Chapter 12 - WHAT THEY WERE REALLY PROTECTING
Robert arrived first.
He looked ten years older than he had on the staircase.
Diane sat beside him.
Khloe chose a chair at the far end of the table.
Her divorce attorney was not there, but her personal lawyer was.
Emma sat between Marcus and Priya.
Nobody hugged.
Robert began.
“I was trying to save the company.”
Emma said, “By using my name.”
“I was buying time.”
“With my name.”
Robert looked down.
“Yes.”
Diane interrupted.
“He thought the bank would renew the line and then he could fix everything.”
“Mom, stop explaining him.”
Diane stiffened.
Khloe laughed bitterly.
“That’s rich.”
Emma turned.
“You pushed me down stairs.”
“I know.”
“No. I need you to stop saying things like they’re weather.”
Khloe’s eyes filled.
“I know.”
The second version sounded different.
Emma asked the question Priya had identified.
“Why did you help Dad after you knew he submitted something under my name?”
Khloe looked at Robert.
Then Diane.
Finally Emma.
“Because if the bank reviewed everything, my divorce got worse.”
“How?”
“My expenses weren’t all Dad’s idea.”
Emma waited.
“I used company cards.”
“For what?”
“Rent. Trips. A retainer. Some stupid stuff.”
“How much?”
Khloe swallowed.
“More than I told you.”
Diane closed her eyes.
Robert stared at the table.
Khloe continued.
“Ethan was going to argue I hid marital spending. Dad said if the company got through renewal, he could clean up the classifications and I could repay some after the divorce.”
“So you protected him because he was protecting you.”
“Yes.”
Emma turned to Diane.
“And you?”
Diane’s answer came slowly.
“I was afraid of losing everything at once.”
“The company?”
“The company. Khloe’s marriage. Your father.”
She rubbed her wedding ring.
“Your dad stopped sleeping more than three hours a night. Khloe called me crying every day. Then you started asking questions I knew would force everything into the open.”
Emma stared.
“So I became the threat.”
“You became the one person who could stop pretending.”
Diane’s voice cracked.
“And I hated you for it.”
That answer hurt because it was finally honest.
Robert looked at Emma.
“I used your signature because I knew you wouldn’t approve it.”
No excuse.
No misunderstanding.
Emma waited.
He added, “I told myself I was protecting thirty families.”
“And were you?”
Robert’s face tightened.
“Partly.”
“What was the other part?”
“My name.”
There it was.
Robert Carter, who had spent forty years being the man who built something.
He could not bear being the man who lost it.
Emma looked at Khloe.
“What did you want?”
Khloe wiped her cheek angrily.
“For once, I wanted everyone to stop looking at me like the family screwup.”
Emma almost laughed.
“So you shoved the pregnant sister.”
“I said I know.”
“And what do you want now?”
Khloe’s mouth trembled.
“I want to know if my daughter is ever going to know you.”
That was the first time anyone mentioned Emma’s baby without using her as leverage.
May you like
Emma did not answer.
Not yet.
