Chapter 7 - THE HOUSE WAS NEVER HIS
By two in the morning, Robert and Helen were packing.
Not everything.
Only what legally belonged to them.
Helen tried to take a painting from the upstairs gallery.
The inventory manager stopped her.
“That belongs to the Bennett estate.”
Helen stared at him.
“I chose it.”
“You chose where it hung.”
She turned red.
Robert dragged a suitcase down the stairs.
“This is humiliating.”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
He stopped.
For the first time, he understood that I was not going to rescue him from the feeling.
Helen appeared in her ruined cream dress with a fur coat over her shoulders.
She looked ridiculous.
And furious.
“This family will never forgive you.”
I glanced toward Lily and Ethan sitting together upstairs.
“This family is inside the house.”
Helen flinched.
Robert closed his suitcase.
“Where are we supposed to go?”
“You own a condo downtown.”
Helen looked at him.
“What condo?”
Robert froze.
Interesting.
I had not known that part.
Neither had she.
Mara looked toward the accountant.
He began typing.
Robert swore.
Helen stared at her son.
“You bought a condo?”
“It was an investment.”
“With whose money?”
Robert did not answer.
Helen’s face changed.
For the first time, suspicion moved between them.
That was the weakness in every alliance built on entitlement.
The moment resources became scarce, loyalty disappeared.
I watched Helen turn on him.
“You told me every property was protected.”
“It is.”
“Then why does she know about this?”
Robert looked at me.
“Because apparently my wife has been investigating me for months.”
I corrected him.
“Your wife started investigating missing money.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Same thing.”
“No.”
I stepped closer.
“If there had been no missing money, there would have been no investigation.”
He looked away.
Outside, security loaded their luggage into separate cars.
Helen reached for the front door.
Then she stopped.
“You think Lily will thank you for destroying her family?”
Lily had come downstairs.
She heard every word.
I turned toward her.
But Lily answered first.
“You destroyed dinner.”
Helen stared at her.
Lily’s voice trembled.
“But Mom ended it.”
Helen went completely still.
I will remember that moment for the rest of my life.
Not because Lily sounded strong.
She did not.
She sounded terrified.
Courage is not the absence of shaking.
Sometimes it is speaking while your knees are still weak.
Helen opened the door.
Before she stepped outside, she looked at Ethan.
“You’re coming with us.”
Ethan frowned.
“What?”
Robert looked toward her.
“Mom.”
“He belongs with his father.”
I moved instantly.
“No.”
Helen smiled.
“You may want to check the custody papers Robert filed last week.”
Every person in the foyer stopped moving.
I looked at my husband.
He went pale.
“Robert?”
He would not meet my eyes.
May you like
Helen smiled.
“You weren’t the only one planning for tomorrow.”
