Chương 10
My suspicion became fact.
“You went through my files.”
“Yes.”
“What else did you take?”
“Nothing.”
“Caroline.”
“I swear.”
Her eyes filled again.
“I opened a folder because I saw Mercer’s name.”
“How did you know Mercer mattered?”
“Mom told me.”
I looked at my mother.
Of course.
The lie had not simply survived for nine years.
She had been feeding it.
Caroline continued.
“Mom said you were meeting someone from the old firm and that you were probably trying to reopen everything.”
“That part was true.”
“Yes.”
“But instead of asking me, you searched my office.”
“Yes.”
“And you sent financial information to Aaron’s mother.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
Aaron’s jaw tightened.
“Did you send anything else?”
“No.”
“To anyone?”
“No.”
My mother scoffed.
“She sent me everything.”
Caroline turned toward her.
“Because you told me Claire was planning to destroy me.”
The words landed harder than the others.
I looked at my mother.
“What did you tell her I was going to do?”
“She was panicking.”
“What did you tell her?”
My mother said nothing.
Caroline answered.
“She said you were collecting evidence to report me to the state licensing board.”
I blinked.
“I’m not licensed.”
“I know that now.”
“What licensing board?”
Caroline gave a helpless little shrug.
“I don’t know.”
Aaron covered his mouth for a second.
It was not funny.
It was just so absurd that it almost became funny.
My mother’s lie had grown beyond the limits of its own logic.
“She said you wanted to ruin my career,” Caroline continued.
“What career?”
“I was applying for the design operations job in Atlanta.”
The hiring manager.
The call that had started all of this.
I stared at her.
“You put Bellamy & Crane on your résumé.”
Caroline’s eyes closed.
“Yes.”
Daniel looked sharply at her.
“In what capacity?”
“Intern.”
His disbelief was immediate.
“You were never an intern with us.”
“I know.”
“You listed employment you never had?”
“Yes.”
My father sat down again.
He looked exhausted beyond anger.
“Why?”
Caroline rubbed her forehead.
“Because the Atlanta job required five years of relevant experience and I was short.”
“That was your solution?”
“I thought nobody would check something from nine years ago.”
Daniel stared at her.
“That’s exactly what employers check.”
“I know that now.”
I almost laughed.
“Apparently we’ve all learned a lot tonight.”
No one joined me.
Caroline looked at me.
“When the hiring manager contacted you, Mom thought you had done it on purpose.”
“I own Hartwell Interiors.”
“She didn’t know they called your studio.”
“I told her.”
“After.”
I frowned.
“When?”
“The week before the rehearsal dinner.”
My mother’s head snapped toward Caroline.
“You said you wouldn’t mention that.”
Caroline gave her a tired look.
“I also said I wouldn’t cry tonight.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened the week before the dinner?”
Caroline hesitated.
Then she reached into her purse and pulled out her phone.
She scrolled for several seconds.
“I got an email from the Atlanta company.”
She handed me the screen.
The message was short.
Their background review had found inconsistencies in her employment history.
Her candidacy was being withdrawn.
I read it twice.
Then I looked at her.
“You lost the job.”
“Yes.”
“And you blamed me.”
“At first.”
“Because Mom told you I interfered.”
“Yes.”
My mother crossed her arms.
“She had every reason to think that.”
“No,” Aaron said.
Everyone looked at him.
He had been quiet long enough that his voice changed the room.
“She had every reason to think that if you had spent years teaching her Claire was dangerous.”
My mother stared at him.
“You have known this family for four years.”
“Long enough.”
“You have no idea what raising two daughters was like.”
“No.”
Aaron nodded.
“But I know what it looks like when somebody keeps changing the story every time evidence appears.”
She flushed.
My father leaned forward.
“Why did you think Claire interfered with the Atlanta job?”
My mother did not answer.
He looked at Caroline.
Caroline did.
“Because Mom said Claire had been calling people at Bellamy & Crane.”
Daniel’s brow furrowed.
“She did not contact us until after the verification call.”
Caroline nodded.
“That’s what I found out later.”
“How?”
“I called Daniel.”
I looked at her.
“When?”
“Six days ago.”
Daniel sighed.
“She called my office.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“She asked whether you had initiated contact regarding her employment history.”
“What did you say?”
“The truth.”
He looked at Caroline.
“I told her the firm had been contacted by a third-party background service and that Claire was not involved.”
Caroline nodded.
“That’s when I knew Mom had lied about that too.”
I looked at her.
“Then why did you accuse me tonight?”
Shame moved across her face.
“Because I still thought you were hiding something from Aaron.”
“That was enough?”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“It shouldn’t have been.”
“But it was.”
“Yes.”
I waited.
She looked at the floor.
“And because I was angry.”
That, at least, sounded real.
“At me?”
“At everyone.”
Her voice grew rough.
“At Mom.”
She glanced toward my mother.
“At myself.”
Then back at me.
“And at you because your life kept working.”
I stared at her.
She gave a small, miserable laugh.
“I know how that sounds.”
“Pretty bad.”
“I know.”
“You stole my work, lied on another résumé nine years later, lost a job because of it, and got angry that my career survived.”
“When you say it like that—”
“How else should I say it?”
She closed her mouth.
My father rubbed his eyes.
Daniel looked toward the ballroom doors.
The remaining relatives had become quieter, as though even curiosity now felt indecent.
I suddenly wanted every one of them gone.
“This dinner is over.”
My mother looked at me.
“Claire.”
“No.”
I turned toward the room.
“Everyone, please go home.”
A few people hesitated.
I added, “Please.”
That did it.
Chairs moved.
Purses were collected.
May you like
My aunt Denise came over and squeezed my shoulder without speaking.
I let her.
