Chapter 13 - THE FAMILY MEETING|
My parents requested a family meeting.
They said it was important, and they promised Owen would not attend.
I agreed only because Evelyn offered to come with me.
We met at my parents' house on Sunday afternoon.
My mother had prepared tea and sandwiches. My father sat at the head of the table. Brooke and Ethan were already there.
Nobody looked comfortable.
My father began.
“We need to find a way forward.”
I placed my folder on the table.
“Then let's start with the money.”
My mother sighed.
“Must everything be about money?”
“No. But the money explains why you wanted me out of my house three days after I buried my daughter.”
Brooke looked down.
Ethan shifted in his chair.
My father raised his hand.
“Your sister made mistakes. Your husband made mistakes. But you can't destroy everyone because you're hurt.”
I stared at him.
“Are you saying I should forgive financial fraud because I'm grieving?”
“I'm saying family should stick together.”
I looked at my mother.
“Did you know Owen was seeing Brooke?”
She pressed her lips together.
“I suspected they were too close.”
My throat tightened.
“And you said nothing?”
“I didn't want to break up your marriage.”
I looked at Brooke.
“Did you know Mom suspected?”
Brooke didn't answer.
I turned back to my parents.
“Did you know Owen was trying to take the house?”
My father rubbed his forehead.
“He said you were planning to move out.”
I laughed once.
“He told you that?”
“He said you needed time away.”
“And you believed him?”
My father didn't respond.
Evelyn opened the folder.
“We have bank records showing that money was transferred from a joint account into companies connected to Owen and Ethan. We also have evidence of a loan guarantee that Natalie did not sign.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“This is a private business matter.”
“No,” Evelyn said calmly. “A forged loan guarantee is not a private family matter.”
My mother began crying.
Brooke turned toward me.
“Please. I know I did something terrible.”
I looked at her.
“You watched me buy baby clothes while you were sleeping with my husband.”
She covered her face.
“You don't know what it was like.”
I stared.
“Tell me.”
She looked up.
“Owen said he loved me.”
I waited.
“He said he was going to leave you.”
“And you believed that was enough to betray your sister?”
She cried harder.
“I was jealous.”
“Of what?”
“Everything. You had the house. You had the marriage. You were having a baby. Everyone always worried about you.”
I stared at her.
I had spent three years undergoing fertility treatments, injections, procedures, and disappointments. I had never imagined my sister saw that struggle as an advantage I was flaunting.
My mother reached for Brooke's hand.
“She's young. She made a mistake.”
I looked at her.
“She's thirty-one.”
My father stood.
“That's enough.”
“No,” I said. “It isn't.”
I turned to Brooke.
“Did you know Owen had a plan to use my trust?”
She hesitated.
Then she nodded.
“Tell me.”
“He said if you signed the property transfer, the house could be used as collateral for the business loan. He said the money would be paid back.”
I felt cold.
“And if I refused?”
“He said you'd be too emotionally exhausted to fight.”
I stood.
Evelyn gathered the papers.
“We're finished here.”
As we walked toward the door, my father called after me.
“Natalie, if you leave now, don't expect us to keep pretending everything is fine.”
I turned.
May you like
“I'm not the one pretending.”
Then I walked out.
