Chapter 10 - Diane Finally Admitted Why Nathan Came BackDiane sat in Thomas’s old study.
Claire remained standing.
Peter and Diane’s attorney waited outside after Claire insisted on one private conversation.
“Start at the beginning.”
Diane wiped her face.
“I already told you.”
“No.”
Claire placed the red ledger on the desk.
“You told me pieces.”
She pointed toward the final entry.
“Dad thought Nathan was involved before he died.”
Diane closed her eyes.
“Why?”
Her mother stayed silent.
“Mom.”
“Nathan needed money.”
“Before he met me.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“For what?”
“A failed development.”
“And you gave him forty from Dad’s money.”
“I intended to replace it.”
Claire laughed bitterly.
“You gambled the rest?”
Diane looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“So Nathan knew you were taking money.”
“Yes.”
“And Dad discovered it.”
“Partly.”
“What did Nathan do?”
Diane looked toward the window.
“He said he would repay me.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“Instead he showed up at an event where he knew I would be.”
Diane nodded.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
“He was curious about you.”
“Stop protecting him.”
Diane’s face twisted.
“I’m not.”
“Then say it.”
Her mother whispered:
“He knew you would eventually control the trust.”
Claire felt the confirmation physically.
“So he targeted me.”
“I don’t know if that was the only reason.”
“Was it a reason?”
“Yes.”
Claire sat.
For a few seconds she could hear nothing except the grandfather clock.
“Did you encourage him?”
“No.”
“Did you tell him not to?”
Diane hesitated.
“Not strongly.”
“Why?”
Her mother began crying again.
Claire almost asked her to stop.
Then Diane spoke.
“Because I wanted him gone from my life.”
Claire frowned.
“If he dated you…”
“I thought he would move on.”
“With your daughter.”
“I didn’t think you would marry him.”
Claire stared.
“What did you think would happen?”
“A few dates.”
“And then?”
“He would get bored.”
Claire’s face hardened.
“Why would he get bored with me?”
Diane realized the insult too late.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“It sounded exactly like what you meant.”
“No.”
“Did you think he was too good for me?”
“Never.”
“Did you think I was too stable for him?”
Diane stopped.
Claire understood.
“You thought I’d reject him.”
“Yes.”
“Instead I fell in love.”
“Yes.”
“And you hated that.”
“I didn’t hate you.”
“But you hated seeing him love me.”
Diane’s voice broke.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt more than denial.
Claire looked away.
“When did you start gambling?”
“After Thomas died.”
“The ledger starts before.”
“Not heavily.”
“So Dad knew.”
“Yes.”
“Did Nathan know?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I told him.”
“Of course.”
Diane wiped tears.
“He helped me hide some charges.”
“In exchange for money?”
“Sometimes.”
Claire almost laughed.
“Your lover became your accomplice.”
“He wasn’t my lover then.”
“He had been.”
“Yes.”
Claire asked:
“When Nathan married me, did he still owe you?”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Thirty thousand.”
“And you never told me.”
“No.”
“Did he repay it?”
“Eventually.”
“With whose money?”
Diane didn’t answer.
Claire knew.
Probably marital money.
Claire’s own income.
Maybe Thomas’s trust indirectly.
Every boundary in her family had dissolved.
“When did the affair restart?”
“Eleven months ago.”
“What happened?”
Diane stared at her hands.
“Nathan called.”
“Why?”
“He said Hollow Ridge was close to failing.”
“He wanted money.”
“Yes.”
“And you gave it.”
“Not immediately.”
“What did he offer?”
Diane flinched.
Claire felt disgust before hearing the answer.
“He said he missed me.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Nathan knew exactly which sentence would reopen the old wound.
“And you believed him.”
“I wanted to.”
“You were willing to betray me because you wanted to believe a younger man still wanted you.”
Diane cried.
“Yes.”
Claire had expected excuses.
The naked admission left nowhere to direct anger except reality.
“He came over.”
“Yes.”
“You slept together.”
“Yes.”
“Then he asked about the cabin.”
“A few weeks later.”
Claire laughed without humor.
“So romantic.”
Diane covered her face.
Claire continued:
“Did he promise to leave me?”
“Eventually.”
“When?”
“After the Naperville property became profitable.”
“And Sophie?”
Diane’s crying stopped.
Claire noticed immediately.
“What about Sophie?”
Diane looked away.
“Mom.”
“He said you two could work out custody.”
Claire stood.
“What did you expect?”
“I didn’t think—”
“Where did you imagine my daughter in your fantasy?”
Diane’s face collapsed.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s the answer.”
Claire moved toward the door.
Diane reached for her.
“Claire.”
She stopped.
Her mother whispered:
“I know you think Nathan used me.”
“He did.”
“He used you too.”
“I know.”
Diane shook her head.
“No. You don’t understand.”
Claire turned.
Diane’s voice became quieter.
“He never intended to leave you for me.”
“You figured that out.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Last month.”
“How?”
Diane looked toward the red ledger.
“I found messages.”
“What messages?”
“Nathan has another phone.”
Claire stared.
“Where?”
“Storage unit.”
The blue key.
That was why Nathan had handed it to Diane after Claire discovered them.
He had sent her to remove evidence.
“Did you?”
“I went there.”
“And?”
“I took the phone.”
Claire’s pulse quickened.
“Where is it?”
Diane looked ashamed.
“My car.”
Claire followed her outside.
Inside Diane’s glove compartment was a cheap black smartphone.
No password.
Nathan had believed the hiding place itself was enough.
Claire opened it.
Messages.
Financial notes.
Photographs.
Then a conversation with a contact saved only as J.
Claire scrolled.
J: Once you control the trust money, what happens to Diane?
Nathan:
She becomes irrelevant.
Claire’s breath caught.
Another message.
J: And Claire?
Nathan:
Divorce is cheaper when the money is already moved.
Claire stared.
Nathan had not been planning a future with Diane.
He had not been planning a future with Claire.
He had been planning a future funded by both.
Then she opened another thread.
A woman named Jessica.
The messages were intimate.
Months old.
Claire looked at Diane.
Her mother saw them.
Her face crumpled.
Nathan had been cheating on both of them with someone else.
And suddenly the sick triangle Claire thought she had discovered became something even uglier.
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Nathan had never been choosing between a wife and her mother.
He had been managing assets.
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