Chapter 8 - Daniel's Version
Daniel agreed to meet Claire in Julian's office.
He arrived without Margaret.
His face looked thinner.
He wore the same dark coat Claire had bought him the previous Christmas.
For a moment, the familiarity hurt.
This man knew how Claire took her coffee.
He knew she hated thunderstorms.
He knew she cried during old movies and pretended she did not.
He had slept beside her for nine years.
And he had asked her to call violence an accident.
Julian remained in the room.
Daniel disliked that.
"I wanted to talk to my wife privately."
Claire answered, "You lost that privilege."
Daniel winced.
"I never wanted you hurt."
Claire said nothing.
Daniel leaned forward.
"My mother has problems."
Julian watched quietly.
"What kind of problems?" Claire asked.
"Control. Anger."
"You have known that for years."
"Not how bad it was."
"Rebecca told me."
Daniel's face changed.
"Rebecca is lying."
"She told me Margaret pushed her."
Daniel looked down.
Claire's voice hardened.
"Did she?"
"Rebecca fell."
"Daniel."
He rubbed his forehead.
"Mom grabbed her."
Claire stared.
"Grabbed her."
"They were arguing."
"Did Margaret push Rebecca down the steps?"
Daniel whispered, "Yes."
The admission felt unreal.
"And you lied."
"I was twenty-seven."
"You were an adult."
"I was scared."
"So you called Rebecca unstable."
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
Claire felt nothing.
"I am ashamed of that."
"What about me?"
"I didn't know Mom would push you."
"But you knew she had pushed another woman."
Daniel's silence became the answer.
Claire continued.
"You knew she was dangerous, and you left her in our home."
"I thought she had changed."
"Why were there sedatives in your drawer?"
Daniel looked at Julian.
Julian said, "Answer only if you choose."
Daniel swallowed.
"My mother asked me to get them."
Claire's entire body went still.
"Why?"
"She couldn't sleep."
"The prescription was in your name."
"Her doctor stopped prescribing them."
Claire leaned forward.
"Did she give them to me?"
Daniel looked away.
Claire's voice dropped.
"Daniel."
"I don't know."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Did you ever put one in my drink?"
His silence lasted two seconds too long.
Claire stopped breathing.
"Daniel."
"Once."
The word broke the final piece of her marriage.
Claire stared.
"When?"
"The business dinner."
The bathroom fall.
Tears filled her eyes, but she refused to look away.
"Why?"
"You were angry."
"So you drugged me?"
"I wanted you to calm down."
"You put a sedative in my wine."
"I didn't think it would hurt you."
"I fell unconscious in the bathroom."
"I know."
"You let me believe I was drunk."
Daniel began crying.
"I was terrified."
Claire's voice rose.
"For me?"
He did not answer.
"For yourself."
"I was trying to save our marriage."
"No. You were trying to save yourself from consequences."
Daniel wiped his face.
Claire remembered waking on the bathroom floor.
Margaret standing in the doorway.
Daniel telling her she embarrassed herself.
For fourteen months Claire had felt ashamed of an event Daniel caused.
"Was that the only time?"
"Yes."
Claire waited.
Daniel's eyes dropped.
"Was that the only time?"
"I don't know what Mom did."
"That isn't what I asked."
Daniel stood.
Julian spoke calmly.
"Sit down or the meeting is over."
Daniel sat.
Claire could barely hear her own voice.
"The garage."
Daniel whispered, "Mom moved the ladder."
Claire closed her eyes.
"You saw her?"
"Yes."
"The kitchen?"
"She bumped you during the argument."
"Bumped."
"Shoved."
Claire opened her eyes.
"And every time, you told me it was my fault."
Daniel shook his head.
"I was protecting everyone."
"Except me."
He had no answer.
Claire asked the question she feared most.
"The insurance policy."
Daniel looked startled.
"I never planned to kill you."
Claire's stomach turned.
"I didn't ask if you planned to kill me."
Daniel realized what he had done.
Julian's expression changed.
Claire stood.
"Meeting over."
Daniel panicked.
"Claire, wait."
She moved toward the door.
"Mom increased the policy."
Claire stopped.
"She convinced me."
Claire turned.
"Why?"
Daniel's voice broke.
"Because the company was collapsing."
Julian leaned forward.
"Explain."
Daniel covered his face.
RM Holdings was deeply in debt.
Margaret had borrowed against both rental properties.
Daniel's business had been transferring money to cover payments.
Claire's salary and savings helped keep the system alive.
The refinancing would have provided enough cash to delay collapse.
Claire refused.
Three days later, Daniel increased the policy.
"I never thought you would die," he said.
Claire stared at him.
"You increased the value of my death because my life had become financially inconvenient."
Daniel shook his head desperately.
"No."
"Then explain the difference."
He could not.
Claire opened the door.
Behind her Daniel whispered, "There is something else about my father."
Claire stopped again.
May you like
Daniel looked terrified.
"He didn't die the way Mom told everyone."
