Chương 8
Patricia let out a short, humorless laugh.
My mother stiffened.
Chloe continued.
“But I also thought she was scared for you.”
“So you helped her.”
“Not at first.”
“What does that mean?”
“The first time Samantha called the Vancouver office, I transferred her to your extension.”
I stared at her.
“I never got that call.”
“You were in Seattle.”
I remembered the trip.
Two days of meetings, bad hotel coffee, and a presentation I had nearly missed because I overslept.
“What happened after you transferred it?”
“She got voicemail.”
“And then?”
“She called back the next day.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“You spoke to her.”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
“That she needed your direct number.”
“Did you give it to her?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother had already called.”
I turned toward my mother.
She stared at the table.
“What did she tell Chloe?”
“That Samantha might try to manipulate me.”
My mother whispered, “I said you were vulnerable.”
“You said more than that.”
Chloe’s voice surprised all of us.
My mother looked up.
“Chloe.”
“You told me Samantha had cheated.”
I stared at my mother.
“She what?”
My mother said nothing.
I laughed in disbelief.
“You told her Samantha cheated on me?”
“I believed she had.”
“Based on what?”
“You were barely speaking to each other.”
“That is not evidence of adultery.”
“You were gone for work all the time.”
“That was me.”
“I know.”
“Apparently not.”
Patricia leaned forward.
“Elaine, did you ever have proof?”
“No.”
My mother’s answer was almost inaudible.
I looked at Chloe.
“So you thought Samantha’s baby might belong to someone else.”
“Yes.”
“And that made it okay to lie to her.”
“No.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
Her eyes filled.
“The second time she called.”
I felt something inside me go still.
“What exactly did you say?”
“I told her you knew about the pregnancy.”
My mother covered her mouth.
Patricia stared at Chloe.
I said, “Keep going.”
Chloe wiped one cheek angrily.
“I said you didn’t believe the child was yours.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a lie.”
“Because I was stupid.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“People don’t build a lie that specific because they’re stupid.”
She stood abruptly.
“Because your mother had spent weeks telling me you were barely holding yourself together.”
“And you had never met me.”
“I knew you through work.”
“You knew my calendar.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Then explain it.”
She wrapped her arms around herself.
“I liked you before you knew me.”
The sentence landed strangely.
I frowned.
“What?”
“I had seen you on calls.”
My stomach turned.
“Video calls?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Before your transfer.”
I searched my memory.
Our Chicago and Vancouver offices had held quarterly planning meetings.
Dozens of faces in boxes.
Names I barely remembered.
“You were on those calls.”
“Yes.”
“And you developed feelings for me.”
“I was interested.”
“You had never spoken to me.”
“No.”
“That’s not interest.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“Do you?”
Her face hardened.
“I’m not saying it was healthy.”
“Healthy is not the word I’m looking for.”
My mother said my name.
I ignored her.
“So when my pregnant ex-wife called, you already had some fantasy about me.”
Chloe flinched.
“It wasn’t a fantasy.”
“It absolutely was.”
“I didn’t know we would ever date.”
“But you made sure Samantha thought I didn’t want her.”
Chloe looked at the floor.
“I told myself I was helping you.”
The words were so similar to my mother’s that Patricia actually closed her eyes.
I stared at both women.
“Amazing.”
My mother whispered, “Ethan.”
“You both protected me so hard I lost five years with my children.”
Chloe sat down.
My mother began crying harder.
I felt no satisfaction.
Only exhaustion.
“Who created the fake forwarded email?”
Chloe’s shoulders went rigid.
I already had the answer.
“You did.”
She nodded.
Patricia stood up.
“Oh, for God’s sake.”
My mother looked genuinely shocked.
“You told me you only spoke to her.”
Chloe turned on her.
“You told me to make her stop.”
“I did not tell you to forge anything.”
“You said she needed to believe Ethan was done.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“It was when you were calling me every other day.”
“Don’t blame me for what you chose.”
The irony was so grotesque that I laughed.
Both of them stopped.
I gripped the back of the nearest chair.
“Don’t.”
My voice came out low.
“Neither one of you gets to compete for the smaller crime.”
Chloe lowered her head.
My mother looked away.
I sat down at last.
My legs felt weak.
“Why did you keep lying after we started dating?”
Chloe breathed in slowly.
“Because by then telling you would have ended us.”
“Yes.”
“And I loved you.”
“You loved the version of me you created before I even knew your name.”
“That’s not fair.”
“There’s that word again.”
“I have spent five years with you.”
“And every day had this underneath it.”
“No.”
She leaned toward me.
“Not every day.”
I stared at her.
She seemed to realize how terrible the sentence sounded.
“I mean I wasn’t thinking about it constantly.”
“That helps.”
“It should.”
“It doesn’t.”
Her voice broke.
“I didn’t set out to steal your children.”
“But you did.”
She covered her face.
For several seconds, no one spoke.
The refrigerator hummed.
A truck backed up somewhere outside.
My mother’s napkin had been shredded into damp white pieces.
I looked at Patricia.
“What did you know?”
She met my eyes directly.
“About Chloe?”
“Yes.”
“Nothing until today.”
“About the twins?”
“I knew Samantha was pregnant.”
“Did you ever find out she had twins?”
“Months later.”
“How?”
“A friend from church saw her at a pharmacy with two babies.”
I stared at her.
“And you didn’t tell me.”
Patricia’s face tightened.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother told me you knew and had chosen not to be involved.”
I looked at my mother.
She whispered, “I panicked.”
May you like
“For five years?”
“I kept thinking there would be a better time.”
