Chapter 4 - The $312,400 Secret
I stared at the number.
$312,400.
For several seconds, my mind refused to process it.
Nathan sat across from me with both elbows on his knees.
Margaret remained standing.
James scrolled through the transactions.
They had started small.
Two thousand dollars.
Three thousand.
Five.
Then larger.
Some were categorized as consulting fees.
Others as vendor expenses.
Several were reimbursements.
All eventually led to accounts connected to Margaret.
“What was this money for?” I asked.
Neither answered.
James looked at Nathan.
“Were services actually provided?”
Nathan rubbed his forehead.
“Some.”
“By your mother?”
“She introduced clients.”
“Which clients?”
Silence.
James closed the laptop halfway.
“Nathan, I'm giving you an opportunity to explain this before accountants do.”
Margaret suddenly snapped, “Stop interrogating my son.”
I turned toward her.
“Then you explain it.”
Her lips tightened.
“I had expenses.”
“Three hundred twelve thousand dollars of expenses?”
“You wouldn't understand.”
“Try me.”
She lifted her chin.
“Maintaining a certain standard of living costs money.”
I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing.
The condo.
The private club.
Trips.
Clothes.
Parties.
Margaret had built an entire lifestyle around money Nathan was quietly siphoning from a business I had financed.
And last night she had called my children burdens.
I stood.
“Leave.”
Margaret blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“Leave my home.”
Nathan rose.
“Caroline—”
“You too.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“James will communicate with you about temporary arrangements.”
Nathan stared at me.
“You can't just evict your husband.”
“I didn't say I'm evicting you today. I said I want you out of this room.”
He looked toward James.
My brother said calmly, “You should probably go.”
Margaret grabbed her folder.
Before leaving, she turned toward me.
“You think money makes you powerful.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“But knowing what belongs to you helps.”
She walked out.
Nathan followed.
At the door, he stopped.
“Caroline.”
I waited.
“I love you.”
Six years earlier, those words would have changed everything.
That morning, they sounded like a key being tried in a lock that had already been changed.
“You watched my children stand outside.”
His face crumpled slightly.
“I made a mistake.”
“No. You made a choice.”
He left.
The elevator doors closed.
James waited until we were alone.
“There's more.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Of course there is.”
He reopened the laptop.
One vendor had received almost $94,000.
Beacon Lifestyle Management.
I had never heard of it.
James had.
It belonged to a woman named Vanessa Price.
My stomach tightened.
“Is Nathan having an affair?”
“We don't know.”
He clicked another document.
Vanessa wasn't only receiving payments.
She had been helping Margaret apply for financing using the Brookline condo as an asset.
An asset Margaret didn't own.
I stared at the screen.
“What financing?”
“A line of credit.”
“How much?”
“Two hundred fifty thousand.”
My pulse quickened.
“Was it approved?”
“Apparently not yet.”
“Why?”
James looked at me.
“Because the lender requested proof of title.”
Suddenly the letter made sense.
Margaret had believed Nathan's birthday document gave her ownership.
Maybe Nathan had eventually realized it didn't.
Maybe that was why everything had remained hidden.
My phone rang.
The restaurant manager.
I answered.
“Mrs. Monroe?”
“Yes?”
“I apologize for bothering you, but something happened after you left last night.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“One of our photographers captured an argument near the private hallway.”
I glanced at James.
“Between whom?”
There was a pause.
“Mr. Cole and Mrs. Margaret Cole.”
“Why are you telling me?”
“Because your daughter was mentioned.”
I stood straighter.
“What was said?”
The manager hesitated.
“I think you should see the recording.”
Twenty minutes later, a secure link arrived.
James and I watched.
The camera had been recording general footage of the party.
Nathan and Margaret stood near a side corridor.
Margaret was furious about the canceled extras.
Nathan said something too quiet to hear.
Then Margaret's voice became clear.
“You should have sent Caroline home before they even arrived.”
Nathan looked around.
“Mom, enough.”
“She keeps trying to force those children into this family.”
“They are her children.”
“They are Daniel Monroe's children.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“You promised you wouldn't say that tonight.”
My entire body went cold.
James paused the video.
“What?”
I whispered, “Play it again.”
He did.
You promised you wouldn't say that tonight.
Nathan had known.
Maybe not the exact words.
But he knew Margaret planned to exclude them.
He had allowed me to dress my children.
Allowed Sophie to make the scrapbook.
Allowed Caleb to carry the gift.
Allowed us to drive across Boston.
Knowing.
I sat down slowly.
James looked furious.
Then the recording continued.
Margaret said something that changed everything again.
“If you had done what we discussed last year, Caroline wouldn't control anything anymore.”
Nathan immediately stepped toward her.
“Stop talking.”
Margaret laughed.
“You're the one who was supposed to convince her to put your name on the holding company.”
Nathan looked toward the camera.
Then the video ended.
I stared at the frozen image.
The birthday party had not destroyed my marriage.
It had exposed it.
May you like
And suddenly I needed to know how long Nathan had been trying to gain control of the assets he pretended not to care about.
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