Chương 6
Clara nodded.
A year ago, she might have thought that advice was excessive.
Today, she understood why it mattered.
They met in the small waiting area.
Richard looked different.
Not defeated.
Not exactly.
But less certain.
Eleanor stood beside him wearing sunglasses despite being indoors.
Clara wondered if it was because she did not want anyone to see her eyes.
Or because she did not want anyone to see her fear.
"Clara," Richard said.
His voice was calmer than yesterday.
That almost made it worse.
"I think we should talk."
Clara stopped several feet away.
"You already talked."
Richard looked down.
"I made a mistake."
The sentence was so unexpected that nobody reacted immediately.
Eleanor glanced at him.
Maybe she had not expected him to admit even that much.
Clara studied his face.
A part of her wanted to accept it.
Not because she trusted him.
Because she was tired.
Tired of fighting.
Tired of carrying anger.
"I need to know something," Clara said.
Richard waited.
"When you threw my children out, what did you think would happen?"
His mouth opened.
Then closed.
It was the first time she had seen him without an immediate answer.
"I was angry."
"No."
Clara shook her head.
"That is not enough."
Richard looked at her.
"I was grieving too."
The words landed differently.
Because they were true.
Richard had lost his son.
That did not excuse him.
But it explained something.
Clara had forgotten that her children were not the only ones who lost Mark.
The difference was what people did with grief.
Some people reached for others.
Some people reached for control.
"I thought the house was the last piece of him I had," Richard said.
His voice lowered.
"And when I saw you had control of it, I felt like I was losing him again."
Clara looked at him.
For one brief second, she saw an old man who had buried his son.
Then she remembered Luke on the grass.
"I understand that you were hurting."
Richard nodded.
"But you hurt my children."
His face changed.
Not dramatically.
Just enough.
Because there was no defense for that.
Eleanor stepped forward.
"Clara, we all said things we regret."
Clara looked at her.
"Did you?"
Eleanor went quiet.
"You watched him hit Luke."
The room became still.
Eleanor's lips parted.
"I was shocked."
"You stood there."
"I didn't know what to do."
Clara looked at her.
"You knew enough to throw our bags into the rain."
That ended the conversation.
Because sometimes the most painful truths were the simplest ones.
Richard looked toward the floor.
"I want to fix this."
Clara almost asked what that meant.
Instead, she said, "Why?"
The question surprised him.
"Because you're my family."
Clara held his gaze.
"No."
She shook her head.
"That's why you should have fixed it before."
Richard looked hurt.
And Clara hated that part of herself noticed.
Because even now, after everything, she did not want to destroy him.
She just wanted him to understand.
"I don't know what happens next," Clara said.
"But I know this."
She stepped closer.
"You don't get to hurt people and call it grief."
Richard looked away.
For once, he had nothing to say.
Audrey approached from behind Clara.
"Mr. Sterling, if you are here to discuss the property, all communication needs to go through legal channels."
Richard nodded.
His shoulders dropped slightly.
Not surrender.
Not yet.
But something close.
As they walked away, Eleanor stopped.
She looked at Clara.
There was something different in her expression.
Not kindness.
Not forgiveness.
Something more complicated.
Regret.
"You should read the rest of Mark's letter," Eleanor said quietly.
Clara frowned.
"What?"
Eleanor swallowed.
"There is something he wrote about me."
Then she followed Richard out.
Clara stood still.
Because she had spent the entire morning believing the biggest secret was inside the folders.
Now she wondered if there were still truths hidden in the spaces between people.
Clara stood still because she did not know which possibility frightened her more.
That Eleanor might have been hiding something.
Or that Mark might have known about it and never told her.
She waited until the front door closed behind them before returning to Audrey's office.
The children were in the corner with coloring books the receptionist had found, but Clara noticed Luke watching her carefully.
He had inherited that from Mark.
The ability to notice what people were not saying.
"What happened?" Chloe asked.
Clara looked at her daughter.
"Nothing is ever nothing in this family, is it?"
Chloe gave a small shrug.
"Not lately."
The honesty made Clara smile despite herself.
Audrey gathered the documents back into the folders.
"Mark left one more letter."
Clara looked up immediately.
"About Eleanor?"
Audrey nodded.
"About both of them."
"Why didn't you give it to me before?"
"Because Mark wanted you to receive it after you made your first decision."
Clara frowned.
"What decision?"
Audrey looked toward the door where Richard and Eleanor had left.
"You chose not to destroy them."
Clara almost laughed.
"I didn't exactly have the opportunity."
"That is not true."
Audrey's voice remained calm.
"You had the deed.
You had the trust.
You had the ability to make this very painful for them."
Clara looked down.
She knew Audrey was right.
There were people who would have enjoyed watching Richard lose everything.
There were moments when she had imagined it.
Not because she was cruel.
Because humiliation leaves a person craving balance.
But balance and revenge were not always the same thing.
Audrey handed her the second letter.
This one was shorter.
The envelope had Eleanor's name written across it.
Clara hesitated.
"Did Mark want her to read this?"
"No."
"Then why is her name on it?"
Audrey looked at the envelope.
"Because Mark knew you would need to know who she was."
Clara opened it.
The handwriting was familiar.
Eleanor,
I know you believe I don't understand why you act the way you do.
May you like
I do.
That was the first line.
