Chương 10
“What happened?”
“They emailed me a copy.”
My stomach turned.
“What did you do?”
“I confronted Mark.”
“When?”
“About four yesterday.”
Before the party.
Before the slap.
Before Mark spent an hour showing off the house.
“What did he say?”
“That you signed it.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
“You believed him then?”
“I believed he might have had some authority I didn’t understand.”
Arthur asked, “Did you verify with Clara?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“Because Mark told me not to involve her.”
I sat back.
“What exactly did he say?”
“That you were emotional about family finances.”
I almost smiled.
There it was again.
Unstable.
Emotional.
Difficult.
The words did useful work for men who needed women excluded from information.
Daniel continued.
“He said your grandfather had structured things so you didn’t understand the investment side.”
Arthur let out a low breath.
“He said that?”
“Yes.”
Arthur looked offended on my grandfather’s behalf.
I would have enjoyed that under other circumstances.
“What changed after the party?”
I asked.
“Mark called me around eleven.”
“Last night?”
“Yes.”
“What did he want?”
“He told me to come to the office early and clean up duplicate files.”
Arthur asked, “His phrase?”
“Yes.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him I’d come in.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Daniel glanced at me.
“Because I saw a video.”
I stared at him.
“What video?”
“Someone from the party posted part of what happened.”
My stomach dropped.
“Posted where?”
“Private neighborhood group at first.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
Arthur said, “Was Emma visible?”
“Yes.”
I stood so fast my knee struck the table.
Coffee in Arthur’s cup jumped.
“She’s ten.”
“I know.”
“Someone posted my child being slapped?”
Daniel looked genuinely sorry.
“I think it’s spreading.”
I grabbed my phone.
Arthur put a hand on my wrist.
“Before you start searching, think.”
“I am thinking.”
“You’re furious.”
“Yes.”
“And anything you do publicly right now becomes part of the record.”
“I don’t care.”
“You will.”
I pulled my hand free.
“My daughter’s face is online.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
The words came out sharper than I intended.
Arthur did not flinch.
“No,” he said.
“I probably don’t.”
That stopped me.
I sat back down.
Daniel looked away.
Through the window, a man in a fluorescent vest was cleaning his windshield at the gas station.
Life continued with insulting normality.
Arthur spoke after a moment.
“We can work on removing or limiting the video where possible.”
“Where possible?”
“Once something is copied, nobody can promise total removal.”
I knew that.
I hated hearing it anyway.
Daniel reached into his jacket pocket.
Arthur tensed.
Daniel noticed.
“It’s paper.”
He pulled out a folded envelope and placed it on the table.
“What is that?”
I asked.
“Something Mark gave me three weeks ago.”
Arthur did not touch it.
“What were you instructed to do with it?”
“Hold it.”
“For what purpose?”
“He said if there was ever a dispute with Vance, I should give it to outside counsel.”
Arthur looked at the envelope.
“Have you opened it?”
“Yes.”
“What is inside?”
Daniel’s face changed.
Not fear exactly.
Something closer to disgust.
“A copy of a promissory note.”
“Between whom?”
“Mark and Diane.”
“For how much?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Two point four million dollars.”
I forgot about the video for one second.
“What?”
“Dated twelve years ago.”
“The year we got married.”
“Yes.”
Arthur leaned forward.
“What is the stated consideration?”
Daniel swallowed.
“It says Diane loaned Mark two point four million dollars to capitalize Mercer Architectural.”
I stared at him.
“That money came from my trust.”
“I know.”
Arthur’s voice hardened.
“Do you know whether Diane ever had two point four million dollars?”
“No.”
“I do,” I said.
Both men looked at me.
“She didn’t.”
I could see Diane’s old condo in my mind.
The stained carpet.
The refrigerator covered in magnets.
The collection notices she hid under magazines when Mark and I visited during our engagement.
“She was nearly broke.”
Arthur nodded slowly.
“Your grandfather paid off her mortgage once.”
“Yes.”
“Before the wedding.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked between us.
“So the note is false?”
Arthur answered.
“Potentially.”
I stared at the envelope.
“Why create it now and date it twelve years ago?”
Arthur’s expression grew grim.
“Because a fabricated old debt could be used to justify years of payments that otherwise look like improper distributions.”
Daniel nodded.
“That’s what I thought.”
I looked at him.
“And if anyone questions where my grandfather’s startup money went?”
He said nothing.
Arthur did.
“Then Mark may claim Diane’s supposed loan existed alongside it.”
“So he turns my money into his mother’s money on paper.”
“That may be what he intended.”
The anger came back slowly this time.
Colder.
Cleaner.
“Can we prove when that note was created?”
Arthur looked at Daniel.
“Possibly.”
Daniel nodded.
“The office printer logs may help.”
“May?”
“If Mark hasn’t destroyed them.”
My phone vibrated.
A message from Priya.
Call me now.
I called.
She answered before the first full ring.
“Clara, don’t come back here.”
“What happened?”
“Mark found the townhouse.”
Every muscle in my body locked.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is he there?”
“He’s outside.”
I was already standing.
“Where are the girls?”
“Upstairs.”
“Did he get inside?”
“No.”
In the background, someone pounded hard against a door.
Then Mark’s voice carried through the phone.
“Clara!”
My mouth went dry.
Priya whispered, “He thinks you’re here.”
Another pounding crash shook the line.
Arthur was beside me now.
“Tell Priya to call 911.”
“She already did.”
Mark shouted again.
This time I heard every word.
“Open the damn door!”
I grabbed my purse.
Arthur caught my arm.
“You are not driving there.”
“My children are there.”
“And police are on the way.”
“My children are there.”
Daniel stood.
“I can drive.”
Arthur turned on him.
“No.”
I pulled free.
“Arthur.”
He looked at me.
There was fear in his face now.
May you like
Actual fear.
“If you go charging into that house while Mark is enraged, you may make this worse.”
