Chapter 13 - The Mistress Who Knew Too Much
Sabrina called me at six thirteen on a Wednesday evening.
I almost didn't answer.
Not because I hated her.
Because I was tired of receiving phone calls that began with an apology and ended with another financial disaster.
But when I heard her voice, I immediately knew something was wrong.
"Nora, I need help."
I stood.
"What's happened?"
"Lucia says I stole company records."
"Did you?"
"No. I retained copies of documents I worked with, and I spoke to an attorney about what I was permitted to preserve. Now she's accusing me of causing the financing collapse."
"Have you called your attorney?"
"Yes. I have an appointment tomorrow."
"Good."
Sabrina began crying.
I waited.
Then she said, "Felix broke up with me."
For several seconds, I didn't know how to respond.
"I see."
"He said he needs to focus on his family."
The irony was so sharp it almost made me dizzy.
Eight years of marriage.
Four months of an affair.
And now Felix was apparently treating his next relationship as another inconvenience to eliminate.
"I'm sorry you're hurting," I said carefully. "But I can't help you resolve your relationship with my husband."
"I know. That's not why I called."
She sniffed.
"I found something."
Sabrina explained that Bellwether's administrator had requested copies of several old invoices during the financial review.
While searching through her archived correspondence, she discovered a series of emails involving Lucia, Felix, and LMB Holdings.
One thread concerned a substantial payment categorized as an advance for development services.
Another discussed an anticipated source of funding called the Hawthorne transaction.
But the most important email was dated six weeks before Felix left me.
It came from Lucia.
Sabrina read the relevant portion aloud.
"Felix needs to resolve the domestic situation before we can finalize the property strategy. Nora has become increasingly difficult about household money, and I don't believe she'll cooperate voluntarily."
I gripped the phone.
"Did Felix receive that?"
"Yes. He was copied."
My stomach tightened.
Sabrina continued.
"Once the separation is announced, we can present her with the settlement proposal. Felix should recover the furnishings and other purchases immediately so there is no confusion over personal property."
I closed my eyes.
The furniture.
The appliances.
The sound system.
Even the bedroom mattress.
Lucia hadn't merely encouraged Felix to remove his belongings out of spite.
She had incorporated the move into a deliberate separation strategy.
"There's a reply from Felix," Sabrina whispered.
I swallowed.
"What did he say?"
Sabrina read it.
"I don't want Nora hurt. I just need this finished. Mom, please make sure we can actually get the financing afterward."
I stared across my living room.
He knew.
Not every detail.
Not necessarily the misuse of my signature.
But he knew the separation was intended to pressure me into a financial arrangement.
He had allowed his mother to turn our marriage into a business maneuver.
I didn't say anything for a long time.
Finally, Sabrina asked, "Are you still there?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry."
This time, I believed her.
Not because her apology repaired anything.
But because her voice no longer contained excuses.
With her attorney's assistance, Sabrina arranged for relevant material to be preserved and provided through appropriate channels.
Evelyn contacted me afterward.
"Nora, I want to prepare you. The evidence may complicate the separation negotiations."
"How?"
"It suggests the decision to remove household items was discussed in advance in connection with the proposed financial settlement."
I sat at my desk.
"Does it prove they planned to force me out of the house?"
"Not by itself. But it helps establish their intentions. We'll evaluate it alongside the other records."
I nodded.
"Do you think Felix actually believed I'd give them the house?"
"Based on the messages you've shown me, he appears to have expected you to agree to some kind of sale or settlement."
I looked toward the empty space where our dining table used to stand.
"Why?"
Evelyn hesitated.
Then she said, "Because he believed his own story about you."
I thought about that.
For years, Felix had told himself that I was dependent on him.
Lucia reinforced the idea.
Eventually, they began making decisions based on it.
They assumed removing the furniture would frighten me.
They assumed losing Felix would leave me desperate.
They assumed I would accept almost any proposal to regain some financial security.
Their mistake wasn't that they underestimated the amount of money I had.
It was that they underestimated my ability to live without their approval.
That Friday, Sabrina and I met one final time.
She asked to speak privately, although Evelyn advised us to avoid discussing disputed records outside the proper process.
We met at a quiet coffee shop.
Sabrina looked exhausted.
"I've been staying with my sister," she said.
I nodded.
"Felix moved back to Lucia's house."
"I heard."
She stared into her coffee.
"I thought he was different."
I almost smiled.
"So did I."
She looked up.
"Nora, I know I don't deserve your sympathy."
"I don't think sympathy is something people earn by being perfect."
Her eyes filled.
"But I also don't think you were innocent in everything that happened," I added.
She nodded.
"I know."
For several minutes, we sat in silence.
Then she asked, "Do you hate me?"
I considered the question carefully.
"I hated what you helped do to my marriage. I hated discovering that people were making decisions about my life without including me."
I paused.
"But I don't want to spend the rest of my life thinking about you."
Sabrina gave a shaky laugh.
"Fair enough."
She reached into her handbag and removed a small envelope.
"This belongs to you."
Inside was a photograph.
Felix and I stood outside Hawthorne Lane on the day we moved in.
I was smiling.
He had his arm around me.
Across the back, in his handwriting, were the words:
Our first real home. Forever starts here.
I stared at it.
"Where did you get this?"
"Felix kept it in a drawer at the office. He told me to throw away some personal things last week. I couldn't throw this out."
I slipped the photograph into my handbag.
"Thank you."
As we prepared to leave, Sabrina said something unexpected.
"Lucia told me that if the business succeeded, she planned to buy a larger house and move Felix into it."
I frowned.
"What about Hawthorne Lane?"
"She wanted to sell it first. She said it was the beginning of everything."
I looked at her.
Sabrina continued.
"She said once she had the money, nobody would ever tell her what to do again."
I thought about all those years of manipulation.
The criticism.
The financial demands.
The obsession with my supposed dependence.
Perhaps Lucia had always been chasing a kind of power she believed money would finally give her.
But she had spent so much time trying to control other people's lives that she had lost control of her own.
That evening, Felix sent me an email.
For once, it contained no demands.
Nora,
I know about the messages Sabrina found.
I owe you an explanation.
I thought Mom had a plan that would protect everyone. I didn't understand how far she was willing to go.
I know that doesn't excuse what I did.
I've started reviewing the company records with Robert.
There are things I should have questioned a long time ago.
I'm sorry.
I read it twice.
Then I closed the laptop.
I didn't forgive him.
Not yet.
Perhaps not ever in the way he wanted.
But for the first time, his apology didn't ask me to fix something for him.
That was a beginning.
May you like
Unfortunately, Lucia wasn't interested in beginnings.
She was preparing for war.
