Chapter 9 - Diane’s Cruelty Had a History
Diane had disliked Claire from the first Thanksgiving Ethan brought her home.
Claire always assumed it was class.
Diane came from old North Shore money. Claire had grown up outside Madison with a public-school teacher for a father and a mother who worked in medical billing.
But Harold finally revealed another reason.
The first time Diane saw Claire, she recognized Rebecca.
Not exactly.
Enough.
“The hair,” Harold said. “The eyes.”
Claire remembered Diane staring at her across the Thanksgiving table.
Two weeks later Diane had asked Ethan where Claire’s family came from.
Madison.
Her mother’s name.
Rebecca.
Her age.
Claire had interpreted it as intrusive future-mother-in-law behavior.
It had been an investigation.
“Did you tell Diane?” Ethan asked Harold.
“No.”
“You didn’t need to,” Diane answered from the doorway.
She had returned after driving around the block for twenty minutes.
Her voice was exhausted.
“I found one of Harold’s old appointment books.”
Harold looked startled.
“Years ago,” Diane continued. “Rebecca’s name was in it over and over.”
Claire felt her stomach turn.
Diane had known Harold cheated.
She did not know there had been a child.
Then Ethan brought Claire home.
The dates matched.
The resemblance matched.
And Harold behaved differently around her.
“I asked him,” Diane said.
“What did he say?” Claire asked.
“He told me I was imagining things.”
Harold looked ashamed.
Another lie.
Diane spent years wondering whether Claire was Rebecca’s daughter and whether Harold knew.
Then Olivia was born.
The baby had Harold’s distinctive dimple.
Diane noticed it immediately.
“I thought…” She stopped.
Ethan waited.
Diane continued.
“I thought Harold might have gotten too close to Claire.”
Claire’s face tightened.
“What exactly are you accusing him of?”
“Nothing now.”
“Say it.”
Diane looked sick.
She had briefly feared Harold might somehow be Olivia’s biological father.
Not Claire’s.
The idea had been vicious, humiliating and wrong.
But rather than confront Harold with what she knew about Rebecca, Diane chose Claire as the easier target.
She ordered a family DNA panel believing it would either expose Claire’s infidelity or expose Harold.
Instead it exposed everyone.
Ethan’s voice was flat.
“So you publicly accused my wife because you were afraid to ask your husband one honest question.”
Diane sat down.
“Yes.”
May you like
And suddenly Claire understood something worse than hatred.
For years, Diane had punished her for being evidence of a betrayal Claire had never known existed.
