Chapter 4 - THE LETTER I NEVER WROTE
We moved into a private conference room adjoining the ballroom.
Lucas stayed.
Margaret was asked to remain outside.
Ethan's chief operating officer, Rachel Monroe, joined us at his request.
She was the blonde woman I'd seen beside him earlier.
I had assumed she was his girlfriend.
She introduced herself professionally and immediately offered the twins water and snacks.
Noah accepted a bottle of water.
Sophie asked for chocolate.
Rachel found some.
I liked her more than I wanted to.
Ethan sat across from us.
He looked at the children as though trying to memorize them.
Finally, he turned to me.
“Claire, I need you to hear what I remember.”
I folded my arms.
“Go ahead.”
He took a breath.
“Ten years ago, we were fighting constantly.”
“We were.”
“About money. About my hours. About my mother's interference.”
I nodded.
“Mostly the last one.”
He looked down.
“One evening, I came home and found a letter.”
“What did it say?”
“That you were leaving. That you'd met someone who could give you the life I couldn't.”
I stared.
“I never wrote that.”
He swallowed.
“The next day, my mother told me you'd signed divorce papers.”
“She brought them to me.”
Ethan looked up.
“She told me you demanded a settlement.”
I laughed bitterly.
“She offered me thirty thousand dollars if I agreed never to contact you.”
His eyes widened.
“Thirty thousand?”
“I refused.”
He stared.
“Then why did you leave?”
I looked at him.
“Because you told me to.”
He shook his head.
“Claire, I never saw you after the letter.”
The room went silent.
I felt cold.
“What?”
“I called you. Your number was disconnected. I went to your apartment. You were gone.”
I stared.
“I was at your mother's house.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I was in New York that week.”
“No.”
My voice rose.
“You were standing outside the gate in a gray coat. You threw money at me.”
Ethan went pale.
“I didn't own a gray coat.”
I stopped breathing.
Lucas leaned forward.
“Claire, did you see his face clearly?”
I thought back.
Rain.
Darkness.
A man standing beneath the porch light.
The same height.
The same voice.
The same expensive watch.
I had been crying.
My vision blurred.
I remembered his words.
But suddenly, I wasn't certain about his face.
Ethan looked at Lucas.
“Are you suggesting someone impersonated me?”
Lucas spoke carefully.
“I'm suggesting we need evidence before drawing conclusions.”
Noah looked between us.
“So Grandma Margaret may have staged the entire breakup?”
I closed my eyes.
“Noah.”
He shrugged.
“I'm just following the available information.”
Ethan almost smiled.
Then he looked at Sophie.
She was holding the chocolate Rachel had given her.
“Did you know about us?” she asked quietly.
Ethan's smile vanished.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Not even a little?”
His voice broke.
“Not even a little.”
Sophie studied him.
Then asked the question that broke my heart.
“Would you have wanted us?”
Ethan covered his mouth.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he whispered:
May you like
“More than anything.”
---
