Chapter 15 - Diane Without an Audience
Diane asked to speak with Emily through their attorneys.
Emily said no.
Diane asked again two weeks later.
Emily said no again.
The third request came with a condition.
Diane wanted to offer information about the missing money in exchange for a civil settlement with Hale Custom Homes.
Clara explained that Emily was not the company.
“You don’t have to participate.”
“What does she want from me?”
“She wants you to agree not to pursue a separate civil claim related to the attempted loan and misuse of your identity.”
Emily laughed.
“She forged my signature and wants a release.”
“Allegedly forged. The financial investigation is ongoing.”
“Right.”
Clara gave her a look.
“I know you know. I’m saying it because language matters.”
Emily nodded.
“Can we get the information without meeting her?”
“We can request it.”
Diane refused.
So Emily agreed to one mediated session.
Not reconciliation.
Not family therapy.
A legally structured meeting with attorneys present and no physical proximity.
Diane entered wearing navy instead of her usual cream.
She looked smaller.
Emily noticed that and hated herself for noticing.
Victims were expected to enjoy seeing powerful people diminished.
Emily didn’t.
She only wanted Diane to stop controlling everyone.
The mediator explained the rules.
Then Diane looked at Emily.
“You’ve ruined my son.”
Emily said nothing.
The mediator intervened.
“We’re here for information, not accusations.”
Diane’s mouth tightened.
She placed a flash drive on the table.
“This contains account records.”
Clara took it.
“What records?”
“DHM. Fairview. The property purchases.”
“Why provide them now?”
“Because Michael is selling his father’s company for scraps.”
Michael was not present.
Emily had insisted.
“This is not about Michael,” Clara said.
“It is always about Michael.”
Emily finally spoke.
“That’s the problem.”
Diane looked at her.
Emily continued.
“You say everything is for him. The company. The loan. My house. The lies. But you never ask what he wants when it might differ from what you want.”
“I am his mother.”
“Yes.”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“I’m a mother.”
“You have one child.”
Emily almost laughed.
“And somehow I still know I don’t own him.”
Diane’s eyes sharpened.
The mediator raised a hand.
“Let’s return to the records.”
Diane explained.
After Robert died, she became obsessed with recovering the two properties she associated with the family before their financial collapse.
The childhood house.
The lake cottage Robert had wanted.
She believed restoring them would restore something else.
Status.
History.
Control.
She used consulting payments, then fake vendor accounts.
When cash ran out, she encouraged Michael to borrow.
When debt became visible, she found Northstar.
“When did you decide to use Emily’s property?” Clara asked.
Diane’s gaze stayed on Emily.
“Michael mentioned the house had no mortgage.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“Did he suggest using it as collateral?”
“No.”
Emily felt the answer matter.
“Who did?”
“I did.”
“Did Michael initially agree?”
“He said absolutely not.”
Emily looked down.
There it was again.
The man she married existed beside the man who later betrayed her.
Diane continued.
“Then things got worse. I told him the company would close. Employees would lose everything. His father’s name would disappear.”
“And he changed his mind,” Emily said.
“Yes.”
“Did he know you planned to divert loan proceeds?”
“No.”
The word was immediate.
“Why should I believe you?”
Diane smiled faintly.
“Because I’m not protecting him anymore.”
Emily understood then.
Even truth could be revenge in Diane’s hands.
Clara asked, “What did you intend to do with the remaining loan proceeds?”
“Complete the Fairview purchases.”
“All eighty-three thousand?”
“Most.”
“And the company?”
“It would have survived.”
Martin, present remotely, interrupted.
“No. Based on the financials, it would have faced another liquidity crisis within months.”
Diane’s face tightened.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
For the first time, Diane looked genuinely lost.
Not cruel.
Not calculating.
Lost.
She had built an entire moral universe around the belief that one more transfer, one more loan, one more lie would restore what had been taken.
But the numbers did not care about her story.
The mediator asked about the forged signatures.
Diane stopped talking.
Her attorney whispered to her.
Then Diane said, “I’m invoking my right not to answer.”
Emily felt no triumph.
Only confirmation.
At the end, Diane pushed the flash drive across the table.
“You have everything now.”
Emily stood.
Diane said, “Do you hate me?”
Emily stopped.
The question sounded almost childlike.
“No.”
Diane blinked.
“I don’t trust you. I don’t want you near me. I won’t let you use Noah to reach Michael. I will cooperate with every investigation.”
Diane’s face hardened again.
“But I don’t hate you.”
“Why not?”
“Because hate would still make you the center of my life.”
Emily left.
In the hallway, Clara joined her.
“You handled that well.”
“I feel terrible.”
“Those aren’t opposites.”
Emily leaned against the wall.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from Michael.
Noah says he left his science folder at your house. Can I pick it up from the porch?
Such an ordinary problem.
Emily almost cried.
She replied:
I’ll leave it outside at six.
Then Clara’s phone rang.
She answered.
Listened.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Clara ended the call.
“The financial investigators reviewed the flash drive.”
“And?”
“There’s an account Diane didn’t mention.”
Emily felt her stomach tighten.
“In whose name?”
Clara looked at her.
May you like
“Noah’s.”
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