Chapter 3 - Mason Gave Her the Wrong Explanation
Claire unblocked Mason the next morning.
Not because she wanted to forgive him.
Because she wanted answers.
He answered after one ring.
“Claire?”
“Who is Harrow Family Management?”
Silence.
That told her more than a denial would have.
“Mason?”
“It’s complicated.”
“You kicked furniture at your pregnant wife, slammed a wall beside my head, put a pot over me, and ordered me out. You no longer get to use ‘complicated.’”
“I know.”
“Who are they?”
Mason inhaled slowly.
“My mother uses that company.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Lenora Ashford.
Of course.
Lenora owned several commercial properties and managed the accounting for the Ashford family’s development business.
But Claire had never authorized Lenora—or any company connected to her—to administer the security system inside Claire’s home.
“Why does your mother have access to my cameras?”
“She shouldn’t.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I gave her access when the system was installed.”
“Why?”
Mason hesitated.
“Insurance documentation. The house was tied to one of the family credit facilities at the time.”
Claire sat straighter.
“The house was what?”
“Claire—”
“My house was tied to your family company?”
“Our house.”
“Without me knowing?”
“It wasn’t supposed to become permanent.”
That sentence was worse than she expected.
She looked at Maribel, who was sitting silently across the kitchen table.
“How much debt is attached to the house?”
Mason didn’t answer.
Claire felt something colder than anger now.
“What did you do?”
“I was trying to help my parents during a cash problem.”
“When?”
“Almost three years ago.”
Before the pregnancy.
Before they remodeled the nursery.
Before Lenora suddenly became extremely generous about paying for upgrades.
Claire remembered Lenora insisting on using “her security people.”
At the time, Claire thought it was another overbearing-mother-in-law gesture.
Now Lenora’s company appeared as an administrator.
“Was last night about the debt?”
Mason answered too quickly.
“No.”
Claire heard it.
The false note.
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
“Mason.”
“I can’t explain everything yet.”
Claire laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You’ve already explained enough.”
She ended the call.
Then she reopened the screenshot.
Harrow Family Management.
May you like
The name had been sitting inside her home-security system for two years.
Claire had simply never looked.
Related Stories
