Chương 8
Emily stopped reading.
Rebecca watched her.
“You don’t have to finish today.”
“Yes, I do.”
“No.”
Emily looked at her.
Rebecca spoke calmly.
“You want to finish today because stopping feels like letting them control the pace. That is not the same as needing to finish today.”
Emily sat back.
She hated how reasonable that sounded.
“I need coffee.”
Rebecca nodded.
“That I can approve.”
They walked downstairs to a café where two college students argued over a laptop charger.
Emily ordered a cappuccino and forgot to ask for oat milk.
She drank it anyway.
Halfway through, she said, “I used to think Margaret hated me because I wasn’t wealthy.”
Rebecca stirred sugar into her coffee.
“Maybe.”
“I thought if I learned enough, dressed correctly, stopped reacting, remembered names, didn’t complain, she would eventually run out of reasons.”
“Did she?”
“No.”
“What does that tell you?”
Emily looked through the window.
“That the reasons weren’t the point.”
At home that night, Daniel cooked.
This was unusual enough that Emily stood in the kitchen doorway watching him.
“What are you making?”
“Pasta.”
“With?”
He looked into the pan.
“Optimism.”
Emily walked closer.
“Is that garlic burning?”
“Possibly.”
She lowered the heat.
Daniel moved aside.
“How was Rebecca?”
“Expensive.”
“Good.”
Emily looked at him.
He winced.
“Sorry. That sounded terrible.”
“It sounded like you.”
“I’m working on that.”
She turned off the burner.
“Did the board meet?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Ashley’s company authority is suspended indefinitely. Mom’s administrative authority over the family operating trust is suspended pending review.”
“Indefinitely sounds temporary.”
“It is.”
“You wanted permanent.”
“Yes.”
“But?”
“The board wants findings, not anger.”
Emily nodded slowly.
“That’s probably correct.”
“I know.”
“You hate that.”
“Yes.”
She smiled.
Daniel leaned against the counter.
“They also asked whether you plan to exercise your voting rights at the next meeting.”
Emily’s smile disappeared.
“What did you say?”
“That they should ask you.”
“Good.”
“I almost answered.”
“I know.”
He looked at the ruined garlic.
“I’m improving.”
“You’re becoming trainable.”
“Careful. That sounds like my mother.”
The humor died between them.
Daniel looked down.
“Sorry.”
Emily reached for the pasta.
“No. Leave it.”
“What?”
“The joke.”
He looked at her.
“Not everything has to disappear because it resembles something painful.”
Daniel nodded.
She pointed at him.
“Don’t say okay.”
He closed his mouth.
Two weeks after the dinner, Ashley asked to meet Emily.
Not Daniel.
Emily refused.
Ashley asked again through lawyers.
Emily refused again.
The third request came by handwritten letter delivered to Rebecca’s office.
Emily read it twice.
Emily,
I know you think everything I say is manipulation. Maybe it is. I don’t know anymore.
I am not asking you to forgive me.
I need to tell you something about the money that Daniel does not know.
Please meet me somewhere public. Bring your lawyer if you want.
Ashley
Rebecca said, “You owe her nothing.”
“I know.”
“Curiosity is not an obligation.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to meet her?”
Emily folded the letter.
“Yes.”
They met in a hotel café at eleven in the morning.
Ashley arrived without makeup.
It was the first time Emily had ever seen her that way.
She wore jeans, a black sweater, and sunglasses she removed only after sitting.
Rebecca took a table twenty feet away.
Ashley looked toward her.
“You brought counsel.”
“You said I could.”
“I know.”
A server approached.
Ashley ordered tea.
Emily ordered nothing.
For several seconds they sat without speaking.
Finally Ashley said, “You look better.”
Emily stared at her.
Ashley closed her eyes.
“Bad start.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know how to do this.”
“You’ve had two weeks.”
“I had thirty years of doing it the other way.”
Emily almost responded, then waited.
Ashley rubbed her thumb over a water ring on the table.
“Mercer started as a real company.”
“I know.”
“I had clients.”
“I know.”
“Daniel tells everyone I never finished anything.”
“Does he?”
Ashley looked at her.
“He doesn’t say it. That’s worse.”
Emily frowned.
Ashley laughed faintly.
“You don’t believe me.”
“I believe Daniel can be condescending without speaking.”
That surprised Ashley.
For half a second, they almost shared something.
Then Ashley looked down.
“The first transfer was forty-two thousand.”
Emily waited.
“My company was behind on taxes. I had three events cancel after a venue problem. I asked Mom for money.”
“And?”
“She said take it from the hospitality allocation and pay it back.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
Ashley’s face tightened.
“I intended to.”
Emily said nothing.
“That’s the humiliating part. I really did. I moved the money, covered payroll, covered the taxes, got through the month. Then another problem came up.”
“So you took more.”
“Yes.”
“And then two million dollars somehow happened.”
Ashley flinched.
“It wasn’t two million to me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Some of those expenses were family expenses. Events Mom authorized. Vehicles. House costs.”
“The audit says jewelry.”
Ashley looked away.
“Yes.”
“Private club dues.”
“Yes.”
“Furniture for your condo.”
“Yes.”
Ashley’s face hardened.
“You don’t have to list them.”
“I think I do.”
Ashley looked at her.
Emily leaned forward.
“You spent years telling me I was living off Daniel’s money.”
Ashley’s eyes filled, but no tears fell.
“Yes.”
“You made me feel ashamed for using a car he bought us while you were charging your car to his company.”
“Yes.”
“You told staff I was spoiled.”
“Yes.”
“You put me in that kitchen.”
Ashley’s jaw trembled.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The question was quiet.
Ashley looked down at her tea.
When she answered, the confidence was gone.
“Because I hated that you could belong to him without earning it.”
Emily stared at her.
Ashley laughed once at herself.
“That sounds insane.”
“It sounds honest.”
“My whole life, Daniel was the one who mattered. Even when he screwed up, people called it potential. When I screwed up, Mom fixed it before Dad found out. Then Dad died and Daniel became...” She waved one hand. “Daniel.”
May you like
Emily waited.
“And then you came along,” Ashley said. “You didn’t seem impressed by any of it.”
