Chapter 2 - “What kind of problem?”
“Money had been moved through several subsidiaries without proper authorization.”
“You thought someone was stealing?”
“I knew someone was.”
She stared at him.
“Who?”
“I didn't know.”
“Did you think it was me?”
His expression tightened.
“No.”
“Then why did you become so distant?”
“Because I couldn't tell you.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn't know who I could trust.”
Claire looked away.
She remembered those months.
The late nights.
The unanswered calls.
The dinners he canceled.
The mornings when he seemed physically present but emotionally somewhere else.
She had believed he had stopped loving her.
“You could have told me.”
“I wanted to protect you.”
“That isn't protection, Adrian.
That's shutting someone out.”
“I know that now.”
He reached into his briefcase.
“I found something after we separated.”
He placed a second document on the table.
Claire read the first page.
It was an internal report.
Her name appeared near the bottom.
Her breath caught.
“Why is my name here?”
“Because the transactions passed through an account connected to a charitable foundation you once managed.”
Claire stared at him.
“I didn't manage that account.”
“You signed the original authorization three years ago.”
“For the children's literacy foundation?”
“Yes.”
She shook her head.
“That was administrative paperwork.
I never handled the finances.”
“I know.”
“Then why—”
“Because someone used your signature.”
Claire felt cold.
“You think someone forged it?”
“I think someone wanted me to believe you had been involved.”
The café suddenly seemed too small.
“Why would anyone do that?”
“I don't know.”
Adrian looked at her.
“But I think that's why our marriage began falling apart.”
Claire swallowed.
“You thought I was involved.”
“No.”
“Then what did you think?”
“I thought someone wanted me to suspect you.”
She stared at him.
“Who?”
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“I still don't know.”
A waitress approached.
“Everything all right?”
Claire forced a smile.
“Yes.”
The waitress walked away.
Claire lowered her voice.
“Why didn't you tell me any of this?”
“Because I was afraid that if you knew, you'd become a target for whoever was behind it.”
She looked at him.
“And instead you pushed me away.”
“Yes.”
“That was your solution?”
“No.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“It was my mistake.”
For the first time, Claire saw how tired he looked.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
As if he had been carrying something too heavy for too long.
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Marco.
Adrian answered.
“What?”
Marco said something.
Adrian's expression changed.
“Are you sure?”
Another pause.
“Send it to me.”
He ended the call.
Claire waited.
“What happened?”
Marco had found something.
A bank record.
One that changed the entire timeline.
Adrian turned the phone toward her.
Claire read the name attached to the account.
Her breath stopped.
It belonged to someone she knew.
Someone who had been close to both of them.
Someone who had every reason to understand how their marriage was falling apart.
Adrian looked at her.
“Now we know who sent the photographs.”
Claire stared at the name.
And suddenly, the divorce that had seemed like the end of their story looked very different.
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It might have been the consequence of a secret neither of them had understood.
Or perhaps it had been the beginning of uncovering the truth.
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