes it."

Sixty days. Claire had sixty days before her life's work was stolen from her with no legal way to recover it.

"Does she know?" Raymond asked.

"I have no way to confirm that, sir."

Raymond turned from the window. He made decisions quickly, always had. Hesitation was a luxury for people without power, and Raymond had never been without power since the day he built his first company.

"Set up a meeting with our intellectual property lawyers. Today. I want to know every option for blocking that patent."

"Yes, sir." Benjamin made a note on his tablet. "And Claire? Should I reach out?"

"No." Raymond returned to his desk. "Not yet. She'll come to me when she's ready."

He believed this. A woman like Claire did not need saving. She needed opportunity, resources, and the space to fight her own battles. If he pushed too hard, she would retreat. He knew because he would do the same.

But the waiting tested him in ways he did not expect.

Wednesday, he drove past her house on the way to a site inspection. He told himself it was the most direct route. Benjamin said nothing, but his eyebrow lifted slightly.

Thursday, Raymond found himself researching Claire's published academic work in detail. He read her thesis twice, cover to cover. The second time, he read it with a pencil in hand, marking passages that showed particular brilliance. By the time he finished, the thesis was filled with his annotations.

His phone buzzed Friday afternoon. Unknown number. He answered.

"Raymond?" Claire's voice came through clear and steady. "This is Claire. I need to ask you something, and I need you to be completely honest with me."

Raymond leaned back in his chair. "Ask."

"Did you know about the affair?"

He paused. One second. Two. "I suspected."

"When?"

"At the dinner. The way Victor reacted when Dorinda mentioned Felicia. The way he watched you afterward, checking if you noticed anything. A guilty man always watches his wife's face for signs of discovery."

Silence on Claire's end. Then: "You're observant."

"It's a survival skill in my family."

Another pause. Longer this time. Raymond heard her breathing, could almost feel the words forming before she spoke them.

"I found his second phone two weeks ago," Claire said. "I know everything. The apartment, the vacations, the money, and now... I know about Felicia being pregnant with his child. I know about my designs being used without my permission." Her voice hardened. "I also received your folder. I compared every single page. You were right. Six of my projects, stolen."

"What are you planning to do?"

"Leave him. But not quietly." Claire's voice dropped lower. "I spent three years being quiet. I'm done."

Raymond felt something unfamiliar rise in his chest. Admiration, yes. But something deeper too. Something that had no business existing between a man and his nephew's wife.

"Do you need resources?" he asked carefully.

"I need a job. I start at Valour Design next Monday. But that only solves the money problem." Claire took a breath. "I need legal help to block the patent they filed on my vertical farm design. And I need evidence that will hold up in court when I file for divorce."

"I can help with both."

"Why?" The same question she asked on the sidewalk. Direct. Unyielding.

Raymond considered several answers. Because it was the right thing to do. Because Victor deserved to face consequences. Because stolen genius offended him on a professional level.

All of those were true. But they were not the whole truth.

"Because watching your work get buried under someone else's name is something I cannot accept," Raymond said. "And because my nephew does not deserve what he has."

He left the second part deliberately vague. Claire could interpret it however she wished.

"Fine," Claire said. "Then I want the meeting with your lawyers. As soon as possible."

"Tomorrow. Nine AM. My office. Benjamin will send you the address."

"I'll be there."

The line went dead. Raymond placed his phone on the desk and stared at it for a long moment. Then he picked up his office phone and dialed Benjamin.

"Cancel everything on my schedule tomorrow morning. Clear the conference room. And get me the best intellectual property team in the city. I want them there by eight."

"Yes, sir. Anything else?"

Raymond thought about Claire's voice on the phone. The steel underneath her words. The complete absence of self-pity. This was not a woman asking to be rescued. This was a woman building an army.

"One more thing," Raymond said. "Pull everything we have on Victor's company finances. Every transaction for the past three years. If he's been funding Felicia's lifestyle with company money, there will be a trail. Find it."

"Understood." Benjamin paused. "Sir, if I may ask, how involved do you intend to become in this situation?"

Raymond looked out his window at the darkening sky. Somewhere across this city, Claire was preparing to dismantle the life of the man who broke her. And Raymond intended to make sure she had every tool she needed to do it thoroughly.

"As involved as necessary," Raymond said.

He hung up. The evening light cast long shadows across his office. He reached into his desk drawer and pulled out the annotated copy of Claire's thesis. His eyes settled on a passage he had underlined three times:

"The strongest structures are not those that resist force, but those that absorb pressure, transform it, and rise higher because of it."

Claire wrote those words about buildings. But Raymond suspected she had been writing about herself all along.

His phone buzzed one final time that evening. A text from Victor.

[Uncle Raymond, hope you're well. Quick question. Do you know any good restaurants for a private dinner? Planning something special for Claire's birthday next week. Want to make it perfect. She deserves the world.]

Raymond read the message twice. His nephew, the liar, the thief, the man who carried a second phone and a second life, was planning a birthday dinner for the wife he betrayed. Performing love like a man in a costume.

Raymond typed his reply slowly:

[Try the rooftop place on Fifth. The view is remarkable.]

Then he deleted the message before sending. He put the phone face-down on his desk.

Victor did not deserve a response. And soon, very soon, Victor would not deserve anything at all.