Chapter 7 - WHAT BROOKE KNEW ABOUT THE HOUSE
Brooke’s role was uglier than Naomi wanted it to be.
But not simple.
They met one week later.
Public conference room.
Attorneys nearby.
Brooke had lost the lavender blouses and polished smugness.
She looked exhausted.
“Arthur says you’re trying to get Claremont involved.”
Naomi stared at her.
“I haven’t contacted his employer.”
Brooke relaxed slightly.
Naomi noticed.
“Should I?”
“No.”
“Then tell me why that scares you.”
Brooke looked down.
Arthur had convinced her from the beginning that Naomi would eventually support Hawthorne.
“He said the house gave him flexibility.”
Naomi’s expression hardened.
“My house.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
Brooke was silent.
“You’ve been inside my home for eight years.”
“He called it marital property.”
“Did he tell you about the postnup?”
Brooke hesitated.
Naomi understood.
“He did.”
“Eventually.”
“And you still asked for my card.”
Brooke’s eyes filled with anger.
“Because if we missed that payment, Harbor Ridge could accelerate.”
“Not my debt.”
“Arthur guaranteed it.”
“Also not my debt.”
Brooke stood halfway.
“You sound like a machine.”
Naomi’s face burned beneath the healing scald.
“Your brother threw coffee in my face over this.”
Brooke sat again.
Shame crossed her face.
“I didn’t know he was going to do that.”
“But after he did, you sat there.”
“I froze.”
“You smiled.”
Brooke looked away.
“Yes.”
Naomi waited.
Brooke finally whispered:
“I hated you.”
“Why?”
“Because Arthur kept telling me you thought I was a failure.”
Naomi almost interrupted.
Brooke continued.
Arthur told Brooke every boundary Naomi set as an insult.
Naomi wanted repayment because she looked down on Brooke.
Naomi refused more loans because she thought Brooke was irresponsible.
Naomi insisted on seeing invoices because she wanted to control everyone.
Meanwhile Arthur told Naomi that Brooke constantly needed rescuing.
He placed each woman inside the other’s worst interpretation.
“Why?”
Naomi asked.
Brooke laughed bitterly.
“Because then neither of us compared what he was saying.”
That landed.
Naomi remembered the morning Brooke said:
Which has more than enough.
“How did you know what was in my personal account?”
Brooke looked embarrassed.
“Arthur showed me.”
Naomi went still.
“How?”
Arthur had photographed Naomi’s balance months earlier while she was logged into online banking at home.
Brooke swore she never asked.
“But you used the information.”
“Yes.”
“You decided I could afford your risk.”
Brooke nodded.
No excuse.
That was almost harder.
Before leaving, Brooke said:
“There’s something else you don’t know about Hawthorne.”
Naomi’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Arthur didn’t put seventy thousand into it.”
“What do you mean?”
“He put almost two hundred.”
“From where?”
May you like
Brooke looked toward the closed conference-room door.
“That’s what you need to ask him.”
