Chapter 11 - What Catherine Hid
Rebecca read the old custody order.
Catherine had not acted illegally.
That almost made Ethan angrier.
After Adrian attempted to use Ethan as a messenger during divorce negotiations, the court required all parental communications to pass through counsel for six months.
Adrian violated the order twice.
Catherine’s lawyer diverted correspondence.
But after six months, Catherine never told Ethan about the withheld letters.
“She could have given them to me later,” Ethan said.
Rebecca nodded.
“Yes.”
“She chose not to.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You’d have to ask someone who knew.”
Clara knew.
She cried before answering.
“Catherine hated Adrian.”
“That isn’t enough.”
“No.”
Clara folded her hands.
“She also feared you would forgive him.”
Ethan stared.
“Why would that scare her?”
“Because Adrian was persuasive.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“So she controlled the story.”
“Yes.”
The admission hurt.
Clara continued.
“She thought if you loved him again, he’d eventually ask you for money or land.”
“Maybe he would have.”
“Probably.”
“That still wasn’t her choice.”
“No.”
Ethan stood.
Grief had made Catherine perfect.
Evidence was making her human again.
He hated the process.
That afternoon, he confronted Adrian.
“My mother kept the letters.”
“I told you.”
“She shouldn’t have.”
Adrian’s eyes softened.
“No.”
“But you also violated the custody order.”
Adrian’s expression hardened.
“She used the court to silence me.”
“You used me to send financial messages.”
“I was trying to survive.”
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“Everybody survives by making somebody else pay.”
Adrian stared.
Ethan continued.
“You don’t get to use Mom’s mistake to erase yours.”
Adrian looked almost disappointed.
“I thought you wanted truth.”
“I do.”
“Then accept all of it.”
“I am.”
Ethan held up Catherine’s settlement.
“You owed her twenty-seven and a half million dollars.”
Adrian’s face hardened.
“That agreement was punitive.”
“You signed it.”
“I had no choice.”
“There’s always a choice. You just hate the ones that cost you.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“Cross Meridian employs eight hundred people.”
“So now the employees need my land.”
“They need liquidity.”
“No. You need liquidity.”
Adrian looked away.
Ethan understood.
He was beginning to see the pattern.
Every conspirator converted personal desperation into public necessity.
Damian: save the estate.
Adrian: save the company.
Eleanor? No Eleanor here.
Lauren: save herself from debt.
Jonathan: protect employer.
Every choice acquired a respectable costume.
Rebecca’s subpoenas produced more.
Cross Meridian had secretly agreed that if Trent’s corridor closed, Adrian would receive a $15 million development management payment.
Combined with refinancing, it would save his company from default and potentially trigger Catherine’s $27.5 million settlement obligation.
But the side agreement used another company as payee to avoid the settlement definition.
Rebecca looked impressed despite herself.
“Someone designed this carefully.”
“Jonathan?”
“Probably.”
“Illegal?”
“Potentially fraudulent if intended to evade a contractual payment. At minimum, fertile litigation.”
Ethan rubbed his face.
“Can we stop talking like lawyers?”
“No.”
A knock came.
Clara entered holding a small leather portfolio.
“I found this in Catherine’s room.”
Inside was a handwritten memo.
If Ethan learns about the letters, he may hate me. Let him. Better anger than dependence on Adrian.
Ethan stared.
His mother had anticipated this too.
Below:
But if I die before I can tell him myself, Clara—do not defend me. He deserves to be angry.
Ethan looked at Clara.
“That’s why you told me.”
She nodded.
Tears filled her eyes.
“She knew she was wrong.”
“Did she plan to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After the conservation filing.”
“Why not before?”
“Because she was always waiting until one more danger passed.”
Ethan laughed sadly.
“Apparently that’s hereditary.”
Clara touched his arm.
“She loved you.”
“I know.”
Love no longer sounded like an answer.
It sounded like context.
That evening, Ethan listened to another recorder file.
Catherine:
“I withheld Adrian’s letters beyond the court period. That was wrong. I told myself I was protecting Ethan. The truth is I was also protecting myself from losing him.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Then she continued.
“Damian will use this if he finds it. Let him. My mistakes do not make his crimes less real.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
Even dead, Catherine refused to give him simple heroes.
The recording ended with a final sentence:
“There is one person Damian fears more than Adrian.”
Ethan sat upright.
Then static.
The file corrupted.
Rebecca examined the device.
“Can it be recovered?”
“Possibly.”
“Who was she talking about?”
Clara’s face changed.
“I think I know.”
Ethan turned.
“Who?”
Clara whispered:
“Your grandmother’s accountant.”
Ethan frowned.
“My grandmother died twenty years ago.”
“Yes.”
May you like
Clara’s eyes hardened.
“But her accountant is still alive.”
