Chapter 2 - Skylar Knew About the House Before Charlotte DidCharlotte turned toward her daughter.
“What did you say?”
Skylar immediately looked frightened.
Gertrude pushed back her chair.
“Skylar, that is none of your concern.”
Charlotte’s head snapped toward her.
“Don’t.”
One word.
Quiet.
But Gertrude stopped.
Charlotte crouched again beside Skylar.
“What do you know about the house?”
Skylar looked from her mother to the three adults at the table.
“I heard Grandma talking about it.”
“When?”
“A lot.”
Charlotte’s stomach tightened.
“How long?”
Skylar shrugged.
“Since summer.”
It was November.
Charlotte felt the room shift around her.
Four months.
Perhaps longer.
She stood slowly.
Brandon stepped closer.
“Okay. Everybody needs to calm down.”
Charlotte stared at him.
“I am calm.”
That was true.
Her voice was almost frighteningly controlled.
Brandon seemed to realize it too.
“Valencia Ridge is an investment.”
“Whose investment?”
“Ours.”
Charlotte held up her phone.
“Then why have I never heard of it?”
Gertrude interrupted.
“Because you’re always working.”
Charlotte looked at her.
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“It answers plenty.”
Gertrude leaned back.
“You leave before seven most mornings. Half the time you don’t get home until after eight. Brandon handles the family.”
Charlotte felt something twist inside her.
She glanced toward Skylar.
The child stared into her soup.
“Apparently.”
Brandon lowered his voice.
“Charlotte, the deal moved fast.”
“What deal?”
“A property opportunity.”
“Twenty-three thousand dollars was just charged to an account in my name.”
“It’s pending.”
“That’s your defense?”
“No. I’m saying nothing is finalized.”
Gertrude laughed softly.
“You’re making this sound criminal.”
Charlotte looked at the additional-card receipt again.
“Why do you have a card attached to my account?”
Gertrude didn’t answer.
Brandon did.
“Because Mom helps with household expenses.”
Charlotte stared at him.
“Since when?”
“Months.”
“How many months?”
No answer.
Charlotte opened the banking app.
She selected cards.
Her main credit account appeared.
Her own card.
A second one issued to Brandon.
Then a third.
Gertrude Hayes.
Active for seven months.
Charlotte’s mouth went dry.
She had never requested it.
She tapped the activity.
Charges loaded.
Grocery stores.
Restaurants.
Wine shops.
Department stores.
A spa in Rancho Cucamonga.
A furniture store.
Gasoline.
A hotel in Palm Springs.
Charlotte scrolled.
Five hundred.
Eight hundred.
Twelve hundred.
Twenty-four hundred.
Her breathing slowed because she was forcing it to.
“How much have you spent?”
Gertrude rolled her eyes.
“I don’t keep a running total.”
“I do.”
Brandon reached for Charlotte’s phone.
She pulled it away.
“Don’t touch me.”
He stopped.
“Come on.”
“No.”
“You’re reacting emotionally.”
Charlotte almost laughed.
“Emotionally?”
“You just walked in.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re tired.”
“Yes.”
“We should talk tomorrow.”
Charlotte looked toward Skylar again.
“No. I think I’ve been putting too many conversations off until tomorrow.”
She turned to her daughter.
“Pack an overnight bag.”
Brandon’s expression changed.
“What?”
Skylar looked uncertain.
“Where are we going?”
“Upstairs. Clothes, toothbrush, school things.”
Brandon stepped forward.
“You’re not taking her anywhere.”
Charlotte faced him.
“I’m taking her out of this room.”
“She lives here.”
“So do I.”
“Exactly.”
Charlotte held his gaze.
“Then you should have remembered that before using my identity to finance your mother’s house.”
Gertrude slammed one palm lightly against the table.
“My house?”
Charlotte looked at her.
“You just confirmed it.”
Gertrude’s mouth tightened.
Brandon cursed under his breath.
Hailey finally lowered her phone completely.
“I thought she knew.”
Charlotte looked at her.
“What?”
Hailey went still.
Brandon turned.
“Don’t.”
Charlotte’s focus sharpened.
“You thought I knew what?”
Hailey swallowed.
“The house.”
Brandon’s voice hardened.
“Hailey.”
Charlotte didn’t take her eyes off her.
“How long have you known?”
Hailey looked miserable.
“Maybe two months.”
“And you thought I knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Brandon said you were funding it.”
Charlotte slowly turned toward her husband.
“You told them I was funding a house I didn’t know existed?”
Brandon rubbed both hands over his face.
“You’re twisting everything.”
“I’m repeating it.”
Gertrude stood.
“This family needed a long-term plan.”
Charlotte looked at her.
“What family?”
Gertrude frowned.
“What kind of question is that?”
“The kind I ask when my daughter is under a table eating noodles while the rest of you spend nearly five hundred dollars on seafood with my credit card.”
Gertrude’s eyes narrowed.
“Skylar is a child.”
“Exactly.”
“She doesn’t need king crab.”
“Neither do you.”
The words landed hard.
Hailey looked away.
Brandon’s jaw tightened.
Charlotte continued.
“And neither do I. That isn’t the point.”
She gestured toward Skylar.
“You made her sit under the table.”
“She was interrupting Hailey’s video.”
Charlotte went completely still.
Gertrude realized too late what she had admitted.
Charlotte looked at Hailey.
“You were filming?”
Hailey’s face lost color.
“I was filming the food.”
“And Skylar couldn’t sit at the table because she would ruin the video?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Did you tell Gertrude to move her?”
“No.”
Hailey looked genuinely horrified now.
“I swear.”
Charlotte turned back to Gertrude.
“Why was she under the table?”
Gertrude’s tone became impatient.
“She had been whining about wanting shrimp. I told her she had food.”
Charlotte looked down at the instant soup.
Skylar whispered, “I wasn’t whining.”
“I know.”
“I only asked once.”
“I know.”
Gertrude shook her head.
“This is absurd. Children need boundaries.”
Charlotte walked toward the counter.
She put the seafood receipt and additional-card slip into her handbag.
Then took screenshots of every visible transaction.
Brandon watched.
“What are you doing?”
“Documenting.”
“For what?”
Charlotte looked directly at him.
“I don’t know yet.”
For the first time, fear appeared clearly in his face.
Charlotte called the number on the back of her card.
Brandon stepped closer.
“You don’t need to freeze anything.”
Charlotte kept listening to the automated menu.
Gertrude stared at him.
“Brandon?”
He ignored his mother.
“Charlotte, listen to me. The renovation deposit is part of something bigger.”
She looked at him.
“Good.”
He frowned.
“Good?”
“Then there should be documents.”
He said nothing.
Charlotte pressed the phone to her ear.
A fraud representative answered.
She began explaining the unauthorized card and pending transaction.
Brandon walked toward the kitchen.
Then stopped.
Charlotte watched him pull out his own phone.
He typed quickly.
Gertrude’s phone buzzed.
Then Hailey’s.
All three glanced down.
A family group message.
Without Charlotte.
Her stomach dropped.
Skylar returned downstairs carrying a pink backpack.
“Mom?”
Charlotte looked at her daughter.
“Ready?”
Skylar nodded.
As Charlotte ended the call, Hailey suddenly spoke.
“Charlotte.”
“What?”
Hailey stared at her phone.
“I think you need to see this.”
Brandon’s face hardened.
“Hailey, shut up.”
That sentence decided her.
Hailey stood.
She walked around the table and held out her phone.
On the screen was the Hayes Family group chat.
Charlotte scrolled upward.
Then stopped.
A message from Brandon, dated six weeks earlier.
Brandon: Once the Valencia place is finished, Mom has somewhere protected.
Gertrude: Protected from what?
Brandon: If Charlotte ever leaves, she can’t touch it.
Charlotte read the message twice.
Then looked up at her husband.
May you like
And realized the secret house had never been an investment for their family.
It had been built to protect his family from her.
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