Chapter 6 - The Dinner Table Trap
Claire attended Sunday dinner.
She almost did not.
Then she realized staying away would warn them.
So she wore a cream dress.
She brought wine.
She kissed her mother on the cheek.
And she watched three people pretend they had not spent years lying to her.
Natalie sat across from Julian.
They barely looked at one another.
That was how Claire knew they had practiced.
Owen sat beside her.
“Aunt Claire, Uncle Julian promised he’ll take me driving when I’m sixteen.”
Claire looked at Julian.
“Did he?”
Julian smiled.
“Someone has to teach the kid.”
The kid.
His son.
Claire’s stomach turned.
Evelyn raised her glass.
“To Claire.”
Everyone smiled.
“To thirty-eight wonderful years.”
Claire looked at her mother.
“Thirty-eight years of surprises.”
Evelyn’s smile flickered.
After dinner, Julian placed a folder beside Claire’s plate.
“Almost forgot.”
The restructuring agreement.
Claire opened it.
Natalie studied her wine.
Evelyn became very interested in clearing plates.
Julian handed Claire a pen.
“Just the paperwork I mentioned.”
Claire turned pages slowly.
“You’ve read it?”
“Of course.”
“And my attorney?”
“It’s routine, Claire.”
Her father had warned her about routine paperwork.
Claire smiled.
“Then there’s no rush.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“The financing closes Tuesday.”
“Then my attorney can review it Monday.”
Evelyn abruptly turned.
“Why complicate things?”
Claire looked at her.
“Since when do you care about Julian’s financing?”
Nobody answered.
Owen walked in carrying his tablet.
“Aunt Claire, look.”
Claire took the screen.
It showed an old family photograph Owen had found while searching cloud storage.
Claire and Natalie as teenagers.
Thomas behind them.
Evelyn beside him.
And standing several feet away was a man Claire recognized immediately.
Alexander Voss.
Claire’s mother snatched the tablet.
“Where did you get this?”
Owen jumped.
“Grandma, I was just—”
“Delete it.”
Claire stood.
“No.”
Evelyn stared at her.
Claire took the tablet back.
“You knew Alexander Voss.”
Evelyn went pale.
Julian stopped pretending.
“Claire.”
She turned toward him.
“You knew too.”
Natalie whispered, “Maybe we should all calm down.”
Claire laughed once.
“No.”
Then she looked directly at Owen.
The innocent boy at the center of another secret.
“How long have all of you been deciding what I’m allowed to know?”
Julian’s face hardened.
And Claire finally saw the man beneath the husband.
May you like
“Long enough,” he said.
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