Chương 10
"The closing was delayed for years because of a dispute with the seller's estate."
"Why was my name put on it?"
"I never approved that."
"Did Charles?"
"No."
"Who was the property supposed to belong to?"
Eleanor hesitated.
"Maren."
My eyes went back to the photograph.
"Why?"
"Because Charles promised her mother he would provide a home for her."
"Why would Julian put me on the company?"
"I don't know."
Rebecca whispered, "Liability shield."
We both looked at her.
"What?"
"If he needed someone between himself and Mercer."
She pointed to my name on the filing.
"He used Sloan."
I felt suddenly ill.
Not only stolen from.
Used.
My name had been a wall he could stand behind.
"Eleanor," I said, "what was Mercer really for?"
She did not answer immediately.
When she did, all warmth had left her voice.
"It was where Charles put money he did not want the rest of us asking about."
"And Maren?"
Another pause.
"I think you should hear that from her."
"Why?"
"Because I spent too many years speaking for other people."
Before I could respond, headlights swept across the upstairs window.
A car door slammed outside.
Rebecca moved to the blinds.
Her face went still.
"What?"
I asked.
She looked at me.
"It's Julian."
For one second, neither of us moved.
Then Julian tried the front door.
The dead bolt held.
His key scraped in the lock again.
Rebecca whispered, "Did you change it?"
"No."
"Then why isn't it opening?"
I remembered the security chain.
I had fastened it after the kids went next door without thinking.
The key turned again.
"Sloan."
Julian's voice came through the door.
Not loud.
That frightened me more.
I moved downstairs with Rebecca behind me.
The cedar box remained open on the desk.
At the bottom of the stairs, she caught my arm.
"Don't let him know the kids are next door."
"He already knows they're not here."
"That's different."
The door shook once as Julian pushed against it.
"Sloan, open the door."
I stopped ten feet away.
His shape filled the narrow glass panel beside the frame.
"Leave."
His face turned toward my voice.
"I'm not doing this from the porch."
"You said tomorrow."
"I changed my mind."
"So did I."
Rebecca stepped into the hall.
Julian saw her through the glass.
His expression changed instantly.
There it was again.
The adjustment.
He had walked to the house angry.
Now he arranged his face into wounded patience.
"Rebecca, go home."
She leaned against the wall.
"I haven't lived here since high school, but thanks."
"This isn't funny."
"Nothing about you has been funny today."
He ignored her.
"Sloan, I drove almost four hours."
"That was your decision."
"I live here."
"So do I."
"Then open the door."
"No."
He looked past me as though searching for the children.
"Where are Lily and Leo?"
"Safe."
His jaw tightened.
"If you took them somewhere because Rebecca scared you—"
"I moved them because you were coming home angry."
"I'm not angry."
Rebecca made a sound that was almost a cough.
Julian glanced at her.
Then he reached into his jacket.
For one sick moment, my body reacted before my mind did.
I stepped backward.
He froze.
Something crossed his face.
Shock, then hurt.
Slowly, he pulled out his phone.
"Jesus, Sloan."
I hated that I was ashamed.
He held the screen toward the glass.
"I was going to show you the hotel reservation I canceled."
"Why?"
"Because I came home to fix this."
"You took Eleanor's files."
His shoulders lowered.
"We're doing that now?"
"We're doing all of it now."
A porch light clicked on across the street.
Mrs. Alvarez's curtain shifted.
Julian noticed.
Public attention had always mattered to him.
He lowered his voice.
"Can I please come inside so we aren't performing our marriage for the neighborhood?"
"Our marriage has been a performance for eleven years."
Rebecca looked at me.
Julian did not.
He stared at the lock.
"Sloan, you are upset."
"Yes."
"You're reacting to documents you don't understand."
"Then explain them from there."
He closed his eyes.
A car passed behind him, headlights washing over his shoulders.
When darkness returned, he looked older.
"The education funds were not stolen."
"Where did the money go?"
"Investments."
"In whose name?"
"Ours."
"Mine too?"
"Yes."
"With my permission?"
He hesitated.
That was answer enough.
Rebecca stepped forward.
"Did you forge her signature?"
Julian snapped his head toward her.
"Stay out of it."
"It's a pretty simple question."
"You have spent your entire life inserting yourself into things you don't understand."
"Good."
Her voice remained calm.
"Then this should feel familiar."
He pointed at her through the glass.
"You think you're helping?"
"I think I'm finally not helping you."
His face hardened.
I saw the brother she remembered.
Then he turned back to me.
"I moved money because Mom's trusts were badly structured."
"Martin says you weren't authorized after 2019."
Something flickered in his eyes.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
"So you've talked to Martin."
"No."
"Eleanor did."
He laughed once without humor.
"Of course."
"What does that mean?"
"It means my mother has spent thirty years using lawyers to turn family disagreements into governance issues."
"You submitted false education requests."
"They weren't false."
"Lily has never attended private school."
"The money was designated for her education."
"Then why didn't it stay in her education account?"
"Because I could earn better returns elsewhere."
Rebecca stared at him.
"Did you seriously just say that?"
Julian ignored her.
"Sloan, you know how conservative Mom is with money."
"No, actually."
His mouth tightened.
"You've spent eleven years making sure I don't know anything about her."
He looked down.
For the first time, he had no immediate answer.
I pressed harder.
"Did you forge my signature?"
"I signed forms on behalf of the household."
"That isn't what I asked."
"We file jointly."
"That isn't what I asked."
His voice rose.
May you like
"Yes, I signed your name."
The admission was so plain that my anger briefly disappeared.
