Chapter 9 - The Marriage Behind the Marble Floors
The villa looked wealthy because it had been wealthy.
That distinction became clear three days later.
Grant asked Delaney to meet him at his architecture firm in Tysons after business hours.
He closed his office door.
“I need to tell you something before Marissa does.”
Delaney almost laughed.
“That sentence should be our family motto.”
Grant accepted the hit.
Then he showed her ordinary financial statements.
Not secret trusts.
Not hidden fortunes.
Debt.
His firm had lost two major commercial projects the previous year. Elise’s treatment expenses had been partially covered by insurance, but deductibles, specialist travel, medication, and keeping the house during their separation had consumed much of their savings.
Grant had refinanced the villa.
Twice.
“How bad?”
“If I sold tomorrow, I’d still have equity. But not what you think.”
“And Marissa?”
“She knows.”
“Why was she angry about my apartment deposit?”
Grant looked embarrassed.
“Because we’ve been arguing about money.”
“For how long?”
“Months.”
Delaney sat back.
Marissa’s campaign to renovate suddenly looked different.
New floors.
New furnishings.
A remodeled primary bedroom.
All while Grant’s firm struggled.
“She knows you can’t afford all this.”
“Yes.”
“And she keeps spending.”
Grant rubbed his forehead.
“She says the house needs to become ours if the marriage is going to work.”
“There are cheaper ways to have a personality.”
Grant almost smiled.
Then didn’t.
“I let it happen because I felt guilty.”
“For what?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
“For loving your mother after I’d already started loving someone else.”
That was the most honest thing he had said.
Delaney looked through the glass wall toward the dark office beyond.
“So you married Marissa because you loved her?”
“Yes.”
“Or because you felt guilty that she waited while Mom was dying?”
Grant’s expression changed.
He had never asked himself that clearly.
Before he could answer, his phone rang.
Marissa.
He declined it.
She called again.
Then again.
On the fourth call, Grant answered.
“What?”
Delaney couldn’t hear Marissa clearly.
But she saw her father stand.
“What did you do?”
He grabbed his jacket.
Delaney followed.
At the villa they found movers in the foyer.
Marissa had arranged for Elise’s piano to be taken away.
Grant walked toward her.
“Cancel it.”
Marissa folded her arms.
“You said we needed money.”
“Not from that.”
“It’s an instrument nobody plays.”
Delaney stared at the piano.
Her mother had taught her scales on it.
Marissa looked between father and daughter.
Then her composure cracked.
“I am tired of losing every argument to a dead woman.”
Grant answered quietly.
“You’re not losing to Elise.”
May you like
His next words changed the marriage.
“You’re losing because I keep letting you punish Delaney for what I never resolved.”
