Chapter 8 - CLARA LEARNED NATHAN HAD BEEN USING HER TOOClara requested a meeting through attorneys.
Evelyn refused.
Then Julia called.
“You should hear what she has.”
Evelyn reluctantly agreed.
They met at a law office.
Clara looked nothing like the woman in the silver dress.
No confidence.
No audience.
No Nathan.
She sat across from Evelyn.
“I owe you an apology.”
“Yes.”
Clara flinched.
“You could make this easier.”
“Why would I?”
Fair.
Clara looked down.
“I hated you.”
“I noticed.”
“I thought you had everything.”
Evelyn said nothing.
“Nathan talked about you like…”
She stopped.
“Like what?”
“Like you were a burden he had learned to manage.”
That hurt even now.
“He said you were cold.”
“Of course.”
“That you didn’t understand pressure.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
Clara continued.
“He said your family made everything easier for you.”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
“Even while he used my family’s capital?”
Clara looked ashamed.
“I didn’t know the extent.”
“What do you want?”
“To testify.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Against Victor?”
“And Nathan where necessary.”
“Why?”
Clara laughed bitterly.
“Because Victor fired me.”
There it was.
Still self-interest.
At least she was honest.
“And Nathan?”
Clara’s eyes filled.
“He told his lawyer I created Phoenix.”
Evelyn went still.
“Did you?”
“No.”
“You helped.”
“Yes.”
“But it existed first.”
“Years before I joined.”
Nathan was trying to redirect blame.
Again.
Clara slid a drive across the table.
“Recordings.”
Evelyn didn’t touch it.
“What’s on them?”
“Nathan admitting he moved losses into Phoenix before hiring me.”
“Why did you record him?”
“Insurance.”
Of course.
“And there’s something else.”
Clara looked at Evelyn.
“He talked about divorcing you.”
That did not surprise her.
“When?”
“Before the dinner.”
“How long before?”
“Almost a year.”
Evelyn’s chest tightened despite herself.
“What stopped him?”
Clara answered:
“Your money.”
There it was.
Nathan allegedly told Clara that divorce before refinancing could destabilize Hartwell support.
He intended to wait until after the acquisition.
Then leave Evelyn.
Clara thought she would become Mrs. Grant.
Evelyn asked:
“And you still slapped me?”
Clara closed her eyes.
“I thought once you were gone, I’d finally have what you had.”
Evelyn looked at her.
“You thought I had Nathan.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
A pause.
“I had responsibility for Nathan.”
Clara stared.
“Those aren’t the same.”
For a moment, the two women sat in silence.
Not friends.
Never friends.
But no longer competing for a prize that had turned out to be debt wrapped in charm.
Clara whispered:
“I’m sorry.”
Evelyn nodded once.
Not forgiveness.
May you like
Acknowledgment.
Then she took the drive.
