Chapter 3 - THE REAL REASON FOR MY INVITATION
“What witness?”
Mason released Julian’s wrist.
“No one was trying to do anything to you, Claire.”
The sentence made me laugh.
It was almost funny.
Mason always used my name when he was about to lie.
Claire, you’re overreacting.
Claire, that’s not what happened.
Claire, Vanessa and I are just working late.
Claire, you’re making yourself miserable.
I folded my arms.
“Then explain it.”
“Not here.”
Julian nodded.
“There it is.”
Mason shot him a look.
I stayed where I was.
“If it can’t be said here, I’m guessing I really shouldn’t go somewhere private with you.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“This is getting ridiculous. Mason wanted to discuss paperwork. That’s all.”
“What paperwork?”
She hesitated.
Only for half a second.
But I saw it.
Mason did too.
“Vanessa.”
“What paperwork?” I repeated.
Mason exhaled.
“There was an administrative issue left over from the divorce.”
My heartbeat changed.
“What kind of issue?”
“Nothing serious.”
Julian muttered, “That’s another lie.”
Mason’s voice hardened.
“Stay out of this.”
“No.”
I turned to Julian.
“How do you know anything about my divorce?”
“I don’t.”
“Then why did you say he’s lying?”
“Because I’ve heard him use that exact tone before.”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
That got my attention.
I looked between them.
“When?”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“Five years ago.”
I stared.
Five years.
Mason and I had still been married.
Happily, I thought.
Or at least I had been.
Julian looked toward Vanessa.
“She brought me paperwork once. Said it was an administrative issue. Said I didn’t need to read it.”
Vanessa whispered, “Stop.”
“I signed it.”
“Julian.”
“Three weeks later, the company account was empty.”
I turned toward her.
“What company?”
Mason stepped in again.
“This has nothing to do with Claire.”
Julian looked at him.
“Doesn’t it?”
Mason’s face told me more than his words ever could.
I felt the first real crack open beneath my feet.
“Tell me,” I said.
Julian looked at me for a long moment.
Then he pulled out his phone.
“I need you to understand something first.”
“What?”
“I didn’t know this was their wedding.”
“I showed you the invitation.”
“You covered the names with your hand when you showed me the dress code, remember? You said you didn’t want me Googling your ex because it would make the performance weird.”
He was right.
I had.
I suddenly remembered laughing about it.
“So you really didn’t know?”
“No.”
His gaze moved toward Mason.
“If I had known, I never would’ve taken the job.”
That hurt more than it should have.
“Why?”
“Because I spent three years trying to forget these two existed.”
Vanessa’s face drained again.
Julian unlocked his phone.
“I kept one thing.”
He opened an old folder.
Screenshots.
Dozens of them.
Texts.
Emails.
Photos.
My stomach twisted.
“From Vanessa?”
“Some.”
“And Mason?”
He nodded.
I looked at the dates.
Five years ago.
Four years ago.
Three years ago.
Dates when Mason still came home to me every night.
Dates when he still kissed my forehead before work.
Dates when he still told me Vanessa was just his marketing consultant.
Julian scrolled.
Then stopped.
His thumb hovered over one message.
“I never knew who ‘C’ was,” he said quietly.
My throat tightened.
“What message?”
He handed me the phone.
The text had been sent from Mason to Vanessa almost three years before our divorce.
I read it once.
Then again.
C signed the transfer. She still thinks it’s for the tax restructuring. Once Riverside closes, she won’t have a claim.
My hand started shaking.
“What is Riverside?”
Mason spoke immediately.
“Claire, give me the phone.”
I looked up.
“What is Riverside?”
His silence terrified me.
May you like
Then Julian said,
“Apparently, it’s the reason he invited you tonight.”
