Chương 8
Then she asked, “Who hit who?”
Claire could hear her from across the kitchen.
“My mother hit Claire.”
Another silence.
“How many times?”
Thomas looked at Claire.
“Three.”
Emma swore loudly enough that Léa shouted, “Aunt Emma said a bad word.”
Claire took the phone.
“We’re okay.”
“No, you’re not.”
“We’re functioning.”
“That is not the same thing.”
Claire looked at Thomas.
“No.”
Emma lowered her voice.
“Bring Léa.”
At eleven, Claire and Thomas sat in a small conference room with a lawyer named Daniel Ross.
He was in his late forties, wore a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, and had the manner of someone who disliked being impressed by drama.
He examined the copy of the loan agreement first.
Then he looked at Thomas.
“You’re certain this isn’t your signature?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t digitally sign anything associated with this property?”
“No.”
“You didn’t provide authorization over email, text, or recorded call?”
“No.”
Daniel tapped the page.
“Then the next question is how the lender verified identity.”
Thomas leaned forward.
“Can we just call them?”
“We can and we will.”
Daniel glanced at Claire.
“But before anyone starts making accusations, I want records.”
Claire liked him a little more for that.
“What records?”
“Application file, identification documents, account information, payment history, correspondence, anything associated with the loan.”
Thomas nodded.
“And if the signature was forged?”
Daniel looked at him.
“Then you may be dealing with fraud.”
Claire felt Thomas’s leg tense beside hers.
Daniel continued before either of them could interrupt.
“But do not leap ahead.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean families are bad environments for clean evidence.”
Daniel leaned back.
“People share documents, passwords, addresses, devices, verbal permissions, partial understandings.”
Thomas’s face hardened.
“I didn’t give permission.”
“I believe you.”
Daniel’s tone did not change.
“A lender or investigator won’t care that I believe you.”
That landed.
Thomas looked down at his hands.
Daniel turned to Claire.
“Now the assault.”
Claire felt heat move up her neck.
“I took a photograph.”
“Good.”
“I didn’t call the police.”
“That is your choice.”
“Does that hurt anything?”
“Not necessarily.”
Daniel studied her face briefly.
“If you want a record, you can still report it.”
Claire looked at Thomas.
He did not speak.
She appreciated that more than she expected.
Daniel continued.
“You may also want medical documentation.”
“It’s bruising.”
“That still counts.”
Claire felt suddenly foolish.
The entire thing had happened at a dinner table.
There had been cake.
A paper crown sat beside Paul’s plate.
The violence felt too domestic to deserve official language.
Then she remembered Léa asking whether she had been bad.
“I’ll get it documented.”
Daniel nodded.
Thomas pulled out his phone.
“There are messages too.”
“From your mother?”
“And my sister.”
Daniel read several screenshots.
He paused at Marie’s message to Paul.
If you give him those documents, I will make sure he knows what you did too.
“That’s useful,” he said.
Thomas looked at him.
“For what?”
“It establishes pressure between your parents.”
“Does it prove anything?”
“No.”
Daniel handed the phone back.
“Most useful things do not prove everything.”
Claire thought of Marie collecting sentences.
Daniel collected fragments too, but for the opposite reason.
He seemed interested in what could survive outside a family argument.
They left the office with a list.
Contact the lender.
Preserve messages.
Make copies of all documents.
Do not confront Marie about the suspected forgery.
Do not allow any original paperwork to leave their possession.
Document Claire’s injuries.
Review Thomas’s credit records.
Thomas read the list twice in the elevator.
Claire watched the numbers light above the door.
“This is where you start trying to fix everything at once.”
He looked at her.
“I’m not.”
“You’re already holding the paper like it insulted you.”
Thomas loosened his grip.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Very slightly.”
Outside, the city had resumed itself.
People carried shopping bags.
A man argued into a headset near the curb.
Two teenagers posed for photographs beside a giant decorative wreath.
Claire stopped.
Thomas noticed.
“What?”
She looked around.
“It feels strange.”
“What does?”
“That nobody knows.”
He followed her gaze.
“About us?”
“About any of it.”
Thomas nodded.
For twenty-four hours, their family had felt enormous.
Outside, it was invisible.
They picked up coffee before driving to Emma’s.
Thomas sat at a small table while Claire waited at the counter.
His phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Paul.
This time he answered immediately.
“Dad?”
Claire turned.
Thomas’s expression changed.
“What happened?”
He stood.
The barista called Claire’s name.
She did not move.
Thomas listened, then looked straight at her.
“Where are you?”
Another pause.
“Stay there.”
Claire crossed the café.
“What?”
Thomas covered the phone.
“Dad left the house.”
“Why?”
“He says Mom found the folder missing.”
Claire stared at him.
“What happened?”
“He won’t say on the phone.”
Thomas uncovered the speaker.
“Go to Emma’s.”
Paul answered.
Thomas frowned.
“No, she won’t mind.”
Claire mouthed, She might.
Thomas ignored her.
“We’ll meet you there.”
He ended the call.
Claire picked up both coffees.
“Did he say she hurt him?”
“No.”
“Did he sound hurt?”
“He sounded scared.”
That was worse.
Paul arrived at Emma’s twelve minutes after they did.
He parked crookedly.
When he got out of the car, Claire saw a dark mark near his collar.
Thomas saw it too.
“What happened?”
Paul pulled the collar up.
“Nothing.”
Thomas’s face went cold.
“Dad.”
Paul looked toward Emma’s front windows.
“I don’t want to do this outside.”
Inside, Emma took one look at Paul and stopped being polite.
“What did she do?”
Paul seemed startled.
Emma pointed at his neck.
“That.”
Paul touched the mark.
“She threw something.”
“What?”
“A mug.”
Thomas stared.
“At you?”
“It hit the wall first.”
Claire felt her stomach drop.
Paul tried to smile.
“It was a bad throw.”
Nobody laughed.
Emma crossed her arms.
“You’re not going back there.”
Paul looked at Thomas.
“I need clothes.”
“We can get clothes later.”
May you like
“My medication is there.”
“We can get that too.”
