Chapter 12 - The Truth Emma Deserved
Emma asked the hardest question on a Sunday morning.
“Are you and Daddy married?”
Claire nearly inhaled coffee.
Damian was at the table.
He became intensely interested in his pancakes.
Claire stared at him.
“Don’t you dare hide.”
“I’m not.”
“You absolutely are.”
Emma waited.
Claire sighed.
“Technically, yes.”
Damian looked up.
“Technically?”
“We never divorced.”
Emma smiled.
“So you love each other.”
Both adults answered simultaneously.
“It’s complicated.”
Emma rolled her eyes.
“That again.”
Damian nearly laughed.
Claire sat beside her.
“Being married doesn’t always mean people are living together.”
“Why?”
“Because sometimes adults hurt each other.”
“Daddy hurt you.”
“Yes.”
Emma looked at Damian.
“What did you do?”
The room went still.
She had asked versions before.
This time she wanted truth.
Damian looked at Claire.
Claire nodded once.
Age appropriate.
“I broke your mother’s trust.”
“How?”
“I was supposed to love only her in a certain way, and I acted like that with someone else.”
Emma frowned.
“Like another girlfriend?”
“Something like that.”
“That’s mean.”
“Yes.”
“Was it Aunt Olivia?”
Claire froze.
“How did you—”
Emma shrugged.
“Nora talks loud.”
Claire looked toward the kitchen.
“Nora!”
“Sorry!” came the reply.
Damian covered his mouth.
Claire glared.
“This is not funny.”
“No.”
It was slightly funny.
Emma looked at Claire.
“Are you mad at Aunt Olivia?”
“Yes.”
“Forever?”
Claire hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
“Are you mad at Daddy forever?”
Another silence.
“I don’t know.”
Emma considered that.
“Can people be sorry forever?”
Damian looked down.
“Yes.”
“Sounds tiring.”
“It is.”
“Then maybe they should do better.”
Damian nodded.
“That’s the plan.”
Later that day Olivia returned.
Not because Claire invited reconciliation.
Because investigators needed another statement and Grey Harbor was safer than Chicago.
Emma immediately hugged her.
Olivia cried again.
“You cry a lot,” Emma observed.
“I’ve noticed.”
“Mom doesn’t.”
Claire almost laughed.
Olivia looked at her sister.
“She used to.”
“Thanks.”
The afternoon became strange.
Olivia helped repair a cabinet.
Damian ignored her.
Claire supervised both like a prison guard.
Eventually Olivia asked Claire to walk outside.
They went to the harbor.
“I don’t expect forgiveness,” Olivia said.
“Good.”
“I was drunk.”
“Not an excuse.”
“I know.”
“You were heartbroken.”
“Not an excuse.”
“You loved attention.”
Olivia winced.
“True.”
Claire looked at the water.
“Did you want Damian?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Olivia’s eyes filled.
“Because I wanted what you had.”
Claire stared.
“Not him. Your life.”
Olivia wiped tears.
“You were always the one who knew what she wanted. You married this powerful man. You had money, confidence, everything.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“You thought being married to Damian was easy?”
“No. I was stupid.”
“Yes.”
“I was jealous.”
“Of me.”
“Yes.”
“So you slept with my husband.”
“I made the worst choice of my life.”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“I can’t undo it.”
“No.”
“What can I do?”
Claire looked at her sister.
“Live differently.”
Olivia nodded.
“That’s what Damian is trying too.”
Claire stared.
Olivia gave a sad smile.
“I hate that we have that in common.”
For the first time, Claire almost felt sympathy.
Not forgiveness.
But perhaps the beginning of something less poisonous than hatred.
Back at the café, Damian received news.
Victor had been formally charged in connection with fraud, intimidation, and the arson conspiracy.
Anthony accepted a cooperation agreement.
Damian’s attorneys negotiated his own situation.
He would face substantial financial penalties.
Probation.
Potential restrictions.
But prison now appeared unlikely because of the evidence he voluntarily supplied.
Claire listened.
“You’re free?”
“Not exactly.”
“But you’re staying?”
“If you want me in Grey Harbor.”
Emma shouted from the kitchen.
“I do!”
Claire closed her eyes.
“Stop listening!”
Emma giggled.
Damian smiled.
“What about Chicago?” Claire asked.
“I’m done.”
“Business?”
“Legitimate holdings remain. Professional managers.”
“No more men waiting in cars?”
“Marcus will be devastated.”
Marcus, standing nearby, said, “I already am.”
Claire laughed.
Damian looked at her.
She caught him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I like when you laugh.”
The old Claire would have melted.
The new Claire rolled her eyes.
“Dangerous.”
“I know.”
That evening, Damian and Emma built a puzzle.
Claire watched.
Olivia sat across from her.
“He’s different.”
Claire glanced sideways.
“So are you.”
Olivia looked surprised.
“That wasn’t forgiveness.”
“I know.”
Claire groaned.
“You said it again.”
They both laughed.
Then something remarkable happened.
For ten seconds, they were sisters again.
Not betrayed wife and betrayer.
Not victim and guilty sibling.
Just Claire and Olivia.
It passed quickly.
But it happened.
After Olivia left for Nora’s guest room, Damian helped close the café.
He washed mugs.
Claire stared.
“You’re doing dishes.”
“I contain multitudes.”
“You’re terrible at it.”
“I’ve broken only one.”
“That’s not a success.”
He smiled.
Then his expression became serious.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“Our legal marriage.”
She stiffened.
“What about it?”
“I’ll sign divorce papers if you want.”
The words hurt unexpectedly.
Damian saw.
“Or not.”
“You can’t say that immediately after.”
“I panicked.”
She almost laughed.
“I need time.”
“You have it.”
“No pressure?”
“None.”
“Who are you?”
“Still figuring that out.”
Claire turned toward the window.
The harbor was dark.
She remembered the first time Damian proposed.
No kneeling.
No dramatic speech.
He simply placed a ring on the table and said he had never wanted permanence until her.
She had believed him.
Maybe he had believed himself.
People could mean promises when they made them and still fail them later.
That did not make every promise false.
It made promises work.
“Don’t file anything yet,” Claire said.
Damian went still.
“Okay.”
“That is not a romantic statement.”
“I know.”
“It means I need time.”
“I understand.”
Claire looked at him.
“Stop being so reasonable. It’s unsettling.”
He smiled.
“I can argue if it helps.”
“No.”
“Thought so.”
Upstairs, Emma called.
“Mom! Daddy!”
Both looked toward the ceiling.
Claire’s heart did something strange.
Emma had said the words together.
Mom. Daddy.
Like they naturally belonged in the same sentence.
Damian met Claire’s eyes.
Neither said anything.
May you like
Then they walked upstairs together.
---
