Chapter 14 - Nathan Had Written the Letter Before Their WeddingClaire did not let Diane open it.
Peter collected the envelope.
Maya witnessed.
Claire opened it herself.
The letter was short.
Three handwritten pages.
The first sentence made her hands shake.
Diane, if Claire ever learns about us, you need to remember that we agreed the past stays the past.
Five years old.
Written weeks before the wedding.
Nathan and Diane had apparently anticipated discovery.
Claire kept reading.
Nathan reminded Diane that their previous relationship ended before he became serious with Claire.
That part was already questionable.
Then:
I love her. Whatever happened between you and me cannot destroy this.
Claire stopped.
It was strange to see evidence that Nathan had once tried to create a boundary.
Maybe he had loved her.
Maybe that was why betrayal felt so confusing.
People wanted villains to have been villains from the first page.
Life rarely worked that way.
The next paragraph changed everything.
I know I still owe you money. I will repay it. I also know you think Claire should never know about the investment because Thomas suspected us. I agree. Telling her would only hurt her and damage her memory of him.
Claire’s jaw tightened.
They had made decisions about what truths Claire could handle before she even married Nathan.
Then:
Do not use the trust to solve my business problems. If I fail, I fail.
Claire read the sentence twice.
Nathan had once refused.
Five years later, he accepted $320,000.
What changed?
The final paragraph:
If you cannot watch me marry Claire without confusing what we had with what I have with her, please do not come to the wedding.
Claire stared.
Diane came.
Front row.
Cream dress.
Cried during the vows.
Claire remembered hugging her after.
Mom, stop crying.
Diane had smiled.
I’m happy for you.
Maybe part of her had been.
Maybe another part had been mourning Nathan.
Claire hated how complicated people were.
It would have been easier if Diane never loved her.
She did.
That was part of the tragedy.
Claire met Diane with Maya present.
“Why did you keep this?”
Diane stared at the letter.
“I couldn’t throw it away.”
“Because you loved him.”
“Yes.”
“Did you try to stop the wedding?”
“No.”
“Did you want to?”
Diane hesitated.
“Yes.”
Claire nodded.
That answer no longer surprised her.
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because you were happy.”
“And that mattered?”
“More than what I wanted.”
Claire looked at her.
“For a while.”
Diane closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“What changed eleven months ago?”
“Nathan contacted me.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Diane looked up.
“You don’t know why.”
Claire waited.
“He found out about my gambling debt.”
“How?”
“He saw notices at my house.”
“And?”
“He offered to help.”
“With my trust money.”
“Yes.”
“So the affair was payment?”
Diane flinched.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“He knew I still had feelings.”
Claire felt disgust.
“He exploited them.”
“Yes.”
“And you exploited access to my trust.”
Diane began crying.
“Yes.”
“At what point did you start believing he would leave me?”
“After the second month.”
“What did he say?”
“That you didn’t respect him.”
Claire laughed quietly.
“Because I asked him to stop losing money.”
“Yes.”
“He told you I was cold?”
“Yes.”
“Controlling?”
“Yes.”
“Obsessed with work?”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe him?”
Diane looked ashamed.
“I wanted to.”
Claire appreciated the accuracy.
“Did you ever think about Sophie?”
“All the time.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“I know.”
“You watched her while you were sleeping with her father.”
Diane looked down.
“One afternoon she walked into the kitchen.”
Claire knew.
“The kiss.”
“Yes.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That Daddy and Grandma loved each other.”
Claire’s stomach turned.
“And that Mommy wouldn’t understand?”
Diane nodded.
Claire stood.
“Do you understand how wrong that was?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Claire shook her head.
“You made a six-year-old responsible for protecting adults.”
Diane started crying again.
Claire did not soften.
“That ends.”
“Yes.”
“You do not contact Sophie unless I approve it.”
Diane closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“You do not show up at school.”
“Yes.”
“You do not send gifts through Nathan.”
“Yes.”
“You do not tell family members I am keeping her from you.”
Diane looked hurt.
Claire stared until she nodded.
“Yes.”
“And if you ever tell Sophie that any of this happened because I didn’t forgive fast enough, you will lose whatever chance you have left.”
Diane whispered:
“I understand.”
Claire hoped she did.
Before leaving, Diane gave Claire another box.
“What is this?”
“Things Nathan gave me.”
Claire almost refused.
Then accepted it for documentation.
At Erin’s house, she opened it with Maya.
Restaurant receipts.
Photographs.
A watch.
Hotel key cards.
And an old flash drive.
The flash drive contained financial spreadsheets Nathan had created eight years earlier for Mercer Advisory.
One folder was titled:
Lawson Assets.
Claire opened it.
A list of properties.
Investment estimates.
Thomas’s business holdings.
Trust structures.
And Claire’s approximate future inheritance.
Created before Nathan met her.
Claire felt her stomach twist.
Then she noticed a note beside Claire’s name.
Nathan had typed:
Daughter — 26. Works in marketing. Lives Chicago.
He had researched her.
But beneath that was another line.
Do not involve. D wants her kept separate.
Claire stared.
Diane had apparently told Nathan not to involve her.
At least originally.
Then a later version of the same file appeared.
Modified six months later.
After Nathan met Claire.
The note had changed.
Potential access only through marriage.
Claire stopped breathing.
May you like
Whatever love Nathan later developed, he had also understood exactly what marrying Claire could give him.
And he had written it down.
Related Stories
