Chapter 6 - CHLOE COMES TO LINDA’S HOUSE
Chloe returned to Linda’s house on Wednesday morning.
Emma was not there.
Linda called her anyway.
“She wants to talk.”
“No.”
“Emma.”
“No.”
Linda went quiet.
Emma softened slightly.
“Mom, I’m not punishing you.”
“I know.”
“I cannot sit across from her yet.”
“I understand.”
Then Linda whispered:
“She says Adam lied to her too.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Of course he did.
People who participate in betrayals often become very interested in their own victimhood once consequences arrive.
“What did he lie about?”
“The money.”
That got Emma’s attention.
“What about it?”
Linda hesitated.
“Chloe says she thought he was putting money aside for them.”
Emma laughed once.
“For their future?”
“Yes.”
“How romantic.”
“Emma.”
“I’m sorry.”
She wasn’t.
Linda continued.
“Adam told Chloe you two were going to separate.”
“For how long?”
“Three years.”
Emma stopped.
Three years.
Adam had been telling Chloe for three years that he planned to leave Emma.
He never did.
“He told her there was a financial agreement coming.”
“What agreement?”
“That you would keep the house and he would keep the investment assets.”
Emma stood.
“No.”
“What?”
“We never discussed that.”
Linda went silent.
Emma continued.
“He invented a divorce settlement.”
“Oh my God.”
“And Chloe believed him?”
“She says she did.”
Emma’s anger shifted.
Not sympathy.
Understanding.
Adam had built two marriages without marrying twice.
With Emma, he maintained home.
Respectability.
Assets.
Family.
With Chloe, he maintained promise.
Secrecy.
Future.
Each woman received enough of a story to remain where he needed her.
But Chloe still had choices.
Four years of them.
Linda said:
“She wants you to know something else.”
“What?”
“The account the money went into…”
“Yes?”
“Adam controlled it.”
Emma frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Chloe gave him online access.”
Emma slowly sat.
C. Bennett Interiors belonged legally to Chloe.
But Adam apparently created many transfers himself.
That did not clear Chloe.
She signed invoices.
Accepted payments.
Moved money.
But perhaps she did not understand the final destination.
“Where did the money go after her business account?”
Linda whispered:
“She doesn’t know.”
May you like
Emma’s stomach tightened.
“Then she better find out.”
