Chapter 6 - MARCUS FINALLY GOT ANGRY
Marcus listened without interrupting while Emma explained what Lena found.
Then he stood and walked into the backyard.
Emma followed.
“Say it.”
He turned.
“How long did you know the books were wrong?”
“I didn’t know this.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Emma folded her arms.
“Months.”
“How many?”
“Four. Maybe five.”
Marcus laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“You’re eight months pregnant, your sister just shoved you down stairs, and now I find out you’ve been sitting on financial irregularities for five months?”
“I was investigating them.”
“Quietly.”
“It’s my family’s company.”
“It’s your job.”
“That too.”
“No. That’s the problem.”
He lowered his voice.
“You keep deciding that because you’re the responsible one, you have to absorb everybody else’s mess before you’re allowed to call it wrong.”
Emma looked away.
Marcus had warned her about this before.
When Diane asked them to delay their honeymoon because Khloe was having a breakup.
When Robert asked Emma to work through Christmas week because Khloe had gone to Aspen with friends.
When Diane gave Khloe the larger bedroom growing up because “Emma doesn’t mind.”
Emma always minded.
She just learned early that saying so created more trouble than accepting it.
“I approved one of the expenses,” Emma said.
Marcus went still.
“What?”
“Last November. Twenty thousand to Khloe’s attorney.”
“You approved company money for her divorce?”
“Dad said it was a temporary shareholder advance and he’d repay it before year-end.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Did you tell me?”
“No.”
Marcus looked at the fence.
The silence was worse than anger.
“I thought I could fix it.”
“That’s what they keep saying.”
Emma winced.
He regretted it immediately, but did not take it back.
“Marcus—”
“I love you. I’m not leaving. I’m not making this about us when you just got hurt.”
He looked at her again.
“But I need you to understand something. If we’re having a daughter in six weeks, I can’t build a life where your family creates emergencies and you quietly volunteer us to pay for them.”
Emma pressed a hand to her belly.
“I understand.”
“No. You agree with the sentence.”
He shook his head.
“I’m waiting to see if you understand.”
That evening Emma emailed Priya.
There was something she needed to add to her statement.
She had knowingly approved one questionable payment.
Priya called immediately.
“Thank you for telling me.”
“Does it ruin everything?”
“No.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Yes.”
Emma closed her eyes.
Strangely, that answer made her trust Priya more.
The next morning, Diane appeared outside Emma and Marcus’s townhouse.
Not to apologize.
She had brought a folder.
Inside was a spreadsheet.
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At the top, in Robert’s handwriting, were the words:
IF EMMA WON’T SIGN — PLAN B.
