Chapter 12 - WHAT ETHAN REALLY WANTED|
Ethan came to my office that afternoon.
He did not knock.
He looked exhausted, and for the first time in years, his confidence seemed to have abandoned him.
"You need to stop this," he said.
I closed my laptop.
"Which part?"
"The audit. The court petition. The accusations against my mother."
"Did you receive money from the estate?"
He looked away.
"I was reimbursed for business expenses."
"Forty-six thousand dollars to Northstar Property Consulting?"
"I didn't take that."
"Your name is on the account."
He sat down.
"Margaret said the money was temporary. She told me it would be returned."
"Why was it transferred?"
"She needed it to secure a property."
"Which property?"
He rubbed his face.
"The east parcel."
"The strip of land behind the gardens?"
He nodded.
"She said it would become valuable once the development was approved."
"Did you know she was trying to transfer it out of the trust?"
"I thought the paperwork was authorized."
"By whom?"
He said nothing.
I opened the drawer and removed a copy of the forged declaration.
"Did you know this was false?"
He stared at it.
"Margaret told me you had agreed."
"Did you see me sign it?"
"No."
"Did you ask me?"
He looked at the floor.
"No."
I felt something inside me settle.
"Why did you marry me, Ethan?"
His head lifted.
"Don't do this."
"I want an answer."
He swallowed.
"Because I loved you."
"At the beginning?"
"Yes."
"And later?"
He looked toward the window.
"Later, I felt like I was living in your shadow."
I waited.
"Your name opened every door. Your family had the money, the house, the company. Everyone treated me like I was lucky to be there."
"You were my husband. I never thought of you as a guest."
"Maybe you didn't. But Margaret did. She reminded me every day."
I studied him.
"So you decided to take what you believed you deserved."
"I wanted to build something of my own."
"By forging my signature?"
His voice rose.
"I didn't forge it!"
"Then who did?"
He stood.
"You're going to destroy my mother."
"She has made her own decisions."
"She's the only person who ever believed I could be more than your husband."
I looked at him for a long moment.
"That is not love, Ethan. That's permission to become someone worse."
He turned toward the door.
"You're going to regret this."
"Perhaps. But I won't regret telling the truth."
He stopped.
"Naomi, I never wanted you hurt."
I almost believed him.
Then he added:
"I just wanted the house."
The words landed harder than any confession before them.
I nodded slowly.
"Thank you."
He frowned.
"For what?"
"For finally saying something honest."
After he left, Daniel came in with a new report.
The account holding the unauthorized money had been emptied.
The funds had been moved to an offshore company.
And the company had one beneficiary.
May you like
Margaret Brooks.
But the transfer had been approved using Ethan's personal authorization code.
