Chapter 12 - What Ryan Said Without His Mother Beside Him
The confrontation took place in a mediator's conference room in Bethesda.
Erin had refused Ryan's request to meet privately.
Leah sat beside her.
Ryan had his attorney.
Victoria was not invited.
For the first time in their marriage, Ryan had nobody from his family available to explain him.
He looked thinner.
“I'm not asking you to forgive me.”
Erin said nothing.
Ryan looked at the table.
“I need you to understand the acquisition.”
“I understand it.”
“No. You understand Denise's version.”
Erin waited.
Ryan explained that his father had believed Mercer Biomedical would eventually be swallowed by national distributors unless it expanded.
After his father's death, Ryan became obsessed with proving he could complete the growth his father had planned.
The acquisition failed.
He personally guaranteed part of the financing because the board would not approve more corporate debt.
“Why didn't you tell them?”
“Because Mom had already lost Dad. I couldn't be the son who lost the company too.”
“So you lied to the bank.”
Ryan flinched.
“I omitted the guarantee.”
Erin almost smiled.
“That's how this started. Every lie gets a cleaner word.”
Ryan looked at her.
“You're right.”
That surprised her.
“When the creditor threatened my shares, Mom came up with the transfer.”
“And Lauren?”
“She drafted what Mom told her to draft.”
“Did Lauren know the purpose?”
“Not all of it.”
“Are you sleeping with her?”
Ryan looked away.
There was her answer.
“When?”
“After Noah was born.”
Erin's throat tightened.
“How long after?”
“About seven weeks.”
Erin closed her eyes briefly.
The affair was painful.
It was also almost ordinary beside everything else.
“Did your mother know?”
“Yes.”
“Did she encourage it?”
Ryan said nothing.
Erin laughed without humor.
“Of course.”
“Mom thought you hated my family.”
“Your mother thought I was inconvenient.”
“She thought you were going to make me sell.”
“I couldn't make you sell.”
“You could make me admit I failed.”
Erin leaned forward.
“Ryan, I was your wife. You were supposed to be able to fail in front of me.”
He looked at her.
His eyes filled.
“I didn't know how.”
“So you made me the enemy.”
He nodded once.
Erin's voice stayed calm.
“And when the share transfer gave you a way to make yourself look poorer in the divorce?”
Ryan stared at the table.
“Mom said it would protect the company from being valued into the case.”
“And you agreed.”
“Yes.”
That mattered more than tears.
Erin finally had a direct answer.
Ryan had been protecting his father's approval.
Victoria had been protecting the Mercer name.
Lauren had been protecting her professional relationship with the family and later her relationship with Ryan.
Erin had been protecting a marriage that no longer protected her.
“I'm not coming home,” she said.
May you like
Ryan nodded.
This time he did not ask her to.
