Chapter 4 - THE LOCKED ACCOUNT
Claire tried the password three times.
Wrong.
She called Ryan.
He did not answer.
She sent a message.
Why did you change the banking password?
No response.
Twenty minutes later Diane arrived.
Claire was sitting at the kitchen table.
"Where is Ryan?"
"Work."
"He isn't answering."
Diane placed groceries on the counter.
"He has responsibilities."
Claire looked at her.
"Did he tell you he changed the bank password?"
Diane slowly removed her coat.
"No."
Claire watched her face.
"You knew."
"I know my son protects his family."
"From me?"
Diane sighed.
"Claire, you are eight months pregnant."
"That doesn't make me stupid."
"No one said stupid."
"You think I can't handle money."
"I think stress is dangerous."
Claire stood.
"Stop using my pregnancy as an excuse to control me."
Diane's mouth tightened.
"You should be grateful Ryan is handling everything."
Claire laughed bitterly.
"Handling what?"
The mortgage was current.
The utilities were current.
Claire had checked.
The so-called specialist could not be found.
The account holding donation money was hidden.
And Ryan had changed the password.
Claire grabbed her purse.
"Where are you going?"
"The bank."
Diane moved toward the door.
"Ryan said you should rest."
Claire stared.
"Move."
Diane didn't.
For three seconds, the women stood face to face.
Then Diane stepped aside.
At the bank, Claire encountered another problem.
The Dawson Media Holdings account was not joint.
Ryan was the sole owner.
The banker could not disclose the balance.
But Claire did learn something else.
Several automatic household payments had recently been redirected away from their joint checking account.
Meaning Ryan had been telling her bills were unpaid while paying them from somewhere else.
When Claire returned home, the livestream phone was already set up.
Ryan stood beside the sofa.
His face was calm.
Too calm.
"Where were you?"
"The bank."
Diane looked away.
Ryan nodded slowly.
"I wish you hadn't done that."
Claire took off her coat.
"I wish you hadn't lied."
"About what?"
"Dawson Media Holdings."
"I explained that."
"No. You dismissed it."
Ryan picked up the cane.
He tapped it against his shoe.
Claire watched the movement.
"Put that down."
Ryan smiled.
"It's a cane."
"You don't need it."
"My knee hurts."
"Your knee magically hurts every time the camera turns on."
Diane picked up the phone grip.
"We have a stream in five minutes."
Claire stared at her.
"No."
Ryan's jaw clenched.
"Claire."
"No."
"We already announced it."
"Then announce I changed my mind."
Ryan stepped closer.
"You cannot keep sabotaging this family."
Claire felt her heartbeat rising.
"You changed the bank password."
"For your own good."
There it was.
The sentence that changed everything.
For your own good.
Claire realized Ryan did not see her as a partner anymore.
Maybe he never had.
He saw her as an asset he could manage.
A face that attracted sympathy.
A pregnancy that generated fear.
A wife who could be frightened into compliance.
Claire looked toward the phone.
"Turn it on."
Ryan paused.
Diane blinked.
"What?"
Claire sat on the sofa.
"You wanted a livestream. Turn it on."
Ryan's suspicion was obvious.
But greed won.
Diane began broadcasting.
Within seconds hundreds joined.
Claire smiled.
"Hi, everyone."
Ryan relaxed slightly.
Claire rested both hands over her belly.
"I want to clear something up."
Ryan's eyes sharpened.
Claire continued.
"My baby is healthy."
The comments slowed.
Ryan stepped forward.
Claire spoke louder.
"My doctors have not told us the baby is dying. They have not told us I need experimental treatment."
Ryan reached for the phone.
Claire stood.
"And if anyone donated because you believed that, you were misled."
Diane ended the stream.
The screen went black.
Ryan's face transformed.
"What did you just do?"
Claire stood her ground.
"I told the truth."
He struck the cane against the side table.
The lamp fell.
Claire recoiled.
For one terrible second, no one moved.
Ryan stared at her frightened face.
Then his expression changed again.
He saw opportunity.
Diane saw it too.
She whispered, "Did you record that?"
Ryan looked toward the phone.
Diane smiled.
Claire felt ice move through her veins.
They had just discovered a new kind of content.
May you like
Not fake illness.
Domestic terror.
