Chapter 15 - Brielle Tells the Whole Truth
Brielle’s lawyer arranged the meeting.
No phones.
No interruptions.
No Adrian.
Kendra sat across from her sister in Lena’s conference room.
Brielle looked smaller than she had at the salon.
Her attorney spoke first.
“Brielle wants to provide a complete factual account. This does not waive her legal rights, and we are not asking Kendra to make promises regarding civil claims.”
Kendra nodded.
“I understand.”
Brielle took a breath.
“It started because I was angry about the trust.”
Kendra said nothing.
“Last November, I asked Adrian to help me understand why you kept rejecting my requests.”
“Which request?”
“The eighty thousand dollars for the wellness studio.”
Kendra remembered.
The business plan had been two pages long.
Brielle had no operating partner.
No financing.
No experience.
“I told you to revise it.”
“You told me no.”
“I told you not yet.”
“I heard no.”
Brielle looked down.
“Adrian said you treated me like a child because it made you feel important.”
Kendra’s jaw tightened.
“I wanted to believe him.”
“Why?”
“Because being angry at you was easier than admitting Mom might have had reasons.”
Silence.
Brielle continued.
“Adrian showed me Schedule C.”
“The stolen copy.”
“Yes.”
“He showed you Mom’s debt notes.”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That you had known everything.”
“I hadn’t.”
“I know.”
“He said you joked about it?”
“Yes.”
Kendra looked away.
Brielle’s voice broke.
“I hated you for something that never happened.”
“And then?”
“He started meeting me for coffee.”
“How long before anything physical?”
“About six weeks.”
Kendra calculated.
Thanksgiving into January.
“Who initiated it?”
Brielle swallowed.
“He kissed me.”
“Did you stop him?”
“No.”
Kendra closed her eyes.
There was no version that made that sentence painless.
Brielle continued.
“The first time we slept together was January twenty-third.”
Kendra remembered that night.
Adrian had said inventory ran late.
She had gone to bed alone.
“What happened afterward?”
“He said his marriage to you had been over emotionally for years.”
Kendra almost laughed.
“We had booked a trip to Napa that morning.”
“I know now.”
“He told you he would leave?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After the business situation was settled.”
“There it is.”
Brielle nodded.
“At the time I thought he meant separating the salon from your financial control.”
“How?”
“By buying Dawson Row.”
“With Northstar?”
“I didn’t know Northstar was his.”
“What did you think Linden was doing?”
“He said I needed my own company so I could be paid for helping coordinate the acquisition.”
“What help did you provide?”
“Mostly reviewing documents he sent me.”
“Did you create the invoices?”
“No.”
“Did you sign them?”
“Yes.”
“Knowing you had not performed the work described?”
Brielle’s face twisted.
“Yes.”
Kendra felt anger rise.
Her sister’s attorney did not intervene.
Good.
Brielle continued.
“I knew it was dishonest. I told myself it was bookkeeping.”
“That was a choice.”
“Yes.”
“Did you know money was leaving Linden?”
“I knew Adrian was moving some.”
“Did you know how much?”
“No.”
“Did you know he used it for the condo?”
“I thought the condo was being purchased for us.”
Kendra let the sentence sit.
“Why did you let employees call you his wife?”
Brielle began crying.
“Because I liked it.”
Kendra had not expected that.
Brielle forced herself to continue.
“I could tell you Adrian made me. He told me not to correct them. But the truth is I liked hearing it.”
Kendra stared.
“For eleven years, you were his wife. You had the house. The marriage. The business. Mom trusted you.”
“So you wanted my name too?”
Brielle covered her face.
“For a while, yes.”
Kendra felt something inside her harden.
Not rage.
Clarity.
Brielle lowered her hands.
“I am ashamed of that.”
“You should be.”
“I am.”
“What changed?”
“The condo.”
“What about it?”
“I found a draft budget on Adrian’s laptop. It had Northstar paying him a management fee after buying Dawson Row.”
Kendra frowned.
“There was no line for me.”
Brielle gave a bitter laugh.
“There was no line for Brielle either.”
That was when she began taking photographs of Adrian’s documents.
The petition.
The notebook.
The shell-company records.
She had not done it for Kendra.
She had done it because she feared Adrian was deceiving her.
Eventually, the evidence proved he was.
Brielle looked directly at Kendra.
“I betrayed you before he betrayed me.”
Kendra’s eyes burned.
“Yes.”
“So I’m not asking you to forgive me because he used me.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking for one chance to help stop him.”
Kendra studied her.
“Then start with this.”
“What?”
“If you remember something that makes you look worse, tell it anyway.”
Brielle nodded.
“There is one more thing.”
Kendra felt her stomach tighten.
Brielle took a breath.
“I signed a statement Adrian drafted saying you told me you planned to sell Dawson Row.”
Kendra went still.
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Was it true?”
“No.”
“Where is it?”
“His lawyer may have it.”
Kendra closed her eyes.
Brielle whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Kendra looked at her sister.
“Get a copy.”
Brielle nodded.
“And Brielle?”
“Yes?”
“If you lie to me once more, we are done.”
Her sister’s eyes filled.
“I understand.”
May you like
Kendra believed that she did.
For the first time.
