Chapter 20

Walking through the winding hallway, Claire was tense, glancing back every few steps. The hotel was eerily quiet—too quiet. She hadn't seen a single staff member the whole way. The silence was borderline creepy. After a while, with still no one behind her, she eased up a bit. Maybe she was just being paranoid. If Helen really wanted to pull some shady move, she’d have done it way earlier. No need to wait till Claire was already walking away from her son. Sure, that compensation money hurt, but for the Bennetts, it wasn’t much—basically pocket change. Helen couldn’t be that dumb. Just a bit further and she’d be back in the lobby where she came in. Claire pulled out her phone to check the time. 7:40 p.m. Time to message Kenneth. She started typing: I'm here, at… She didn’t get to finish. From the next corner, a woman in a black uniform stepped out suddenly and bumped into her. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” The woman reached out, trying to steady her. “It’s okay, I’m fine. No nee—” Halfway through