Chương 9
“I made advances.”
“To yourself?”
“To property-related events used by the foundation.”
“Were they legitimate?”
Eleanor did not answer.
Vanessa felt cold.
“How much?”
“Not as much as Adrian thinks.”
“Does Adrian know?”
“He knows enough to be angry.”
“Since when?”
“Three days ago.”
Vanessa sat back.
“That’s why he wants the sale challenged.”
“That is one reason.”
“He thinks if the house returns to you, you can borrow against it.”
Eleanor said nothing.
“Can you?”
“Possibly.”
“To repay the foundation?”
“Yes.”
“And then what?”
“I fix it.”
“With more debt.”
“If necessary.”
Vanessa laughed softly.
Eleanor’s eyes flashed.
“You find this amusing?”
“No. Familiar.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re trying to solve loss of control by creating more control.”
“I am trying to prevent my life from collapsing.”
“And Adrian thinks he’s trying to prevent yours from collapsing.”
Eleanor looked at her.
Vanessa continued.
“You both hate each other for doing the same thing.”
The server appeared.
“Would you like menus?”
Neither woman answered.
The server hesitated.
Vanessa smiled.
“Give us a few minutes.”
When he left, Eleanor said, “I have never hated my son.”
“Fine.”
“Do you?”
Vanessa’s answer took too long.
Eleanor noticed.
“I don’t know,” Vanessa said.
“You loved him.”
“Yes.”
“Perhaps you still do.”
“Maybe.”
Eleanor blinked.
Vanessa looked at the water glass.
“That doesn’t make me want to stay married.”
“No.”
“It makes leaving harder.”
Eleanor’s face softened for the first time.
Vanessa disliked that too.
She pushed her chair back slightly.
“I won’t unwind the sale just so you can borrow against the house and bury a foundation problem.”
Eleanor went still.
“I will repay you.”
“That isn’t the point.”
“It is absolutely the point.”
“No. The point is whether giving you the house back helps you fix anything or just lets you hide it.”
“You sound self-righteous.”
“I probably am.”
“At least you admit it.”
Vanessa stood.
Eleanor looked up.
“Where are you going?”
“To work.”
“We are not finished.”
“I am.”
“Vanessa.”
She stopped.
Eleanor’s voice had lost its polish.
“What am I supposed to do?”
Vanessa looked at her.
There were a hundred satisfying answers.
Ask your son.
Sell your jewelry.
Tell the truth.
Live with it.
She said none of them.
“I don’t know.”
Eleanor stared.
Vanessa picked up her handbag.
“But you should stop asking other people to decide for you.”
She left Eleanor at the table.
The satisfaction lasted until the elevator.
Then Vanessa leaned against the wall and felt ashamed.
Not because the words were wrong.
Because she had enjoyed saying them.
That evening, she called Theo.
“I was mean to Eleanor.”
“Was she mean first?”
“That’s not how adulthood works.”
“That is disappointing.”
Vanessa sat cross-legged on the hotel bed.
“She asked me what she was supposed to do.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her to stop asking other people to decide.”
Theo was quiet.
“That seems fair.”
“I wanted it to hurt.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Well.”
“Helpful.”
“I’m thinking.”
Vanessa picked at a loose thread on the bedspread.
Theo said, “Maybe leaving Adrian doesn’t instantly make you a saint.”
She laughed.
“Thank God.”
“Maybe you can be right and also enjoy being right too much.”
“That sounds like Dad.”
“It’s worse. It sounds like me.”
Vanessa lay back.
“I don’t want to become someone who uses this house to punish them.”
“So don’t.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is.”
“It really isn’t.”
“I mean the principle is simple. The paperwork is apparently a nightmare.”
Vanessa smiled.
Then she looked at the ceiling.
“I think I bought it partly because I wanted to know I could.”
Theo was silent.
She continued.
“Adrian always talked about his family money like it was infrastructure. Something permanent. My money was cute. Temporary. A lucky thing I did before I met him.”
“You built a company.”
“I helped build a company.”
“You worked eighty-hour weeks for four years.”
“I know.”
“He called it a hobby once.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“At the country club.”
“I almost hit him with a bread basket.”
“I remember.”
“So maybe you wanted to buy the biggest object in his world just to prove you could.”
Vanessa opened her eyes.
“Maybe.”
Theo whistled softly.
“That is extremely unhealthy.”
“Yes.”
“Also kind of impressive.”
“Theo.”
“Sorry.”
Three weeks into the separation, the family story escaped the family.
A financial blog published a short item about the mansion’s transfer because the deed was public and the price was significant. A gossip account picked it up. Someone connected Vanessa’s name to Adrian’s.
By lunch, strangers were debating whether she had “stolen” her mother-in-law’s house.
Vanessa’s office communications manager knocked on her door.
“This is getting traction.”
Vanessa stared at the laptop.
“How much traction?”
“Enough that two reporters emailed our general address.”
Vanessa worked as chief operating officer of a mid-sized healthcare analytics firm. Her divorce had no direct relevance to the company, but private irrelevance had never stopped public curiosity.
“What do they want?”
“Comment.”
“No.”
“I agree.”
“Tell them it’s a private family legal matter.”
“I already drafted that.”
Vanessa looked at her.
“Of course you did.”
The communications manager, Priya, sat down.
“There’s another issue.”
Vanessa waited.
“One account is claiming company funds were used in the purchase.”
Vanessa laughed.
Priya did not.
“Sorry.”
“I know it’s false.”
“It’s completely false.”
“I know.”
Vanessa rubbed her forehead.
“I used personal premarital funds.”
“I don’t need details.”
“Good.”
“But the board chair may.”
“Fine.”
“Also, someone posted the foyer story.”
Vanessa’s hand stopped.
“What foyer story?”
“The suitcase.”
Vanessa felt heat climb her neck.
“Who?”
“No idea. The post says Adrian kicked your luggage, you slapped him, and then announced you owned the house.”
“I did not announce it like that.”
Priya looked at her.
“Vanessa.”
“I know.”
“There is no version of this that sounds normal on social media.”
Vanessa covered her face with both hands.
May you like
Priya waited.
When Vanessa lowered them, Priya said, “Do you want me to close the door?”
