Chương 10
“I’m at my sister’s apartment.”
“Is Ethan with you?”
“No.”
“Do you know where he is?”
“No.”
I heard her inhale.
“Did you have the baby?”
I looked toward the picture on my phone.
“Yes.”
“Oh my God.”
Her voice broke.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s in the NICU.”
“I’m sorry.”
I almost hung up.
Then Chloe said, “I didn’t know.”
I stared at the ceiling.
“Know what?”
“The money.”
Jonathan straightened.
I put the call on speaker.
Chloe heard the change in sound.
“Who’s there?”
“My attorney.”
She became quiet.
“I should probably get one of those.”
“That would be smart.”
“I thought the apartment thing was awful.”
“Interesting distinction.”
“I know how that sounds.”
“How else can it sound?”
She swallowed audibly.
“Ethan told me you had promised him the penthouse years ago.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“He told you I promised?”
“He said your parents knew.”
Of course they did.
Or said they did.
“What did you think the papers were yesterday?”
“A formal transfer.”
“You watched him demand I sign them.”
“I thought you were backing out.”
Her voice cracked.
“That’s horrible.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
“No, Chloe.”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“You don’t get to make yourself feel better by agreeing with me.”
She went silent.
Jonathan looked at the floor.
Finally, Chloe said, “There’s something in the hotel safe.”
My whole body went still.
“What?”
“A second phone.”
“Whose?”
“Ethan’s.”
Jonathan stood.
Chloe continued quickly.
“I found it three weeks ago.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“He told me it was for work.”
“Do you believe that?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
That was the first thing she had said that felt completely clean.
“Where is it now?”
“In our suite.”
“The wedding hotel?”
“Yes.”
“Does Ethan know you found it?”
“He knows I saw it.”
“Does he know you know the code?”
Silence.
Then, “No.”
Jonathan was already texting someone.
I knew who without asking.
“Do not touch it,” he said toward the phone.
Chloe let out a breath that sounded almost like a laugh.
“I’m not exactly eager to commit evidence tampering today.”
“Good.”
She went quiet again.
Then she said, “Claire, there’s one more thing.”
I waited.
“The last time I saw Ethan use that phone, he was texting your mother.”
Claire’s Mother Was Hiding More Than Anyone in the Hospital Knew
I forgot the pain in my abdomen for a moment.
“My mother?”
Chloe’s voice dropped.
“Yes.”
Jonathan stopped typing.
“What did you see?” he asked.
“I didn’t read the messages.”
Chloe sounded defensive before either of us accused her.
“I saw her name.”
“Her actual contact name?”
Jonathan asked.
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“I told you, I didn’t read it.”
“You saw nothing on the screen?”
“There was a preview.”
I closed my eyes.
“What preview?”
Chloe hesitated.
“Something about Claire changing her mind.”
Jonathan looked at me.
“When?”
“About two weeks ago.”
Two weeks ago, Mom had called and asked whether Ethan and Chloe could host a brunch at my apartment after the wedding.
I had said no because I expected to be exhausted and very pregnant.
She had become offended in the quiet way she preferred, sighing and saying she supposed everyone had different ideas about family.
“Anything else?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You just said there was something else.”
“I mean I don’t know what it means.”
My patience vanished.
“Chloe.”
“I heard Ethan arguing with her.”
The room seemed to contract around me.
“When?”
“Three nights ago.”
“Where?”
“At your parents’ apartment.”
I stared at Jonathan.
He had the same question on his face.
“Why were you there?”
“We had dinner.”
“Keep going.”
“I went to the bathroom.”
Chloe inhaled shakily.
“When I came back, Ethan was in your dad’s office with the door almost closed.”
“And Mom?”
“Inside.”
“What did you hear?”
“Not much.”
She paused.
“Ethan said, ‘You told me she would sign if we pressured her together.’”
The monitor attached to me was no longer tracking the baby, but I could hear my own pulse in my ears.
“What did my mother say?”
“She said, ‘I told you she’d come around.’”
Jonathan sat down slowly.
I looked toward the hospital window.
Across the street, someone in an office building was standing beside a copier.
He slapped the side of the machine twice.
It was such a stupid ordinary movement that I watched him instead of speaking.
My mother had known.
Maybe not about the forged deed.
Maybe not about six million dollars.
But she had known Ethan intended to corner me into surrendering my home.
She had come with him anyway.
“Claire?”
Chloe’s voice pulled me back.
“I’m here.”
“I’m sorry.”
I almost said something cruel.
It was ready.
Then I pictured Chloe standing beside the elevator while I lay on the floor.
She had looked terrified.
She had also left.
Both things were true.
“Tell Reeves everything you just told me.”
“And get your own lawyer before you do anything else.”
Jonathan nodded.
Chloe sniffed.
“Okay.”
“Do not go near the hotel safe.”
“I won’t.”
“Is your sister with you?”
“Yes.”
“Stay there.”
There was a pause.
“How’s the baby?”
I looked at Maya’s photograph again.
“She’s breathing.”
“That’s good.”
“It is.”
Another silence.
Then Chloe said, “Claire?”
“What?”
“I really did think you had promised him the apartment.”
I rubbed my thumb over the edge of my phone.
“That doesn’t explain leaving me.”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“It doesn’t.”
I ended the call.
For several minutes, Jonathan and I said nothing.
He finally stood.
“I’m going to call Reeves.”
“You already texted him.”
“I’m going to call him too.”
“That sounds very lawyerly.”
“We enjoy duplication.”
He walked toward the door.
“Jonathan.”
He stopped.
“Did my parents know about the deed?”
“I don’t know.”
“Do you think they did?”
“That is a different question.”
“Yes.”
He considered me.
“I think your mother knew Ethan expected to get the apartment.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
May you like
“No.”
His voice softened.
