Chapter 5 - The Doorway
Daniel entered without being invited.
Vanessa stayed near the porch, holding her handbag with both hands.
“Can we talk privately?” Daniel asked Claire.
Margaret answered.
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Mom, you shouldn’t be involved.”
“You involved me when you used my trust to pay for her apartment.”
Vanessa turned toward him.
“What?”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“That is business money. I manage it.”
Margaret stepped closer.
“You stole it.”
“I was going to replace it.”
“With what?”
Daniel looked toward Claire as if she had betrayed him by allowing the truth to exist in the room.
“You went through my accounts?”
“Attorneys did,” Claire said.
Vanessa remained on the porch.
“You said the apartment was paid through a company housing program.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Vanessa, not now.”
Margaret looked at her.
“He also told Claire he was traveling for work.”
Vanessa’s expression changed.
Daniel had presented himself to her as a separated husband living temporarily at home for the children.
He claimed Claire knew about the relationship.
Claire opened the front door wider.
“Did he tell you he left twelve days ago?”
Vanessa looked sick.
“He said you had been separated for eight months.”
Emma began crying again upstairs.
Daniel glanced toward her.
“Claire, get the kids out of this.”
Margaret blocked the staircase.
“You already put them in it.”
May you like
Daniel’s face became cold.
For the first time, his mother was no longer helping him control the room.
