“You already have an attorney?”
His silence answered.
“Of course you do.”
Sienna looked at Adrian.
“You told me the divorce paperwork hadn’t even started.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“Can everyone stop?”
Nobody did.
Sienna stepped closer.
“When did you hire a divorce lawyer?”
“This isn’t the time.”
“You brought me here.”
“I know.”
“You told me tonight was when everything became official.”
My eyes moved to her.
“What exactly did he tell you?”
Adrian looked at me.
“Don’t.”
That single word guaranteed I would ask again.
“Sienna.”
She hesitated.
Then something in her expression changed.
Maybe embarrassment.
Maybe anger.
Maybe the realization that Adrian had just tried to control her in exactly the same tone he had used with me.
“He told me you had already agreed to separate.”
I nodded.
“When?”
“Three weeks ago.”
I looked at Adrian.
Three weeks ago, he and I had spent a weekend in Charlottesville.
We had stayed at a small hotel near the university.
He had ordered breakfast to the room.
He had talked about taking a trip to Maine in the fall.
Three weeks ago, according to Sienna, our marriage had already ended.
I looked back at her.
“What else?”
“He said you were waiting until after his parents’ anniversary to announce it.”
A strange calm settled over me.
“So according to him, I knew you were coming tonight.”
“Yes.”
“And I knew you were his partner.”
“Yes.”
“And I agreed.”
“That’s what he told me.”
Adrian said, “Enough.”
I ignored him.
“Did he tell you that chair was yours?”
Sienna looked toward the chair beside me.
“Yes.”
That was almost impressive.
He hadn’t merely planned to leave me.
He had choreographed my replacement.
At his parents’ table.
During a celebration of marriage.
In front of his family.
And he had apparently convinced Sienna that I had consented to the entire performance.
I looked at Adrian.
“Why?”
He seemed genuinely confused.
“Why what?”
“Why do this publicly?”
His expression hardened.
“Because every private conversation with you goes nowhere.”
I stared at him.
“We never had a private conversation about separating.”
“We had plenty of conversations about being unhappy.”
“No.”
“You weren’t listening.”
I almost responded.
Then I stopped.
That was a trap.
If I argued about whether our marriage had been happy, the forged signature disappeared into the background.
Adrian wanted an emotional marriage dispute.
That was safer than a financial one.
So I asked something else.
“When did you meet Sienna?”
He looked away.
Sienna answered.
“Fourteen months ago.”
My chest tightened.
Fourteen months.
“How long have you been together?”
She looked uncomfortable.
“Almost a year.”
Evelyn made a quiet sound.
I didn’t look at her.
A year.
For a year, my husband had maintained another relationship.
For at least part of that time, he had also used my financial identity.
I looked at the papers again.
Suddenly I didn’t need to know which betrayal was worse.
They were connected by the same assumption.
Adrian believed he could make decisions for me without my knowledge and deal with my reaction afterward.
I folded the guaranty carefully.
Then I placed it in my purse.
Adrian moved.
“You can’t take that.”
Richard said, “She can.”
“It’s company property.”
“It’s a copy.”
Adrian looked at his father.
“You planned this.”
Richard’s expression was almost sad.
“No.”
He glanced around the anniversary decorations.
“I planned to renew my vows with your mother.”
For the first time, Evelyn began crying.
Quietly.
Richard looked at her.
His face softened.
Then he turned back to Adrian.
“You planned this.”
That ended the argument.
Sienna walked toward the foyer.
Adrian called after her.
She didn’t stop.
He followed.
At the doorway, she finally turned.
“Did you use her money for Mercer Ridge?”
Adrian glanced toward me.
“Sienna, not here.”
“Yes or no?”
“It was an investment.”
“Her investment?”
He said nothing.
Sienna’s expression collapsed.
“My God.”
She stepped backward.
“You told me Richard was funding it.”
Richard shook his head.
“I never approved a dollar.”
Sienna stared at Adrian.
“Then where did the first eight hundred thousand come from?”
The number hit me.
Eight hundred thousand.
Richard looked at me.
Then at Adrian.
“What first eight hundred thousand?”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Sienna realized she had said too much.
But it was too late.
Richard walked toward his son.
“Answer her.”
Adrian said nothing.
Richard’s voice rose.
“Where did eight hundred thousand dollars come from?”
Nathan suddenly stood again.
“I need to leave.”
Richard turned.
“You sit down.”
Nathan stopped.
There was something almost surreal about it.
Sixty people had come to celebrate a forty-year marriage.
Now half of them were pretending not to listen while the other half had completely given up pretending.
I looked at Nathan.
“You know.”
He shook his head.
“Nathan.”
“I don’t know everything.”
“But you know that.”
He wiped his forehead.
“The money came through three entities.”
“What entities?”
“Investment LLCs.”
“Whose?”
He looked at Adrian.
I followed his gaze.
Adrian looked exhausted now.
Good.
Nathan said, “One was tied to Maren’s trust.”
The room tilted.
I gripped the back of my chair.
“How?”
Nathan spoke quickly.
“The trust itself wasn’t accessed.”
“Then what does tied mean?”
“They represented to the lender that certain trust assets were available as secondary collateral.”
“Represented how?”
He looked at the forged document.
My stomach turned.
The signature wasn’t only about the future loan.
It had been used to make earlier money appear safer.
Richard seemed to understand before I did.
“You leveraged her assets without actually having authority over them.”
Nathan nodded.
“On paper.”
Richard stared at him.
“That is not better.”
“I know.”
