Chapter 98: I Didn’t Know
Claire's knuckles tightened on the steering wheel as she drove to Margaret's house, her jaw clenched so tightly it ached.
Anger coursed through her veins, but beneath the fiery rage was an undercurrent of bitter disappointment.
She replayed Alex's conversation with the kidnappers in her head, their cruel, heartless demands replaying like a broken record.
They'd taken Emma—Emma, who had done nothing to deserve such hatred. All this to force Alex to release Jake? The depths to which Margaret had sunk were staggering.
How could she do this? How could she involve innocent people, spill innocent blood, just to save her son? Did she even know that the kidnappers had murdered two innocent people?
Claire's chest tightened, and she felt a pang of sadness mixed with her anger.
She'd known Margaret since she was a child. She had thought her sister would be a better person with her scolding. She had thought helping her set Jake right would make Margaret realize just how bitter and sad she had become.
She had thought Margaret had hope to change but now, all Claire could see was a woman who had become unrecognizable, consumed by desperation and selfishness.
Her grip on the wheel tightened further as she thought of Emma—sweet, kind Emma, who had been through so much already.
First Jake's betrayal, then losing her baby, and now this. Claire's stomach churned with guilt and fury. Margaret had taken it too far. How could she possibly justify kidnapping and murder?
Tears pricked at the corners of Claire's eyes as her mind swirled with frustration. She shook her head to clear the fog.