It was an agreement concerning the investment account.
Daniel had attempted to transfer control of it.
To Claire.
My sister.
I couldn’t breathe.
“Claire knew?”
“We don’t know how much she knew,” the lawyer said carefully.
“But the transfer was prepared before Daniel announced the divorce.”
Everything suddenly felt different.
The affair hadn’t begun because Daniel suddenly fell in love.
The divorce hadn’t been as spontaneous as he’d made it sound.
He had been planning.
Saving.
Moving money.
Preparing another life.
And perhaps Claire had known more than she had admitted.
I covered my mouth.
Ethan reached across the table.
“Mom.”
I looked at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For finding out.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I squeezed his hand.
“You saved us.”
But Ethan shook his head.
“I didn’t do it for revenge.”
“I know.”
“I did it because I couldn’t watch Dad walk away believing he’d gotten away with everything.”
Then he opened the wooden box.
There was another envelope.
“This is the real wedding gift.”
My heart pounded.
“What is it?”
“A letter.”
“From whom?”
“Dad.”
I opened it.
It wasn’t recent.
It was eighteen years old.
Daniel had written it shortly after Ethan was born.
I read the first sentence.
My eyes filled with tears.
It said:
