Chapter 2 - The Mansion on Bellweather Lane
One year after the wedding, Maren purchased a mansion on Bellweather Lane through Alden Meridian Holdings.
The property had belonged to a retired shipping executive. It contained seven bedrooms, a library, a greenhouse, and enough land to make the city feel far away.
Maren wanted Elsie to have a garden. She wanted Wade to have space for the office he had always dreamed of. She also wanted Lorraine, who was facing financial trouble, to have a comfortable guest suite while she reorganized her life.
Maren intended the arrangement to last six months.
Lorraine arrived with three moving trucks.
She selected the largest bedroom on the second floor, despite being shown the guest suite. She replaced furniture, dismissed the housekeeper Maren had hired, and moved family portraits into the main hall.
Within weeks, the mansion looked less like Maren’s home and more like a museum dedicated to the Aldens.
Wade dismissed every concern.
“Mom is just trying to feel useful.”
“She removed my father’s photograph from the library.”
“She probably thought it was temporary.”
“She told the staff to call this the Alden estate.”
“It is technically our family home.”
Maren reminded him that the house belonged solely to her company.
Wade became uncomfortable whenever ownership was mentioned.
Maren had placed nearly all of her major assets into a legal trust before the marriage. Wade had signed a prenuptial agreement and knew that Maren had substantial investments. However, he had never asked for details.
At first, she admired his lack of interest.
Eventually, she realized he preferred not knowing because the truth threatened the story he told himself.
Wade wanted to believe he was the provider.
He paid for dinners, purchased expensive gifts, and insisted on covering Elsie’s school tuition, even though Maren quietly transferred money into their household account whenever it ran low.
When Maren offered to show him the family finances, he refused.
“I trust you,” he said.
But trust was not the reason.
Pride was.
Lorraine sensed that pride and fed it.
She praised Wade for supporting Maren’s little property business. She told friends her son had rescued a single mother from a difficult life. She referred to the mansion as an Alden inheritance that had been restored through wise investments.
Maren corrected her twice.
Lorraine ignored her twice.
At a Christmas dinner, one of Lorraine’s friends congratulated Wade on buying such a magnificent home.
Wade hesitated.
Maren waited for him to tell the truth.
Instead, he smiled and said, “We were fortunate.”
Later that night, Maren confronted him.
“You let her believe you bought this house.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You allowed the lie.”
“It was dinner, Maren. Why embarrass my mother over something so small?”
“It isn’t small when it happens in my home.”
“Our home.”
“Then act like my husband inside it.”
Wade’s face hardened.
“You always have to remind me that everything belongs to you.”
Maren stared at him.
“I remind you only when someone claims it belongs to them.”
He slept in the guest room that night.
The next morning, he apologized with flowers but never addressed the problem.
It became their pattern.
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Lorraine crossed a boundary. Wade minimized it. Maren protested. Wade accused her of creating conflict. Then he apologized just enough to restore peace without changing anything.
And each time Maren accepted the apology, Lorraine grew bolder.
