Chapter 10 - The Party Ended at Two Seventeen
The slap was wrong.
Ethan knew it the instant his hand struck his mother.
Not because she hadn't been cruel.
Not because Audrey hadn't been humiliated.
Because anger had moved faster than judgment.
For a fraction of a second, Ethan saw the shock in Marianne's eyes and hated that he had become physical.
Then Nora cried.
Everything else disappeared.
He lifted his daughter from the high chair.
Nora clung to his shirt.
He looked at his mother.
"Don't you ever speak to Audrey like that again."
Marianne touched her cheek.
Nobody spoke.
Ethan went to Audrey.
"Audrey lives in this house. She is my wife. This is her home."
The word wife detonated through the room.
Some guests looked shocked.
Vivian closed her eyes.
Robert muttered something under his breath.
Marianne stared at Ethan.
"You married her?"
"Four months ago."
"You lied to me."
"I delayed telling you."
"You married Thomas's daughter?"
The room went silent again.
Ethan's expression changed.
"So you knew."
Marianne realized what she had admitted.
Audrey stood very still.
Ethan looked around.
"The party's over. Everyone out."
That should have ended it.
Instead Celeste stepped forward holding the envelope.
"Ethan."
He looked at her.
"You may want to read this before anybody leaves."
Marianne saw the envelope.
Fear crossed her face.
Celeste placed it on the island.
"It concerns this house and the woman who was supposed to own it."
Marianne lunged.
Ethan caught her arm.
Celeste stepped back.
"Enough."
"What is it?" Audrey asked.
Celeste opened the envelope.
Inside were three pages and a photograph.
She gave the photograph to Audrey first.
Eleanor Cole stood outside the house twenty-seven years earlier.
Beside her was Lisa Hayes.
Lisa held a little girl.
Audrey.
On the back, in Eleanor's handwriting, were the words:
For Audrey, when she finally comes home.
Audrey's knees weakened.
Ethan put an arm around her.
Celeste read the first page.
"Eleanor wrote this eight months before she died."
Marianne shook her head.
"No."
Celeste continued.
"If Audrey Lisa Hayes is ever located, she is to receive the portion of the Cole property placed in trust for her by Thomas Bennett."
Vivian gasped.
Robert stared at the floor.
Audrey could barely understand.
"What portion?"
Celeste looked at her.
"Half."
The guests began whispering.
Marianne shouted.
"That is not valid."
Celeste ignored her.
"Thomas transferred his beneficial interest in the property to a trust for his daughter before his death."
Ethan frowned.
"Thomas never owned this house."
"Not directly."
Celeste pointed toward Robert.
"The Bennett family funded Eleanor's purchase during the restructuring in 1998. Thomas received a forty-nine percent beneficial interest."
Robert said, "This is ridiculous."
Celeste turned another page.
"Your signature is here."
Robert stopped talking.
Audrey stared at Ethan.
"I don't want half your house."
Ethan almost smiled.
"Apparently it's half your house."
"This isn't funny."
"No."
He squeezed her hand.
"It's really not."
Celeste continued.
"Eleanor later purchased the remaining interest from Thomas and ordered the value held separately for Audrey."
"What value?" Audrey asked.
"Investments."
"How much?"
Celeste hesitated.
"Approximately twelve million dollars when Eleanor died."
Audrey actually laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because the number had no place in her life.
Marianne's voice cut through the room.
"This is why she came here."
Audrey turned.
Marianne pointed at her.
"She knew."
"No."
"She found Ethan because she knew."
"Mom," Ethan warned.
"You were cleaning houses. Then suddenly you marry a wealthy widower whose family happens to owe you millions?"
Audrey felt every guest looking at her.
Ethan handed Nora to Vivian.
Then he stood directly in front of his mother.
"Stop."
Marianne laughed bitterly.
"You don't see it."
"I see everything."
"No. You're repeating Thomas's mistake."
Audrey flinched.
Ethan's face hardened.
"Leave."
"This is my family home."
"No."
Ethan's voice was quiet.
"It isn't."
Marianne stared.
"For years you used this house like proof that you mattered more than everybody in it."
He pointed toward the door.
"Today you poured a drink on my wife's floor and ordered her to clean it because you thought humiliation would put her back where you believe she belongs."
Marianne's eyes filled.
Ethan continued.
"It didn't."
Vivian took Nora and moved beside Audrey.
Ethan looked at Robert.
"You too."
Robert straightened.
"You need legal advice."
"I have lawyers."
"You need family."
Ethan looked at Audrey.
"I have one."
Robert's face hardened.
Within ten minutes, guests began leaving.
Some quietly.
Some awkwardly.
Some stopping to hug Audrey.
Marianne stood near the foyer until almost everyone had gone.
At the door, she turned.
Audrey expected another insult.
Instead Marianne said, "Ask Celeste where your second birth certificate is."
Celeste went pale.
Marianne noticed.
So did Audrey.
"You see?" Marianne whispered.
May you like
"She hasn't told you everything."
Then Marianne walked outside.
