Chapter 6 - HIS MOTHER MADE HER FIRST MISTAKE
Lorraine called me just after noon.
I almost didn’t answer.
Then I thought better of it.
People like Lorraine rarely realize how much they reveal when they believe they are still in control.
“Claire,” she said sharply, as if we had merely disagreed over floral arrangements. “I need the code to the wine cabinet.”
I said nothing.
She continued. “The guests are still coming and going, and your little tantrum has made everything difficult.”
“My tantrum?”
“Yes. Your drama at the hospital. Bradley said you’ve become unstable.”
The word didn’t surprise me.
Whenever cruel people lose leverage, they reach for the same script. Too emotional. Unwell. Unstable. Overreacting.
It never occurs to them that calm can be far more dangerous.
“Bradley told you wrong,” I said.
“Oh, I don’t care about whatever private nonsense is happening between you two. What I care about is practical reality. You left the house in disorder, the cook cancelled because you usually supervise her, and Bradley says you’ve frozen the shared account.”
There it was.
Not concern.
Money.
“What shared account, Lorraine?”
She paused.
Then, too fast, “The household reserve one.”
I looked at Naomi, who was sitting across from me at my parents’ dining table, already taking notes.
“Interesting,” I said softly.
Lorraine’s voice sharpened. “Don’t play games. We have bills.”
That made Naomi raise her brows.
Bills.
Plural.
“Which bills?” I asked.
More silence.
Then Lorraine snapped, “The mortgage, obviously.”
I smiled without meaning to.
The house.
That was it.
She had just confirmed that the property she liked calling “our family home” was not free and clear at all.
Worse, she believed Bradley’s access to my transferred funds would keep covering it.
“I can’t help you,” I said.
“You ungrateful little—”
I ended the call.
Naomi lowered her pen. “Well.”
“Well,” I agreed.
She flipped her notebook closed. “If the mortgage on Lorraine’s house has been serviced from the household reserve tied to your transfers, and if Bradley represented that reserve as marital funds, then we may be looking at diversion.”
“Diversion to support his mother’s debt?”
“And possibly conceal it.”
I stared out the window at the pale afternoon sky.
May you like
Bradley had threatened to take everything from me.
And within twenty-four hours, his mother had accidentally told us exactly where some of my money had been going.
