Chapter 3 - The Money Chloe Thought Was Hers
Leo changed every access code before Chloe finished her first sentence.
He did it from the security panel while she stood in the foyer with her arms folded.
“You’re seriously locking me out?”
“You entered without permission after I told you to stay at the hotel.”
“My clothes are here.”
“We’ll arrange access.”
“This is my home too.”
“No,” I said.
Chloe looked at me.
“Nobody asked you.”
Leo’s face changed.
“She owns half the house.”
Chloe gave a short laugh.
“On paper.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
She turned toward Leo.
“Mom said you were going to fix that eventually.”
Leo became completely still.
“Fix what?”
Chloe understood she had stepped somewhere Agnes had warned her not to.
“Forget it.”
“No.”
Leo moved between her and the staircase.
“Explain.”
Chloe looked toward me.
“Mom always said the house was supposed to stay in the Hale family.”
“Maya is my family.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I really don’t.”
I did.
Agnes had never forgiven Leo for buying the Greenwich house jointly with me.
The down payment came from both of us.
Leo sold a Manhattan condo.
I used proceeds from the sale of a townhouse I owned in Arlington before we married.
We took title together.
There was no hidden inheritance.
No secret deed.
Just a married couple buying a home.
Agnes still referred to it as “Leo’s house.”
I used to correct her.
Eventually I stopped because every correction became a forty-minute argument about tradition.
Another small surrender.
Chloe tried to leave.
Leo stopped her verbally.
“You said you know where the money went.”
She looked at the floor.
“Some came to me.”
“How much?”
“Ten.”
“Ten hundred?”
“Ten thousand.”
My mouth went dry.
Leo stared at his sister.
“Why?”
Chloe’s face crumpled with frustration.
“Because my landlord wanted first month, security, and six months guaranteed before he’d approve me.”
“Approve you for what?”
“The Stamford condo.”
I looked at Leo.
He looked genuinely confused.
“You’re moving?”
Chloe nodded.
That should have been good news.
She had been living in our home for seven months longer than originally discussed.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Mom said not to until it was finalized.”
Leo’s voice lowered.
“You used Maya’s recovery money for a condo deposit.”
Chloe’s eyes flashed.
“You have money.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I needed somewhere to live because apparently your wife has been trying to throw us out.”
I stared at her.
“I have?”
“Don’t pretend.”
“Chloe, I have never told you to move out.”
Her expression shifted.
“Mom said you gave her a deadline.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
“No.”
Chloe looked at Leo.
“She told you too.”
He frowned.
“Told me what?”
Chloe began looking genuinely scared.
“She said Maya wanted both of us gone before Christmas and you told her you’d handle it.”
I looked at Leo.
He shook his head slowly.
“She told me the opposite.”
“What?”
“Mom said Maya asked her to stay through spring because she was nervous about being alone when I traveled.”
I stared at my husband.
“She told you I wanted them here?”
“Yes.”
“Leo, I asked you three months ago when they were leaving.”
“You said, ‘We need a plan.’”
“Because I thought you wanted them to stay.”
“I thought you did.”
Chloe looked from one of us to the other.
For nearly a year, Agnes had apparently been telling each person what the others wanted.
Not enough to create open war.
Just enough to make asking directly feel rude.
Leo turned back to Chloe.
“How did Mom describe the eighteen thousand dollars?”
“She said it was family household money.”
“Did she tell you it was for Maya’s recovery?”
Chloe hesitated.
“Not exactly.”
“Did you know Maya had surgery?”
“Obviously.”
“Did you know she was coming home today?”
“Yes.”
I stared at her.
“How?”
“Mom got the hospital call.”
My skin went cold.
Agnes had told the hospital she would receive me.
She had known exactly when I was coming.
She had not been surprised when I entered the foyer.
The pan had already been in her hand.
“Why was she holding the pan?”
Chloe shook her head.
“She was cooking.”
I looked toward the cold stove.
Then at the half-eaten pizza on the coffee table.
Leo noticed too.
“What was she cooking?”
Chloe said nothing.
May you like
The pan attack had felt explosive.
For the first time, I wondered how much of the confrontation had been waiting for me before I opened the door.
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