Chapter 3 - THE BLUE FOLDER
I took the folder from Ethan.
Daniel moved toward us.
“Give me that.”
I stepped backward.
“No.”
“Claire, you don't understand what you're holding.”
“Then explain it.”
“Not here.”
“That's what you said before.”
People nearby had begun watching.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“You're making a scene.”
I almost laughed.
“You arrived with your mistress wearing my grandmother's necklace.”
His face hardened.
“Vanessa isn't my mistress.”
Vanessa looked at him.
“Really?”
Daniel ignored her.
I opened the folder.
The first page was a financial statement.
The second was a list of transfers.
The third had my signature.
I stared at it.
I had never signed that document.
But it looked exactly like my signature.
“Daniel.”
He didn't answer.
“Why is my signature here?”
His silence was enough.
I turned another page.
There were six more documents.
Foundation funds.
Private accounts.
Northstar Medical.
And a transfer for $2.4 million.
The recipient was a company I had never heard of.
Mercer Family Holdings.
My hands went cold.
“What is this?”
Daniel finally spoke.
“An internal restructuring.”
“Using charity money?”
“No.”
Robert stepped beside me.
“Claire, don't sign anything.”
Daniel glared at him.
“This is none of your business.”
“It became my business when you used my name to solicit donors.”
Daniel looked stunned.
Robert continued.
“I checked the foundation records last month.”
Daniel's expression changed.
“What did you find?”
“Enough.”
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You're both pretending you just discovered this?”
I turned toward her.
“What do you know?”
She stared at Daniel.
“More than your husband wants you to know.”
Daniel stepped between us.
“Vanessa, stop.”
She pulled out her phone.
“I have messages.”
The room went quiet.
She showed me a series of texts.
Daniel had written:
AFTER THE GALA, IT'S DONE.
YOU AND I CAN FINALLY BE TOGETHER.
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
THE FOUNDATION MONEY WILL COVER THE BUYOUT.
I looked at Daniel.
“Buyout?”
He didn't answer.
Vanessa whispered, “He promised me ten million.”
I looked at her.
“You believed him?”
Her eyes hardened.
“I believed the man he pretended to be.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Because for the first time, I wondered whether Vanessa had been another victim of Daniel's lies.
Daniel grabbed my arm.
“We are leaving.”
I pulled away.
“I'm not going anywhere with you.”
Ethan stood between us.
“Dad, why did you lie?”
Daniel looked at him.
His expression softened.
“Ethan, this is adult business.”
“You told me never to tell Mom.”
Daniel froze.
The room went silent again.
I crouched beside Ethan.
“What exactly did he tell you?”
Ethan looked frightened.
“He said Vanessa was helping him.”
“With what?”
“The house.”
My heart stopped.
“What house?”
“The blue house.”
Daniel went pale.
Vanessa whispered, “He knows?”
I stood.
“What blue house?”
Ethan pointed toward Daniel.
“Dad said we were going to live there after the divorce.”
My chest tightened.
Daniel had already planned our separation.
He had already promised another woman a future.
And apparently, he had already told our nine-year-old son.
Without telling me.
I turned toward Daniel.
“You told our son we were getting divorced?”
“I was going to explain.”
“When?”
“After tonight.”
“After the gala?”
He said nothing.
I opened the folder again.
A property document fell onto the floor.
I picked it up.
The address was in Evanston.
A house I had never heard of.
The owner was listed as Mercer Family Holdings.
But beneath the ownership section was a handwritten note.
FOR ETHAN.
I looked at Daniel.
“What is this?”
His face changed.
“That isn't yours.”
“Neither is my signature.”
I handed the document to Robert.
He read it.
Then he looked at me.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“This property isn't worth two million.”
“How much?”
“Maybe six hundred thousand.”
“Then why is there a $4.8 million transfer attached to it?”
Daniel finally lost his composure.
“Because the difference went somewhere else.”
“Where?”
He said nothing.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“I know.”
Daniel looked at her.
“No.”
She held up her phone.
“The money went to Northstar.”
Robert stared.
“Northstar is already under federal investigation.”
My blood ran cold.
“For what?”
Robert looked at Daniel.
“Misappropriation of medical research funds.”
Daniel's face became unreadable.
I suddenly understood why he had brought Vanessa tonight.
He hadn't come to embarrass me.
He had come to make himself look untouchable.
Three hundred donors.
Photographers.
Business leaders.
If he announced a separation tonight, he could control the story.
But he had made one mistake.
He had underestimated our son.
I closed the blue folder.
“Daniel, we're done talking tonight.”
He stepped closer.
“You don't know what you're walking into.”
I looked at him.
“Then tell me.”
His eyes dropped to Ethan.
“You really want to know?”
“Yes.”
He leaned closer.
“Your name isn't just on the foundation documents.”
He paused.
“It's on the Northstar account.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
Daniel whispered:
“You were the one who approved the money.”
Then he walked away.
I stood frozen.
Robert looked at me.
“Claire, don't believe him.”
But my eyes had already found the final page.
There it was.
My name.
My signature.
May you like
And one date.
The date Ethan was born.
