Chương 10
“Things she said too.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“She documented our fights?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Was she planning a lawsuit?”
“No.”
Michael answered too quickly.
Ethan noticed.
“What aren’t you saying?”
Michael’s eyes closed briefly.
“There were columns.”
“For what?”
“Incident.”
“Okay.”
“Witnesses.”
Ethan swallowed.
“What else?”
“Evidence.”
Daniel stood.
Michael lifted one hand.
“I’m not saying she was building a case against him.”
“It sounds exactly like that.”
“I know.”
Ethan finally sat on the opposite end of the sofa from his father.
His knee bounced.
“Was she?”
Michael looked at him.
“I think she was preparing for the possibility that the marriage went badly.”
Ethan stared.
“That is not normal.”
“No.”
“What was she planning to do?”
Michael rubbed his face.
“There was a document about a postnuptial agreement.”
Daniel swore under his breath.
Ethan blinked.
“A prenup?”
“No.”
Michael shook his head.
“A postnup.”
“Why after the wedding?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said she was planning something.”
“She had notes about asking you to sign it after the honeymoon.”
Ethan stood again.
“What?”
Michael looked miserable.
“I don’t know if she ever intended to go through with it.”
“Then why bring this here?”
“Because last night changed how I read it.”
The room went quiet.
Michael finally held out the flash drive.
“I thought she was scared.”
“Of me?”
“Yes.”
Ethan recoiled.
Michael continued before he could speak.
“She told us after the cheating that she didn’t trust you.”
“I gave her everything.”
“I know.”
“No, you apparently know more than I do.”
Michael flinched.
“That’s fair.”
“Did she tell you I hit her?”
“No.”
“Did she tell you she hit me?”
“Not until last night.”
Denise had known.
Michael had not.
That mattered.
“What did she tell you last month when she asked you to destroy the backup?” I asked.
Michael turned toward me.
“She found out I had copied the laptop.”
“How?”
“I mentioned one of the file names.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You mentioned a file name from a computer you weren’t supposed to be inside.”
“I said this was not my finest moment.”
“That’s generous.”
Michael ignored him.
“She got furious.”
“I imagine.”
“She said the files were private and old.”
“Were they old?”
“Some.”
“And the postnup?”
“Created three weeks before I made the backup.”
Ethan looked toward the window.
“Before the rehearsal seating fight.”
“Yes.”
“Before Wednesday.”
“Yes.”
I watched him absorb the timeline.
He pressed two fingers against his mouth.
“What did it say?”
“I didn’t read the whole thing.”
Daniel stared at him.
“You copied her computer but drew the line at opening the document.”
Michael looked irritated for the first time.
“I opened enough.”
“What was in it?”
Michael looked at Ethan.
“Separate finances.”
“That makes sense.”
“Debt responsibility.”
“Fine.”
“A clause about reimbursement.”
“For what?”
“Money she had spent supporting you.”
Ethan went still.
“What?”
Michael nodded slowly.
“It listed rent, utilities, some travel, gifts.”
“Gifts?”
“Yes.”
“You can’t reimburse gifts.”
“I know.”
“Did she?”
“I don’t know what she believed.”
Ethan laughed once, bitterly.
“She believed I owed her.”
Michael did not answer.
That silence confirmed enough.
I thought of Ethan saying the same thing only hours earlier.
Lauren says I owe her.
The clue had been sitting in the kitchen before the flash drive ever arrived.
“What else?” I asked.
Michael looked at me.
“There was language about infidelity.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Ethan looked exhausted.
“What language?”
“Financial penalties.”
Daniel stood again.
“That’s ridiculous.”
Michael nodded.
“I thought so too.”
“Could that even be enforceable?”
“I have no idea.”
“Then why are we talking about it like it’s a legal document?”
“Because whether it was enforceable is not the point.”
I spoke before either man could answer.
Both looked at me.
“The point is she was planning to ask him to sign something that turned his past mistake into a permanent debt.”
Michael looked relieved.
“Yes.”
Ethan did not.
He looked sick.
I regretted the sentence as soon as I saw his face.
Not because it was inaccurate.
Because it was too clean.
People rarely lived in clean explanations.
“She was scared I’d cheat again,” Ethan said.
No one answered.
He looked at Michael.
“Right?”
“Yes.”
“And she paid for me when I had nothing.”
“Yes.”
“And I lied.”
“Yes.”
Daniel said, “That still doesn’t justify this.”
“I know.”
Ethan snapped the words.
Then he looked ashamed.
“I know.”
He sat again.
“What were the financial penalties?”
Michael hesitated.
“Ethan.”
“Tell me.”
“A fixed amount.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Ethan laughed.
Not because it was funny.
“Fifty.”
Michael nodded.
“And reimbursement of expenses she had documented.”
“How much were those?”
“About twenty-eight thousand.”
Ethan stared at the carpet.
Daniel whispered, “Jesus.”
I thought of the ten thousand I had sent Ethan.
“Did Lauren know I gave him money?”
Michael looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
Ethan answered.
“Yes.”
I turned to him.
“What did you tell her?”
“The truth.”
“All of it?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to the money?”
He looked away.
“I paid off cards.”
“Whose cards?”
“Ours.”
“Joint?”
“No.”
That answer sharpened the air.
“Whose?”
“Some were mine.”
“Some.”
He rubbed his hands together.
“Two were hers.”
“How much?”
“About four thousand.”
I stared at him.
He looked miserable.
“She had covered rent for months.”
“So you paid her credit cards.”
“It felt fair.”
“Did you tell me?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you’d say it wasn’t what the money was for.”
“You told me it was to get you stable.”
“It did.”
“Did it?”
He looked down.
I felt anger rising.
Not because of the money itself.
Because I was discovering how many decisions had been hidden under the word help.
Daniel leaned toward him.
“How much debt do you have now?”
Ethan’s face closed.
“Not much.”
“That means more than zero.”
“About six.”
“Six thousand?”
“Yes.”
“Credit cards?”
“Mostly.”
“Why?”
“Wedding stuff.”
Michael looked up sharply.
“What wedding stuff?”
Ethan looked at him.
“Hotel upgrades.”
May you like
“Lauren’s parents were paying.”
“Not everything.”
