Chapter 2 - The Papers They Were Looking For
“Claire, it's not what you think.”
I was still lying at the bottom of the stairs.
“Then tell me what I'm thinking.”
Ethan couldn't.
That frightened me.
The baby's movement felt different after the fall, so everything else became secondary. I needed medical evaluation, and I wasn't going to waste time arguing in a foyer.
Before I left, I told Margaret to get out.
“This is my son's house.”
“No. It's our house. And you just assaulted me in it.”
Ethan finally spoke.
“Mom, leave.”
Margaret looked stunned.
Not because he'd defended me.
Because apparently she hadn't expected him to.
At the hospital, the baby was monitored while doctors evaluated me.
Ethan sat across the room.
I wouldn't let him hold my hand.
“Tell me about the papers.”
He stared at the floor.
“My mother has financial problems.”
“That doesn't answer me.”
“She borrowed money.”
“From whom?”
“Our company.”
That got my attention.
Ethan and I owned Bennett Custom Homes together outside Raleigh, North Carolina.
He handled construction.
I handled finance.
Or I had until pregnancy complications pushed me into reduced hours.
“How much?”
“I don't know exactly.”
“You own half the company.”
“I said I don't know.”
That was the first lie I could prove without checking anything.
Because Ethan always knew the numbers.
Then I remembered something.
Three days earlier, I'd brought home a bank reconciliation that didn't balance.
$186,400 was missing across a series of vendor payments.
I'd put the supporting documents in a blue folder.
That folder was currently inside the box of baby clothes Margaret had kicked from my hands.
I looked at Ethan.
“Those were the papers.”
He said nothing.
That silence answered me.
May you like
Margaret hadn't attacked me during an argument.
She'd attacked me while I was carrying evidence.
