Chapter 6 - The Price of a MarriageGavin asked for a meeting.
Marlowe agreed on one condition.
Public place.
Evelyn nearby.
No touching.
They met in a quiet hotel lounge at noon.
Gavin looked ten years older.
“You look tired,” he said.
Marlowe almost smiled at the absurdity.
“So do you.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve more than that.”
“Marlowe, I loved you.”
“Past tense?”
His face tightened.
“I still do.”
“Then start with the percentage.”
Gavin leaned back.
“Your mother told me Arthur had cheated her.”
“Financially?”
“Yes.”
“She wanted money.”
“She wanted what she believed was hers.”
“And you wanted what?”
He did not answer.
Marlowe waited.
Finally Gavin said, “A consulting fee.”
“How much?”
“Two percent of the coastal sale.”
Marlowe calculated.
More than one million dollars.
“You married me for a fee?”
“No.”
“You met me for one.”
“Yes.”
The honesty stunned her.
Gavin rubbed his hands together.
“Your mother hired me to understand the trust. She said Arthur had manipulated you against her.”
“I barely knew anything about the trust.”
“I know that now.”
“Did you sleep with her before you met me?”
Gavin looked away.
Marlowe’s chest tightened.
“Look at me.”
He did.
“Yes.”
The room went silent.
She had thought she was prepared.
She wasn’t.
“How long?”
“Several months.”
“So while you were taking me to dinner…”
“Yes.”
“While you proposed?”
Gavin swallowed.
“It had stopped.”
“For how long?”
“A few weeks.”
Marlowe stared.
“Did it stop because you loved me?”
He hesitated.
Wrong answer.
She stood.
“Marlowe.”
She remained standing.
“Did my mother tell you to marry me?”
“No.”
“Did she encourage it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She believed you’d sign things for your husband that you wouldn’t sign for her.”
Marlowe felt physically sick.
Gavin reached toward her.
She stepped back.
“Don’t.”
“I started caring about you.”
“When?”
“I don’t know.”
“Convenient.”
“It wasn’t.”
“Then why were you in my bed with her?”
Gavin closed his eyes.
“Because I’m weak.”
“No. Weakness is missing a deadline. Forgetting an anniversary. You made choices.”
He looked ashamed.
For the first time, Marlowe believed that part was real.
It did not make him safer.
“Was the loan your idea?”
“Partly.”
“Why $4.8 million?”
“Daphne had debts.”
“How much?”
“More than you think.”
“How much?”
“Three-point-one million.”
Marlowe sat again.
“What kind of debts?”
“Private lenders. Failed investments. Tax issues.”
“My mother receives almost seven hundred thousand dollars a year from her trust.”
“It wasn’t enough.”
Marlowe laughed without humor.
“For what?”
“Her life.”
The answer explained more than Gavin intended.
Daphne had spent years pretending Arthur had left her secure.
In reality, she had consumed everything she could reach.
Gavin continued.
“The rest of the credit line was supposed to fund legal and transaction expenses for the coastal deal.”
“The deal I refused.”
“We thought once you saw the numbers—”
“You mean once you controlled my vote.”
He said nothing.
Marlowe leaned closer.
“Was the forged signature yours?”
“No.”
“Whose?”
“I don’t know.”
“Lie.”
“I submitted what Daphne gave me.”
Marlowe froze.
“My mother forged it?”
“I didn’t see her do it.”
“But you knew it wasn’t mine.”
Gavin looked down.
“Yes.”
Marlowe stood again.
This time she felt strangely calm.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For finally giving me something useful.”
Fear entered his eyes.
“What are you going to do?”
Marlowe picked up her bag.
“What my father should have done years ago.”
She left.
Behind her, Gavin called her name.
She did not turn.
Outside, Evelyn was waiting.
Marlowe repeated everything.
Evelyn listened.
Then asked, “Did you record it?”
Marlowe reached into her bag.
Her phone was still recording.
“Yes.”
May you like
For the first time since the wardrobe opened, Marlowe had evidence that could not be explained away as family misunderstanding.
And Gavin had just implicated Daphne in forgery.
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