Chapter 5 - Lenora Called It a Family Sacrifice
Lenora Ashford called Claire that afternoon.
Her voice was calm.
Almost maternal.
“Claire, I heard you’re upset.”
Claire nearly hung up.
Instead she said:
“You had administrator access to cameras inside my house.”
“They were installed through our security contractor.”
“That doesn’t give you permission.”
“No.”
Lenora’s willingness to admit that surprised her.
Then Claire asked about the home-equity facility.
Lenora became quieter.
“The company was facing a temporary liquidity problem.”
“Three hundred and fifty thousand dollars is not temporary to me.”
“We were protecting nearly eighty employees.”
“With my house.”
“With a family asset.”
Claire felt rage move through her.
“My home is not a family-company asset.”
Lenora paused.
“Mason understood what was at stake.”
“I didn’t.”
“You had just lost your job.”
Claire stiffened.
That period had been difficult.
A corporate restructuring had eliminated Claire’s position.
Mason’s income carried them for nearly a year.
Lenora had stepped in often.
Groceries.
A nursery deposit.
Property taxes once.
Claire had considered it family generosity.
Lenora apparently considered it leverage.
“You thought because I wasn’t earning money, I didn’t need to know?”
“I thought Mason was protecting you.”
Claire almost laughed.
“Is that what you call last night too?”
Silence.
Claire leaned forward.
“You know what happened.”
“I know you and Mason argued.”
“No. You know more than that.”
Lenora’s voice hardened slightly.
“Pregnancy is not the time to make major decisions while emotional.”
There it was.
The old Lenora.
Polite control dressed as concern.
Claire said:
“You are no longer authorized to enter my home or access anything connected to it.”
“Claire.”
“No.”
Then Lenora said something unexpected.
“If you freeze anything financially right now, the consequences won’t stop with Mason.”
Claire stopped.
“What does that mean?”
“You should ask your husband.”
“Ask him what?”
Lenora did not answer.
She ended the call.
Claire stared at the phone.
Then she called Sloane.
“Find out what happens if that credit facility is challenged.”
“Immediately?”
“Yes.”
Claire looked down at her belly.
For two days, everyone around her had treated truth like something too dangerous for a pregnant woman to hear.
May you like
She was beginning to suspect the opposite.
The truth had been dangerous only to the people who benefited from her not knowing it.
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