Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN THERE FOR EVERYTHING
Corinne had not entered Ethan’s life after Rachel died.
That was the first lie Ethan had been telling himself.
She had been there long before.
Rachel and Corinne met in college.
They had remained close through weddings, jobs, miscarriages, moves, and eventually Rachel’s difficult pregnancy with Maisie.
When Rachel developed complications after delivery, Corinne became indispensable.
She brought meals.
Drove Rachel to appointments when Ethan was working.
Stayed overnight after hospitalizations.
Held Maisie during procedures.
Ethan had once told her:
“I don’t know how we would’ve survived without you.”
After Rachel died, Corinne was still there.
She knew which formula Maisie tolerated.
Which prescriptions Rachel had taken.
Where tax records were stored.
Which relatives exhausted Ethan.
Which nights he drank bourbon after Maisie went to sleep.
Their relationship began five months after the funeral.
Ethan’s sister, Mara, told him it was too soon.
He accused her of judging his grief.
Three months later he married Corinne at the courthouse.
Now Corinne stood ten feet away while Ethan held a document Rachel had signed before her death.
“She was medicated,” Corinne said.
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“Rachel wasn’t thinking clearly that week.”
“You knew about this.”
“I knew she was changing things.”
“Why?”
“Because she was scared.”
“Of you?”
Corinne’s jaw tightened.
“Of everything.”
Maisie began crying again.
Ethan stopped.
His daughter came first.
He took her upstairs, changed her diaper, checked the bruise carefully, and called her pediatrician’s after-hours line.
The nurse advised him to photograph the mark and bring Maisie in the next morning.
Because of Maisie’s age and the allegation involving a caregiver, the pediatrician would determine whether additional reporting or evaluation was required.
Ethan did exactly what he was told.
No private interpretation.
No family excuse.
When Maisie finally fell asleep against his chest, he called Mara.
“I need you.”
His sister arrived twenty-five minutes later.
She took one look at Ethan’s face and stopped joking.
“What happened?”
He showed her the document.
Mara read the clause.
Her lips parted.
Then she said:
“Oh my God.”
“You knew?”
“No.”
“But you’re not surprised.”
Mara looked toward the stairs.
“Rachel tried to talk to me once about Corinne.”
Ethan went still.
“When?”
“Near the end.”
“What did she say?”
“That she felt like people were deciding things around her.”
“People?”
“She said Corinne kept speaking for her.”
Ethan stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Mara’s face filled with shame.
“I tried.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“You told me Rachel was exhausted and Corinne was the only person keeping the house functioning.”
Ethan remembered.
He had said that.
More than once.
Mara continued.
“Then Rachel died.”
“And?”
“And you were barely functioning. Corinne was holding Maisie. Making appointments. Feeding everybody. I thought bringing up some vague complaint from Rachel would just sound cruel.”
Ethan looked at the legal documents.
Silence had sounded kinder.
Until it wasn’t.
Downstairs, Corinne called up:
“Are you seriously turning your sister against me?”
Ethan stood.
Mara caught his arm.
“Don’t fight with her while Maisie’s here.”
He looked at his sleeping daughter.
Mara was right.
Another thing he hated.
Ethan carried Maisie into the nursery.
When he returned downstairs, Corinne was standing beside the open cabinet.
The documents were no longer on the table.
Ethan looked at her hands.
“Where are they?”
May you like
Corinne’s face changed.
And he realized she had just made the worst possible move.
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