“How long have you been sleeping with Lauren?”
Neither spoke.
I looked at the lease.
“At least three months.
Probably longer.”
Ryan rubbed his hands together.
“It got out of control.”
“No.
A car skids out of control.
You signed paperwork.”
Marlene looked down, hiding a reaction.
I continued.
“You transferred money.
You rented a place.
You lied about Derek, even though Derek lives in Arizona.
You came home with lipstick on your shirt and smiled at me.
Nothing about that happened by accident.”
Ryan’s face hardened again.
“So what do you want?”
That question finally gave me the clarity I had been waiting for.
Not what had he done.
Not why.
What did I want now that I knew?
I had already moved the funds that legally belonged in my personal account after speaking with a financial adviser early that morning.
I had changed the passwords to accounts held solely in my name.
Copies of every statement were stored outside the house.
I had not emptied joint accounts or hidden money.
I had simply stopped leaving myself defenseless.
“I want you out of this house today,” I said.
Ryan laughed once in disbelief.
“Emma, this is my house too.”
“Then we can let lawyers discuss occupancy.
But you are not sleeping beside me tonight.”
Elaine looked at her son.
“You can stay with me for now.”
Ryan turned on her.
“You’re taking her side?”
“There are no sides to forged explanations and hidden withdrawals.
There are consequences.”
Marlene corrected gently, “The reimbursement descriptions appear false.
We still need to determine whether any signatures or supporting documents were falsified.”
Ryan’s anger disappeared again.
That distinction frightened him.
Good.
Not because I wanted him destroyed, but because he had spent years believing consequences were things other people absorbed for him.
Lauren quietly reached for her pastry box.
“I’ll go.”
I looked at her.
“Yes.”
She stopped at the doorway.
“Emma, I loved you.”
The sentence hurt more than I expected.
“Maybe you did,” I said.
“But not enough to stop yourself.”
Lauren left the pastries behind.
Through the window, I watched her walk alone into the rain.
