Chương 8
“I saw your message,” Naomi said.
“I’m sorry it was so late.”
“You wrote ‘urgent marital financial issue’ at three twelve in the morning. I assumed you weren’t inviting me to brunch.”
Claire smiled despite herself.
Naomi continued.
“Tell me the shortest version first.”
Claire did.
The affair.
The collapse.
The transfers.
The fake consulting agreements.
Eleanor’s involvement.
Howard.
When Claire finished, Naomi was silent.
Then she said, “Do not move money.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Do not delete anything. Do not confront the accountant further. Do not access accounts you’re not authorized to access. Do not post anything. Do not send screenshots to friends. Do not sign anything Julian’s attorney sends you.”
“I know.”
“I’m saying it anyway.”
“Okay.”
“And preserve your phone.”
Claire looked at it in her hand.
“As in don’t throw it into the ocean?”
“As in back it up and don’t alter messages.”
“Less satisfying.”
Naomi laughed softly.
“Where are you?”
“Garage apartment.”
“Romantic.”
“The Ferrari downstairs is very supportive.”
“Claire.”
“I know.”
“You’re allowed one joke.”
“That was it.”
“Good. Now listen. What you have may involve marital asset dissipation, fraud, tax issues, maybe other things depending on the accounts and documents. I’m not making conclusions without records.”
“Understood.”
“You also need separate forensic accounting.”
“I thought Howard—”
“Howard may be a witness.”
Claire went quiet.
That possibility had not occurred to her.
“Right.”
“I’ll send you two names. Pick neither until we talk again. I want to check conflicts.”
“Okay.”
“Do you feel safe in the house?”
Claire looked at the white ceiling.
“Yes.”
“Does Julian have firearms?”
“No.”
“Any history of violence?”
“No.”
“Threats?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Naomi paused.
“Are you planning to stay married?”
Claire stared at the coffee cup.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s acceptable.”
“I thought divorce lawyers wanted a faster answer.”
“I want accurate clients.”
Claire appreciated her immediately.
Naomi said, “You do not have to decide the marriage today. You do have to protect your ability to decide later.”
That sentence stayed with Claire.
At noon, Julian returned home.
He texted before entering the property.
I’m back. I’m not coming to the apartment unless you want me to.
Claire read it twice.
Then wrote:
I don’t.
He replied:
Okay.
For the first time in years, Julian respected a boundary without negotiation.
She found that depressing.
Ethan arrived an hour later.
He knocked on the apartment door.
Claire opened it.
He held two coffees.
“I didn’t know what you drink.”
“You’ve known me eight years.”
“I know.”
She took one.
Black.
Wrong.
She added milk from the refrigerator.
Ethan sat at the tiny breakfast table.
He looked terrible.
Same work jacket.
Different shirt.
No sleep.
“Where’s Sienna?” Claire asked.
“My place.”
“You’re not there?”
“No.”
“Where are you staying?”
“Site office.”
Claire looked at him.
“There’s a cot.”
“That doesn’t make it less sad.”
“I’m not aiming for glamorous.”
He drank his coffee.
For a while they said nothing.
A leaf blower started somewhere on the property.
The sound was absurdly loud.
Ethan looked toward the window.
“Mom pays those guys at seven in the morning on Saturdays.”
“It’s Thursday.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
He rubbed his face.
“Great.”
Claire sat opposite him.
“Did Sienna tell you everything?”
“She told me her version.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I don’t know what everything is anymore.”
Fair.
He placed his phone on the table.
“I called my partners.”
“About the company money?”
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“Eighty thousand did hit the line last year.”
“So she really paid it.”
“Without telling me.”
“Right.”
Ethan stared at the coffee.
“One of my partners thought I’d arranged it.”
“Why?”
“Because the payment came from a holding company connected to Mom.”
Claire frowned.
“And he never asked you?”
“He assumed.”
“That seems irresponsible.”
“It is.”
“You’re angry at him.”
“I’m angry at everyone.”
“Good.”
He looked at her.
She shrugged.
“You’d worry me if you were selective.”
A brief, unwilling smile crossed his face.
Then vanished.
Ethan rubbed his hands together.
“They saved my company.”
Claire said nothing.
“I hate that sentence.”
“I know.”
“I would’ve sold my share. Taken the loss. Started over.”
“I believe you.”
“You know what she said?”
“Sienna?”
“Mom.”
“You talked to Eleanor?”
“This morning.”
Claire waited.
Ethan’s mouth twisted.
“She said she did what mothers do.”
“What did you say?”
“I asked if mothers usually create fake consulting contracts so one son can keep sleeping with the other son’s wife.”
Claire winced.
Ethan looked down.
“I shouldn’t have said it like that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I wanted to hurt her.”
“That doesn’t make it inaccurate.”
“No.”
He looked toward the window again.
“She kept saying she was protecting the family.”
Claire said, “Eleanor thinks preserving structure is the same as preserving people.”
Ethan nodded slowly.
“That sounds like her.”
Another silence.
Then he asked, “Did Julian tell you why?”
“Yes.”
Ethan’s expression tightened.
“What?”
“He didn’t know.”
Ethan gave a bitter laugh.
“Of course.”
“I told him he did.”
“What did you think?”
Claire hesitated.
She could have lied.
Could have protected Ethan from one more wound.
Instead she said, “I think Julian liked feeling superior to you.”
Ethan looked at her.
Claire continued carefully.
“I think Sienna admired things in him she was angry you didn’t have. Money. polish. access. I think Julian enjoyed that.”
Ethan absorbed this without speaking.
Finally he said, “He’s always had that.”
“What?”
“The need to win things nobody else knew were competitions.”
Claire looked at him.
Ethan smiled without humor.
“When we were kids, he’d beat me at something, then act like he hadn’t been trying. That was his favorite part.”
Claire thought of Julian on tennis courts.
At charity auctions.
During arguments.
When negotiating restaurant reservations.
A hundred small moments rearranged themselves.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Ethan shook his head.
“Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because if you say it, I have to say it, and then we’re two people apologizing for things other people did.”
Claire considered that.
“Fine.”
“Fine.”
May you like
They drank coffee.
The leaf blower stopped.
