Chapter 7 - HE HAD PREPARED FOR DIVORCE BEFORE HUMILIATING ME
Julian’s consultation with a divorce attorney was not illegal.
It was smart, actually.
What mattered was why he did it.
His email read:
IF MY WIFE REFUSES TO SUPPORT A BUSINESS TRANSACTION INVOLVING JOINT PROPERTY, WHAT LEVERAGE EXISTS IN DIVORCE?
I read that sentence three times.
He was preparing leverage.
Not grieving a failed marriage.
Not considering whether we were happy.
Leverage.
The attorney’s response was cautious.
No guarantee.
No automatic right to force me into his investment.
Property division would depend on jurisdiction, documentation, contributions, and facts.
Julian apparently disliked that answer.
He forwarded it to Ethan:
USELESS.
Ethan replied:
THEN GET HER TO SIGN BEFORE SHE TALKS TO A LAWYER.
I almost admired the clarity.
Then my attorney found something else.
Julian had downloaded account statements showing my separate investment portfolio.
The remainder of what my father left me.
Approximately $310,000.
He told Ethan:
BACKUP LIQUIDITY.
My inheritance was not backup liquidity.
Not for them.
Then Julian called.
I answered because we needed to discuss the children.
Instead he said:
“I want to fix us.”
“No.”
“Claire, please.”
“The children will see you according to the temporary schedule.”
“I’m talking about our marriage.”
“So am I.”
“I was angry at myself.”
“For what?”
“For failing.”
He finally said it.
When Julian lost his job, he stopped seeing himself as my partner.
He saw me returning to work and succeeding.
I received a promotion.
Then a retention bonus.
Then another promotion.
Every achievement of mine became proof of what he had lost.
Instead of rebuilding himself, he found smaller ways to make me feel smaller too.
My weight.
My clothes.
My exhaustion.
Then the lake project gave him a secret place where he could feel successful again.
“I wanted to show you I could build something.”
“You could have told me.”
“You would have asked questions.”
“Yes.”
“That was the problem.”
Exactly.
Then:
“Did you ever actually want Selina?”
His silence lasted too long.
My stomach tightened.
“Julian.”
“No affair.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
He admitted he enjoyed making me jealous.
He liked watching my face when he praised her.
It reassured him that I still cared whether he found me desirable.
The cruelty had been validation.
I felt disgusted.
Then he added:
“Ethan encouraged it.”
Of course.
But Julian was forty.
His brother was not responsible for his character.
Then Julian said:
“There’s something you need to know about Ethan.”
“What?”
“He’s been taking money from Lakeside.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
My anger paused.
Julian had finally reviewed the books after Selina confronted Ethan.
Nearly $190,000 in development funds could not be reconciled.
May you like
The secret business the brothers built together was now missing money.
And Julian suspected his own brother.
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