Chapter 5 - NATALIE SAID SHE WAS SAVING OUR FUTUREI met Natalie three days later.
Not at home.
At my attorney’s office.
She had her own lawyer.
I barely recognized her.
“Andrew.”
I said nothing.
She started crying.
“I never wanted to hurt your mother.”
I stared.
“You hid her medication.”
“I adjusted it.”
“You are not a doctor.”
“She was overmedicated.”
“According to who?”
“Michael.”
Of course.
“You put something in her drink.”
Her attorney interrupted.
“That matter is under investigation.”
I looked at Natalie.
“What did you think would happen?”
She shook her head.
“I wanted her calm.”
“Why?”
“So she would sign.”
There it was.
At least she admitted that much.
“Why did you need the land?”
“Our future.”
I almost laughed.
“We have a future.”
“You don’t understand.”
“What?”
“Your company is struggling.”
I froze.
She knew.
I had not told her the full extent.
My consulting firm had lost two major clients.
Cash flow was tight.
Not catastrophic.
But stressful.
Natalie apparently found financial statements.
Then Michael told her the lake development could solve everything.
Not just for him.
For us.
She invested $400,000 of her own money into North Ridge.
Without telling me.
“If the deal failed, I lost everything I put in.”
“So you pressured my mother.”
“I thought she was being irrational.”
“She owns the land.”
“She was going to give it away to conservation!”
“That is her choice.”
Natalie slammed her hand on the table.
“It could change all of our lives.”
I stared.
“There it is.”
“What?”
“You decided the value of her property gave you the right to decide what she should want.”
She cried.
“I was trying to protect us.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You were trying to control an outcome.”
Those are not the same thing.
Then I asked:
“Did you know about Grace?”
Her face went blank.
“Who?”
I believed her.
May you like
For once.
She had no idea.
