Chương 6
After Emily hung up, Daniel stood in the doorway.
He had heard only her half.
“You okay?”
“I don’t know.”
He nodded.
“What time?”
“One thirty.”
“I’ll take you.”
“No.”
He stopped.
“I’ll go.”
“You shouldn’t drive in this.”
“Then Marcus can arrange a car.”
“Emily—”
She looked at him.
Daniel caught himself.
“Okay.”
At nine, his mother’s attorney called.
Daniel let it go to voicemail.
At nine fifteen, his phone rang again.
At nine thirty, again.
Emily sat on the sofa with the baby and watched him reject each call.
“Answer it.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want to deal with him.”
“You should.”
Daniel looked at her.
“So now I’m telling you what to do,” she said. “How does it feel?”
He almost smiled.
“Annoying.”
“Good.”
He answered the fourth call.
Emily left the room.
Not because Daniel asked.
Because she did not want to hear Margaret’s lawyer explain Margaret to him.
She stood at the bedroom window with the baby and watched snowplows work the road far below.
Ten minutes later Daniel came in.
“My mother was released early this morning.”
Emily nodded.
“The court entered temporary no-contact conditions until the next hearing.”
She looked at him.
“With me?”
“With you and the baby.”
“And you?”
“No.”
Of course not.
Margaret could still call her son.
Emily shifted the baby.
“Did she?”
“Not yet.”
“Will you answer?”
Daniel did not respond immediately.
“I don’t know.”
Emily appreciated that more than a promise.
Her medical appointment was ordinary.
That surprised her.
The office smelled like disinfectant and old coffee. A child somewhere down the hall cried because she did not want to be weighed. A printer jammed. Emily waited twenty-six minutes while Daniel stayed at the lodge with the baby.
Her doctor did not declare her well or unwell in one dramatic sentence.
They talked.
Emily admitted she had been afraid to sleep.
They discussed postpartum anxiety, exhaustion and the confusion that can come with severe sleep deprivation. Her doctor asked whether she was comfortable continuing to care for the baby with support.
Emily said yes.
Then she cried because the word support had become complicated.
The doctor gave her referrals, practical recommendations and a follow-up plan.
When Emily returned to the penthouse, Daniel was sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the bassinet reading an investment memorandum aloud to their son.
“…which leaves management with an EBITDA target that is, frankly, insulting.”
Emily stood in the doorway.
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
“He’s three weeks old.”
“He needs context.”
She laughed.
The baby slept through the criticism of corporate forecasting.
For a few hours, life became almost normal.
Then Teresa called.
She wanted Emily to know something.
“Mrs. Hale asked me yesterday morning whether you had family nearby.”
Emily looked at Daniel.
He was washing bottles at the sink.
“What did you tell her?”
“That your sister lives in Oregon.”
“What else?”
“She asked whether your sister had room for you.”
Emily felt cold.
“Before she came upstairs?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything last night?”
A long pause.
“I was scared.”
Emily understood.
That frightened her more than the answer itself.
“Of losing your job?”
“Yes.”
Emily looked at Daniel again.
He had stopped washing.
Teresa continued.
“Mrs. Hale has helped my family many times. When my husband had surgery, she kept me on payroll. When my daughter needed a recommendation for college, she wrote it herself. I don’t want you to think she is only…”
Teresa stopped.
“Only what?”
“Bad.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“I don’t.”
It was true.
That was part of the problem.
Cruel people were easier when they were cruel to everyone.
Margaret had remembered Emily’s favorite breakfast after meeting her once. She had paid for a private nurse after the birth without being asked. She sent Teresa’s daughter flowers at graduation. She knew the names of bellmen’s spouses.
She also grabbed Emily’s wrist and tried to have staff remove her belongings.
Humans were inconvenient that way.
Teresa said, “There is something else.”
“What?”
“She asked the driver to take you to the airport.”
“When?”
“A little after eight.”
Emily sat down.
“She had already booked a flight?”
“I don’t know. The driver said he was told only to be ready.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t sooner.”
“Me too.”
The words sounded harsher than Emily intended.
Teresa became quiet.
Emily rubbed her forehead.
“I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”
“No. It’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t. You were scared.”
“Yes.”
“So was I.”
When the call ended, Daniel turned off the faucet.
“She planned it.”
Emily stared at the bubbles sliding down the stainless steel sink.
“Yes.”
“I’m calling my lawyer.”
Emily looked at him.
“For what?”
“To make sure Teresa’s statement is documented.”
“Ask Teresa first.”
Daniel paused.
It was so small.
But she saw the old habit arrive and stop at his mouth.
“Right.”
The next two weeks were worse than the night of the suitcase in quieter ways.
Margaret did not contact Emily.
She did not violate the court restrictions.
She did not send flowers, apologies, angry messages or intermediaries.
Instead, Hale Alpine’s general counsel sent Daniel a formal notice regarding his resignation and the penthouse transfer.
The company was not claiming ownership of the penthouse.
That would have been simpler.
The letter raised questions about whether Daniel had used company attorneys, company staff or confidential internal information while restructuring personal assets before resigning.
He had not.
But the accusation required answers.
Emails had to be collected.
Devices preserved.
Lawyers consulted.
Daniel stopped using his company phone.
He boxed his work laptop and delivered it to counsel.
For the first time since Emily had known him, he had no office to go to.
He wandered the penthouse like a man who had misplaced a limb.
On the fourth day, Emily found him standing in the pantry.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for almonds.”
“They’re in your hand.”
Daniel looked down.
“Oh.”
May you like
She took the bag from him.
“You’re having a nervous breakdown.”
