Chapter 3 - THE HOUSE EMILY THOUGHT WAS HERS
Lily improved on the fourth day.
Not enough to go home.
Enough to sit up and complain about hospital pudding.
I nearly cried when she said:
“This tastes yucky.”
It was the most beautiful criticism I had ever heard.
While Lily watched cartoons, Rebecca called.
“We found more.”
North Shore Holdings owned the Miami condo.
Two vehicles.
And a boat share.
Approximate total value:
$2.4 million.
“How much debt?”
“We’re checking.”
“Where did the money come from?”
“Partly Mercer Consulting.”
My stomach tightened.
Mercer Consulting was founded during our marriage.
That did not automatically mean I owned every dollar inside it.
But it did mean David could not simply make assets disappear because he preferred another woman.
Then Rebecca said:
“There’s an occupancy agreement.”
“For Miami?”
“Yes.”
Resident listed:
Emily Carter.
I closed my eyes.
He had bought her a home.
Or at least put her inside one.
Then my phone buzzed.
Emily.
I stared at the name.
“How does she have my number?”
“Maybe David.”
I answered.
Her voice sounded weak.
“Clara?”
“Yes.”
“I know you hate me.”
“I don’t know you well enough to hate you.”
Silence.
Then:
“David says you hired some aggressive stranger to punish us.”
“I hired licensed care because he demanded private assistance.”
“He said you chose the worst agency intentionally.”
“I corrected that decision before anyone arrived.”
She sounded surprised.
“Why?”
“Because I was angry, not cruel.”
Another pause.
Then Emily whispered:
“I’m sorry about Lily.”
That hurt.
Because my daughter’s father had barely asked how she was.
His mistress did.
“Thank you.”
“David said she only had a chest infection.”
“No. She has severe double pneumonia.”
Silence.
“He told me it wasn’t serious.”
Of course.
Everyone received the version David needed.
Then Emily said:
“He told me you knew about us.”
I almost laughed.
“No.”
“He said your marriage was basically over.”
“It wasn’t.”
“He said you had separate lives.”
“We had dinner together two nights before you flew to Vancouver.”
Emily went silent.
I could hear hospital equipment near her.
Then:
“Did you know about Miami?”
“Yes.”
Not entirely true thirty minutes earlier.
True now.
“He said that property was from his premarital investments.”
“No.”
She inhaled.
“What?”
“It appears connected to a company created during our marriage.”
Emily whispered:
“Oh my God.”
I did not comfort her.
She had still knowingly traveled with a married man.
But the certainty in her voice began to collapse.
Then she said something that caught me off guard.
“Clara, David told me you were the reason he couldn’t access more money.”
“What money?”
“I don’t know. He said you controlled some trust.”
I didn’t.
Not before my mother’s settlement.
“What else did he say?”
“That once Lily’s medical situation was resolved, he was going to restructure everything.”
My skin went cold.
“Restructure what?”
“The company.”
Emily hesitated.
“And your house.”
I looked at Rebecca.
Our home?
David had no right to sell it alone.
Then Emily added:
“He told me you had already signed refinancing documents.”
May you like
I had signed nothing.
And suddenly the attempted $48,000 transfer looked insignificant.
