Chương 8
“I want to say yes.”
“But?”
“But I had already gotten you into the van.”
Claire breathed through her nose.
That was the answer she believed.
Not the flattering one.
The honest one.
Daniel had spent years moving the line a few inches at a time until the line was behind him.
Claire picked up her suitcase.
“I’m filing for divorce.”
His face changed.
She had expected him to argue.
He did not.
“Okay.”
She stared at him.
“Okay?”
His mouth tightened.
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know.”
“Neither do I.”
“You could fight for me.”
He looked almost angry then.
“Would that help?”
“No.”
“Then why would I do it?”
“Because part of me wants proof that this hurts you.”
Daniel’s shoulders dropped.
“It does.”
She hated the relief that gave her.
He walked to the other side of the kitchen but did not come closer.
“I loved you badly,” he said.
Claire looked away.
“That sounds like something people say when they want credit for the love.”
He nodded.
“Probably.”
She picked up the second suitcase.
Daniel opened the front door.
Claire rolled both bags through it.
At the car, she looked back.
He was still standing in the doorway.
She wanted to tell him to eat something.
She wanted him to suffer.
She wanted to walk back inside and wake up on the morning before her birthday.
She wanted all three things at once.
Instead she put the turquoise box on the passenger seat and drove away.
The Mercer problem did not disappear because Claire left Daniel.
That was Eleanor’s one correct statement.
Three days later, financial news services reported that Mercer Aviation had postponed a scheduled debt transaction.
Two days after that, an industry trade publication published an article questioning the company’s leverage.
Claire’s name was not mentioned.
Then somebody leaked that Robert Avery’s trust had been considered as a potential source of rescue capital.
Her phone became unusable.
Reporters called.
Old acquaintances texted.
A woman Claire once shared a yoga class with sent, Are you okay babe?? followed immediately by, Also if you ever need someone who understands wealth trauma I’m here.
Claire blocked her.
At Martin’s office, she learned that the leak appeared to come from someone close to Mercer’s lenders.
Not Vanessa.
Not Eleanor.
Not Daniel.
Real life, Claire discovered, was inconveniently populated by more people than the ones you were angry at.
Mercer’s board announced an independent review of recent financing discussions.
Daniel stepped aside from day-to-day leadership while it proceeded.
Eleanor called Claire directly that evening.
Claire almost ignored it.
Then she answered.
“What?”
“No lawyers?”
Claire laughed.
“You sound disappointed.”
“I prefer direct conversation.”
“You threatened me in an aircraft hangar.”
“I used a stupid phrase.”
“You used a frightening phrase.”
“Yes.”
Claire went quiet.
Eleanor had never admitted that before.
“Why are you calling?”
“Because Daniel has resigned temporarily.”
“I know.”
“The board may remove him permanently.”
“That sounds like a board problem.”
“He did not create this situation alone.”
“No.”
“Then stop acting as if destroying him proves something.”
Claire sat down on the edge of her hotel bed.
“I haven’t done anything to Daniel.”
“Your attorneys provided documents to the review.”
“Documents my father had.”
“Documents that imply strategic discussions were improper.”
“Were they?”
Eleanor paused.
“Yes.”
Claire blinked.
She had expected war.
Not that.
Eleanor continued.
“I asked Daniel to meet you because I believed you might eventually support Mercer.”
“That is manipulation.”
“Yes.”
“You’re saying yes a lot tonight.”
“I am trying something new.”
Claire almost smiled.
Then Eleanor said, “I also believed you would like him.”
Claire’s grip tightened on the phone.
“What?”
“You were both impossible.”
“That is your explanation?”
“No. It is an observation.”
“You sent your son to date me for money.”
“I sent my son to a fundraiser where you were present because I believed a relationship between you would benefit the company.”
“That is the same thing with better manners.”
“Perhaps.”
Claire stood and walked to the window.
Below, taxis lined the curb.
“Did you expect him to marry me?”
“Not initially.”
“When did that become part of it?”
“When he fell in love with you.”
Claire said nothing.
Eleanor’s voice softened slightly.
“He became useless after that.”
“Useless.”
“He refused to discuss your trust.”
“Then why did he marry me?”
“Because he wanted to.”
Claire shut her eyes.
“You don’t get to make this romantic.”
“I am not.”
“You knew he had never told me how we met.”
“Yes.”
“You let him marry me anyway.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
For the first time, Eleanor took several seconds.
“Because I thought he could have both things.”
Claire looked at her reflection in the dark window.
“Me and the money.”
“Love and obligation.”
Claire almost hung up.
Eleanor said, “His father died when Daniel was twenty-six.”
Claire knew that.
Heart attack on a golf course.
“Mercer was already in trouble then,” Eleanor continued. “Different trouble. Smaller. Daniel came home from graduate school because I asked him to. He has been doing what I ask ever since.”
“That is not an excuse.”
“No.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because you keep asking why.”
Claire pressed her forehead against the cold glass.
Eleanor breathed on the other end.
“You think I don’t love him because I used him.”
“I think the way you love people looks exhausting.”
A small laugh.
Unexpected.
“Yes.”
Claire almost smiled.
Then Eleanor said, “Do not let the board turn him into the only villain because it is convenient.”
“I won’t.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll let them find every villain they actually have.”
Eleanor went quiet.
“Good night, Claire.”
“Good night.”
It was the first civil conversation they ever had.
It changed nothing.
Two weeks later, Vanessa asked Claire to meet.
They chose a coffee shop in Cambridge where neither Mercer nor Avery people were likely to appear.
Vanessa arrived twelve minutes late wearing sunglasses in cloudy weather.
May you like
Claire was already drinking tea.
“You look less homeless,” Vanessa said.
