Chương 9
She started with simple questions.
Where had I been standing?
Who held the tray?
Where was Patricia seated?
What exactly had I seen before Mom fell?
I answered slowly.
When I could not remember, I said so.
When my memory felt certain, I explained what made it certain.
The angle of Patricia’s chair.
The movement of her heel.
The sound of the tray.
Jason bending down.
The metal edge turning after his hand shoved it.
Alvarez stopped me there.
“Did he shove the tray toward your mother?”
“No.”
“Did he appear to be trying to hit her?”
“No.”
“What did it look like he was trying to do?”
I swallowed.
“Clear it away.”
“Angrily?”
“Yes.”
“Recklessly?”
“I don’t know what that means legally.”
“Forget legally.”
I looked down at my hands.
“He was furious.”
“At whom?”
“My mother.”
“Why?”
“Because she had fallen.”
Alvarez wrote something.
I immediately hated how that sounded.
“He was already humiliating her before that.”
“Tell me about that.”
I did.
The microphone.
The tray.
The joke about blue-collar work.
Patricia’s comments earlier in the reception.
Jason’s divorce announcement after Mom fell.
Alvarez listened without much reaction.
When I finished, she tapped her pen against the notebook.
“Was your husband drinking?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you see him consume alcohol?”
“Champagne during the reception and whiskey before the speeches.”
“How much whiskey?”
“I saw one glass.”
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“Had he been using drugs?”
“No idea.”
“Any history of violence?”
The question surprised me.
“No.”
“Toward you?”
“No.”
“Property damage?”
I hesitated.
Alvarez noticed.
“What?”
“Once he punched a closet door.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“During an argument?”
“Yes.”
“Did you report it?”
“No.”
“Were you afraid?”
“No.”
That was true.
Then.
“What was the argument about?”
I almost laughed at the stupidity of it.
“A vacation.”
Alvarez waited.
“He wanted to cancel a trip with my mother because an investor invited us to Aspen.”
“What happened?”
“I told him I was going with Mom anyway.”
“And he punched the door?”
“Yes.”
“What happened after?”
“He apologized.”
“Did you go on the trip?”
“No.”
The room became very quiet.
Alvarez looked up.
“Why not?”
I stared at the scratches in the tabletop.
“Because he said things were unstable at work.”
“Was that true?”
“Probably.”
“Did your mother know about the argument?”
“No.”
“Did anyone?”
“No.”
Alvarez wrote again.
I felt exposed in a way that had nothing to do with money or headlines.
There had been no bruises.
No police.
No dramatic scene.
Just a dent in a closet door I later told the building handyman came from moving furniture.
I had forgotten the lie until that moment.
Or pretended to.
“Detective.”
“Yes?”
“I don’t want that incident turned into something it wasn’t.”
“What was it?”
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came.
Alvarez nodded once.
“That’s why I’m asking.”
After the interview, she told us the investigation would proceed based on the available evidence and that no arrest decision had been made.
Mom seemed relieved.
I was too, though I disliked admitting it.
We stepped outside shortly before eleven.
A cluster of reporters waited across the street.
I stopped.
Mom stopped beside me.
Anthony, parked at the curb, immediately got out.
“How did they know?” Mom whispered.
I checked my phone.
Three news alerts had appeared.
One headline mentioned the Plaza incident.
Another mentioned Vance Global.
The third mentioned Cole Meridian.
Then I saw the photograph.
Jason leaving his company’s office that morning.
Below it was a statement attributed to him.
My wife’s family is using financial power and false criminal allegations to destroy me during a private marital dispute.
Mom read over my shoulder.
“Oh, Jason.”
There was no anger in her voice.
Only disappointment.
A reporter spotted us.
“Ms. Vance!”
The others turned.
Microphones rose.
Anthony moved between us and the curb.
I could have walked to the car.
I should have.
Instead, I stopped.
Mom touched my elbow.
“Bella.”
“I’m not giving them a speech.”
“Good.”
I looked across the street.
Questions collided with one another.
Had Vance Global frozen Jason’s financing?
Was I seeking criminal charges?
Had I concealed my ownership stake from my husband?
Was Cole Meridian insolvent?
I raised one hand.
The noise thinned.
“My mother and I gave truthful statements to the police this morning.”
Cameras clicked.
Another question came immediately.
“Are you using Vance Global to punish your husband?”
“No.”
“Did you order his financing frozen?”
“I made a call last night that I should not have made while emotionally involved.”
The reporters surged closer.
Anthony turned toward me.
“Ms. Vance.”
I continued.
“That instruction has been disclosed, documented, and removed from my control.”
Someone shouted, “So you admit wrongdoing?”
“No.”
Another voice called, “Is your husband lying?”
I looked at the phones pointed toward me.
“I’m not going to litigate my marriage on a sidewalk.”
Then I took Mom’s hand and walked to the car.
Inside, my heart hammered.
Mom stared at me.
“What?”
“You said too much.”
“I know.”
“You always say too much when you’re trying to prove you aren’t hiding.”
“I know.”
She sighed.
“Your father did that too.”
“Apparently I inherited only his worst traits.”
“You also got his calves.”
I looked at her.
She shrugged.
“He had excellent calves.”
The absurdity broke the tension.
I laughed until my eyes watered.
Then my phone rang.
Leah.
I answered.
“You spoke to reporters.”
“Briefly.”
“You admitted the call.”
“Yes.”
“I hate when clients develop consciences before consulting me.”
“Was anything I said inaccurate?”
“No.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that accuracy and strategy are cousins, not twins.”
I leaned back.
“Noted.”
“Also, the board meeting moved up.”
“When?”
“One o’clock.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Not in the room.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The independent directors are meeting without you.”
“That’s appropriate.”
“I’m glad you think so because there’s more.”
I looked at Mom.
She had turned toward the window.
“What?”
“Cole Meridian’s outside counsel contacted us twenty minutes ago.”
May you like
“And?”
“They’re claiming the seventeen-million-dollar transfer was payment for software licensing rights.”
