Chapter 6 - What Margaret Found
After the last guest left, Donald stormed into the kitchen.
“You humiliated me.”
Margaret stood between him and Claire.
“No. Your behavior humiliated you.”
“This is my house.”
Claire looked up from the chair. “Our house.”
Donald ignored her. “Mom, you had no right.”
Margaret held his gaze. “I had the right to stop watching.”
She walked to the counter and began clearing plates. Elena and two relatives had stayed behind to help. Donald told them to leave, but they continued packing food into containers.
Margaret opened a drawer looking for foil and found a stack of overdue notices.
Mortgage late fees. Credit card balances. A loan statement for the boat.
She looked at Claire.
“Does he know you’ve seen those?” Claire asked.
Donald moved toward the drawer, but Margaret lifted the papers first.
“What is this?”
“Private finances.”
Claire gave a tired laugh. “Private from me too.”
Donald had taken control of their joint accounts six months earlier, claiming he could manage them better. Since then, he had blamed Claire whenever the balance ran low. She had quietly used her own savings to cover groceries and utilities.
Margaret read the numbers again.
The party had not been about celebrating forty years of life. It had been about protecting the image of success while the household sank beneath debt.
“How much of Claire’s money have you used?” Margaret asked.
Donald did not answer.
Claire did.
“Nearly twenty thousand dollars.”
Margaret lowered the papers.
Donald’s face tightened. “It was for the family.”
“The boat?” Claire asked. “The golf membership? The weekend trips you told me were business?”
Donald stared at her with open hostility.
Margaret turned to Claire.
May you like
“Pack what you need. You’re coming with me tonight.”
For once, Donald had no room to control the conversation.
