Chapter 5 - The Woman He Lied To
Daniel turned toward Lauren.
“We discussed this.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“You discussed this. I listened.”
A waiter pushing a cart stopped at the far end of the hall.
Daniel noticed him and lowered his voice.
“This is a business arrangement.”
Lauren looked at me.
“He told me you’d been separated for a year.”
I almost laughed.
Daniel had brought me coffee in bed last Sunday.
He had asked me to choose vacation dates.
He had kissed the back of my neck while I loaded the dishwasher.
“He told me you knew,” Lauren continued.
“That the anniversary event was our first public appearance.”
I looked at her champagne dress.
“At what point did you ask me?”
She had no answer.
Daniel stepped between us.
“This conversation is over.”
“No,” I said.
“My part in your version is.”
I took Ellie home through the hotel’s side entrance.
Frank drove.
Owen stayed behind to preserve the company records he could lawfully access.
In the back seat, Ellie held the napkin against her chest.
“Was Grandma mad in the video?”
“No.”
“She sounded like she knew.”
“My mother knew what it feels like when people forget your work.”
Ellie looked out at Chicago sliding past the window.
“I wish she were here.”
“So do I.”
At home, Daniel’s shoes sat beside the door.
His coffee mug waited in the sink.
Nothing had changed.
Everything had.
I packed a bag for Ellie and one for myself.
We went to my friend Ruth’s apartment because I needed a place where Daniel couldn’t turn every room into a negotiation.
Ruth opened the door in pajamas.
She took one look at us.
“Come in.”
No questions.
No advice.
Just an open door.
After Ellie fell asleep, I called an attorney whose name Ruth gave me.
Adrienne Shaw listened without interrupting.
“Send the documents,” she said.
“And do not confront him alone.”
I forwarded everything.
Then I checked my email.
There was a message from a title company asking me to confirm tomorrow’s appointment.
Attached was an authorization concerning our house.
I opened it.
May you like
My signature stared back.
This time, the gray pearl wasn’t the only family thing Daniel had tried to give away.
