Chapter 8 - Khloe Wasn't Innocent
Khloe requested a meeting.
I almost refused.
Ara said:
“If you want to understand Caleb, speak to the person he chose when he thought you were dying.”
So I did.
Khloe looked nothing like the woman behind the ER curtain.
No trembling.
No breathless fragility.
Just a woman in a navy dress with a folder in her hands.
“I owe you an apology.”
“Several.”
She nodded.
“I knew about the trust.”
“Yes.”
“I knew Margaret did not want you asking questions before the wedding.”
“Yes.”
“I should have told you.”
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
“And I was sleeping with your husband.”
“Yes.”
That answer made her flinch.
Maybe she expected shock.
She was late.
Then she said:
“I never wanted Caleb to ignore you at the hospital.”
“You let him.”
“I told him to go to you.”
“While holding his wrist.”
Her face reddened.
“I was terrified.”
“You had a concussion.”
“I know that now.”
There it was.
At least she admitted the proportion.
Then I asked:
“Why did you tell Margaret not to bring up the trust before my wedding?”
Khloe looked down.
“Because I thought if you knew, you'd think Caleb had ulterior motives.”
“Did he?”
“Not the way you're thinking.”
“That is a dangerous sentence.”
She closed her eyes.
“Margaret wanted him to meet you.”
My heartbeat slowed.
“Before we met?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Months before.”
“Why?”
“Because you were Elena Sinclair's beneficiary.”
There it was again.
Closer.
Then:
“Caleb refused at first.”
I looked at her sharply.
“He said he wasn't going to date a balance sheet.”
“Then what changed?”
“You attended the Blackwood Foundation gala.”
I remembered.
Caleb approached me near the sculpture garden.
I thought it was chance.
Khloe continued.
“Margaret told him you'd be there.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
I remembered Khloe too.
Across the room.
Watching.
“Did he ask me out because Margaret told him?”
Khloe hesitated.
“No.”
“Then why?”
“He liked you.”
I almost smiled at the absurd cruelty of it.
“Wonderful.”
Khloe's eyes filled.
“He did.”
“That doesn't improve anything.”
“I know.”
Then she said something that became clue number three toward Part 10.
“After you started dating, Caleb told Margaret the trust was off-limits.”
“What does that mean?”
“He said if Blackwood Health wanted your vote one day, they would ask you commercially.”
“Then why didn't he tell me?”
Khloe looked at me.
“Because he kept saying he would.”
“When?”
“After your engagement.”
Then:
“After the wedding.”
Then:
“After your mother's anniversary.”
Then:
“After the sale became real.”
I knew the pattern.
A confession postponed until disclosure became too expensive.
May you like
Then the secret transforms into something requiring another secret.
That was how families like ours built traps.
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