Chapter 6 - The Printer Tray —
Julia didn’t snatch the page.
“Where exactly did you find it?”
“Bottom tray. I was changing the paper.”
“Did you move anything else?”
Rosa shook her head.
“I thought it was yours. Then I heard Mrs. Whitmore telling Mr. Ethan you’d never find out.”
My stomach tightened.
“What time?”
“Yesterday. After lunch.”
Julia photographed the page, noted the time Rosa remembered, and asked her to write down what she had personally seen and heard.
“No guessing,” she said. “Only what you know.”
Rosa nodded.
I looked at the loan amount.
Two million four hundred thousand dollars.
“That can’t be real.”
“It’s an application,” Julia said. “It doesn’t mean the loan closed.”
The lender’s name was familiar. Ethan had complained about them during the divorce.
They were the last company willing to discuss refinancing his business debt.
The front door opened and closed repeatedly as guests began leaving.
Margaret had wanted witnesses to my replacement.
She had gotten them.
Vanessa sat beside the fireplace, both hands pressed together.
“I knew you were separated,” she said.
“We were.”
“He told me you were dragging out the divorce for money.”
“I was asking for repayment.”
“He said you never wanted kids.”
The sentence hit so cleanly I couldn’t answer.
Vanessa saw it.
“Oh.”
I looked toward the windows.
Outside, white roses shook in the evening wind.
“He told you that?”
She nodded once.
I could have told her about the injections. The bathroom floor. The tiny blue socks I kept in a drawer for two years.
Instead, I said, “He lied.”
Her eyes filled.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not ready to make you feel better.”
“I know.”
Julia’s phone rang. She stepped into the hallway.
A moment later, Ethan came back.
“The guests are leaving,” he said.
“Yes.”
“Are you satisfied?”
I held up the application.
“What is this?”
He stopped.
For the first time all evening, he looked genuinely frightened.
“Where did you get that?”
“Wrong question.”
“Claire, I can explain.”
Julia returned before he could begin.
“The lender confirmed an application is pending. No funds have been released.”
I let out a breath.
Then she added, “They’re sending us the supporting documents.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Julia, don’t.”
Her face changed.
“Why, Ethan?”
He looked at the page in my hand.
May you like
“Because that isn’t the only signature.”
—
