Later that evening, after Clara had gone upstairs to make a phone call in private, Emily called her best friend Sarah, who worked as a paralegal at a major law firm downtown. They met up at a small diner down the street to talk without Arthur hearing anything.
Emily: Sarah, I need you to do me a massive favor, and you cannot tell Arthur about this under any circumstances.
Sarah: Wow, you look completely terrified, Emily. What is going on with the wedding preparations?
Emily: It is Clara. She lied to me today about a piece of expensive jewelry, and last week I caught her looking through Arthur's private desk drawers when she thought no one was home.
Sarah: Looking through his business papers? That is very strange. Did you ask her what she was doing?
Emily: She said she was looking for a pen, but she had his life insurance policies and estate documents in her hands.
Sarah took a sip of her coffee, her expression growing serious as she listened to her friend's growing concerns.
Sarah: Do you want me to run a quick background search on her full name and past addresses through our legal database?
Emily: Yes, please. I love my brother too much to let him walk into a disaster if she is hiding something terrible.
Sarah: I will check the records tonight and text you the moment I find anything suspicious.
Emily returned home an hour later, stepping quietly into the quiet house. The hallway light was dimmed, and the house was peaceful, but Emily could not shake the heavy feeling of uneasiness sitting in the pit of her stomach. She walked toward the kitchen to grab a glass of water, stopping suddenly when she heard voices coming from the living room.
Clara was speaking on the phone in a low, sharp whisper, standing near the glass doors that led out to the back patio.
Clara: I told you not to call me at this house! Arthur is upstairs sleeping, and his annoying sister is always snooping around.
Emily pulled her breath in quietly, stepping back behind the doorframe so she could listen without being seen.
Clara: Everything is going according to the plan. Once the life insurance paperwork is fully finalized after the wedding, we will get full access to the trust fund cash.
Emily’s eyes widened in horror as she covered her mouth with her trembling hand, struggling to stay quiet.
Clara: Just make sure the bank transfer details are ready on your end. I will handle the rest tomorrow afternoon. Goodbye.
Clara ended the call and slipped her phone back into her dress pocket. Emily waited until she heard Clara’s high heels clicking up the wooden stairs toward the bedroom before she crept back to her own room, her pulse pounding wildly in her ears.
She sat down on her bed, her hands shaking violently as she pulled out her phone. She needed solid proof before she could go to Arthur. Arthur was head over heels in love with Clara, and if she accused Clara without hard evidence, Arthur would think she was just being overly jealous or paranoid.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed in her palm with a new text message from Sarah. Attached to the message was a PDF document containing a police report from another state five years ago.
Sarah: Emily, look at this right now. Clara was married before under a different last name. Her previous husband died mysteriously from sudden heart failure right after they signed a massive life insurance policy, but the police did not have enough evidence to charge her at the time.
Emily read the report twice, her heart sinking deeper with every word. Clara was not just a fortune hunter seeking Arthur's money; she was a dangerous predator who was actively planning to take Arthur's life for his multi-million dollar estate.