Chapter 9: What Lauren Told Eric
Eric Collins did not look like a man arriving to fight for somebody's wife.
He looked terrified.
Dad studied him from the doorway.
“You have about ten seconds to explain why you're here.””
Eric nodded.
“Fair.””
Lauren rushed forward.
“Eric, leave.””
He looked past Dad.
“No.””
“You don't know what's happening.””
“I know enough.””
Dad stepped aside.
“Come in.””
Lauren stared at him.
“You're letting him into our house?””
Dad gave her a long look.
“Interesting time to become territorial.””
Eric entered.
He saw Grandma.
Then me.
His expression changed.
“You're Zoe?””
I nodded.
He looked sick.
“Oh God.””
Dad closed the door.
“What did she tell you about my daughter?””
Eric glanced at Lauren.
She shook her head.
He ignored her.
“She told me Zoe lived with her grandmother.””
Nobody moved.
Dad's voice became dangerously quiet.
“What?””
Eric looked at me.
“I've never been here before. I swear.””
Lauren said, “He's lying.””
Eric opened the envelope.
“I brought messages.””
Dad took it.
Inside were printed screenshots.
Emails.
Financial documents.
Photographs.
Lauren laughed bitterly.
“You printed our private conversations?””
“When Harold called me twenty minutes ago, yes.””
Grandma frowned.
“You spoke to my attorney?””
Eric nodded.
“He found my number through the property paperwork.””
Dad looked at Grandma.
She nodded.
That made sense.
Dad opened the first page.
Eric continued.
“Lauren told me Zoe had been living in Louisiana for almost a year.””
My mouth fell open.
“With me?”” Grandma asked.
“Yes.””
Lauren crossed her arms.
“This is absurd.””
Eric pointed toward the papers.
“It's all there.””
Dad read.
His expression hardened.
“What else?””
Eric hesitated.
“She told me you two were separated.””
Dad almost smiled.
“Were we?””
“No.””
“I figured that out tonight.””
“How?””
Eric looked at Lauren.
“She called me.””
Lauren went rigid.
“When?””
“About forty minutes ago.””
Dad looked toward the phone on the counter.
Then remembered.
Lauren had another phone.
“Where did you call him from?””
Lauren said nothing.
Eric answered.
“She has a second number.””
Grandma closed her eyes.
Dad laughed quietly.
“Of course she does.””
Lauren snapped, “It's for business.””
Eric shook his head.
“You told me Marcus knew about us.””
My stomach tightened.
Dad's expression barely changed.
“Us?””
Eric looked uncomfortable.
“I don't know how much Zoe should hear.””
I spoke before Dad could.
“I've heard enough lies tonight. I'd rather hear the truth.””
Grandma looked at me.
Dad did too.
Then he nodded.
Eric continued.
“Lauren and I have been seeing each other for about nine months.””
There it was.
Dad didn't react.
That frightened me.
Lauren rushed toward him.
“Marcus—”
He held up one hand.
“Don't.””
Eric said, “She told me your marriage was over except legally.””
Dad looked at the screenshots.
“She told you I was dating someone else.””
“Yes.””
Lauren said, “I can explain.””
Dad ignored her.
Eric continued.
“She said you were staying in the house until the property could be sold.””
Grandma looked at him.
“Did Lauren tell you who owned the property?””
“She said she and Marcus did.””
“Did she mention Zoe's trust?””
“No.””
Eric looked at me again.
“I didn't know.””
I believed him.
Maybe because his shame looked different from Lauren's fear.
He wasn't afraid of getting caught.
He was horrified by what he'd discovered.
Dad asked, “Where did you think Madison was going?””
Eric hesitated.
“With us.””
Madison had come downstairs without anyone noticing.
She stood halfway down the staircase.
“You thought I was moving with you?””
Eric looked up.
“Yes.””
Madison stared at Lauren.
Mom had told Madison she was being abandoned.
She had told Eric the opposite.
Layer upon layer.
Lauren whispered, “Madison, come here.””
Madison stayed where she was.
Eric continued.
“Lauren said Madison knew about our relationship.””
“I didn't,” Madison said.
Eric looked stunned.
“She said you approved.””
Madison laughed through tears.
“I didn't even know you existed until tonight.””
Eric looked at Lauren.
“What the hell?””
Lauren's control finally shattered.
“Everybody stop acting innocent!””
Her scream filled the room.
She pointed at Eric.
“You wanted the house.””
Then at Dad.
“You were never home.””
Then Grandma.
“You interfered constantly.””
Then Madison.
“You wanted everything Zoe had.””
Finally, me.
“And you never accepted me!””
I stared at her.
She was breathing hard.
Her face was wet with tears.
For once, nobody interrupted.
Lauren looked around.
“You all made me the villain before I ever did anything.””
Grandma's voice was quiet.
“No, Lauren.””
Lauren glared at her.
“You became responsible for your choices when you made them.””
Dad placed the screenshots on the table.
“Did you forge my signature?””
Lauren looked away.
“Answer me.””
Silence.
“Did you?””
“Yes.””
Madison gasped.
I felt Grandma's hand on my shoulder.
Dad didn't move.
“The property document?””
Lauren nodded.
“The boarding-school application?””
Another nod.
“The trust withdrawals?””
Lauren hesitated.
“Some.””
Dad's jaw tightened.
“How many?””
“I don't remember.””
Eric stared at her.
“You told me the money came from your divorce settlement.””
Dad looked at him.
“What divorce settlement?””
Eric swallowed.
“She said you had already agreed to pay her two hundred thousand dollars.””
Dad almost laughed.
Lauren sank into a chair.
Everything was coming apart too quickly for her to hold.
Dad asked, “Why forty-eight thousand?””
She looked at him.
“What?””
“The attempted withdrawal.””
Lauren wiped her cheeks.
“The closing costs.””
Eric frowned.
“No.””
Everyone turned.
Lauren stared at him.
Eric shook his head.
“The closing costs weren't forty-eight thousand.””
Dad asked, “What was the rest for?””
Eric looked at Lauren.
“She told me she had money for renovations.””
Grandma's eyes narrowed.
“How much?””
“About eighteen thousand.””
Dad stared at Lauren.
“You were going to renovate another house with Zoe's education money?””
Lauren snapped.
“I was going to pay it back!””
“When?””
“When things settled.””
“What does that mean?””
“When the divorce was finished!””
Dad stared at her.
“You were planning our divorce without telling me.””
Lauren said nothing.
Dad sat down.
Strangely, he looked calmer now.
Like the final uncertainty had disappeared.
“Okay.””
Lauren looked up.
“What?””
“Okay.””
“What does that mean?””
“It means tomorrow morning, my attorney starts the divorce.””
Lauren's face crumpled.
“Marcus.””
“No.””
“You can't decide that tonight.””
“I think you've been deciding it for nine months.””
She reached for him.
He stepped away.
Eric looked uncomfortable.
“I should leave.””
Grandma stopped him.
“Not yet.””
He looked at her.
“You said you brought financial documents.””
Eric nodded.
“Lauren asked me to invest in the house. I transferred sixty thousand dollars.””
Dad frowned.
“Sixty?””
“Yes.””
“The property deposit was thirty.””
“I know.””
Lauren's face drained again.
Eric pulled another statement from the envelope.
“I discovered that tonight.””
Dad took it.
“Where did the other thirty go?””
“I was hoping she could tell me.””
Lauren stood.
“This is insane.””
Eric blocked her path without touching her.
“No. What's insane is that I transferred sixty thousand dollars because you told me we were building a life together.””
Lauren backed away.
Dad looked at the statement.
“The money went to LMB.””
“Yes.””
Grandma said, “Then twenty-two thousand from Zoe's trust went there too.””
Eric stared at her.
“What?””
Dad did the math aloud.
“That's at least eighty-two thousand entering that company from just those two sources.””
Grandma nodded.
“And only thirty went toward the house deposit.””
Dad looked at Lauren.
“Where's the rest?””
“I invested it.””
“In what?””
“Business expenses.””
“Show us.””
“I don't have to.””
Eric laughed bitterly.
“You told me I owned half the company.””
Dad looked at him.
“Do you?””
“I thought I did.””
Grandma asked, “Did you sign an operating agreement?””
“Yes.””
“Do you have it?””
Eric pulled out another document.
Grandma read it.
Then frowned.
“This company wasn't created four months ago.””
Dad moved beside her.
“What?””
She pointed to the incorporation date.
LMB Lifestyle Consulting had existed for nearly two years.
Before Eric.
Before the other house.
Before most of the missing trust money.
Dad looked at Lauren.
“What were you using it for two years ago?””
She didn't answer.
Madison slowly descended the stairs.
“Mom?””
Lauren looked at her.
Madison's face was pale.
“I know.””
Everyone turned.
Lauren's expression became terrified.
“Madison.””
“I saw the statements.””
“What statements?”” Dad asked.
Madison looked at her mother.
“Last Christmas.””
“Don't.””
“You left your laptop open.””
“Madison, shut up.””
Dad stepped forward.
“What did you see?””
Madison swallowed.
“A savings account.””
Lauren lunged toward her.
Grandma stepped between them.
“Don't touch her.””
Madison continued.
“There was a lot of money.””
“How much?””
“I don't remember.””
“Try.””
Madison closed her eyes.
“More than a hundred thousand.””
The room went silent.
Dad stared at Lauren.
“That isn't possible.””
Grandma looked at him.
“Why?””
“Lauren doesn't earn that kind of money.””
Lauren whispered, “I had investments.””
Madison shook her head.
“The account had Zoe's name.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
Madison looked at me.
“Not exactly.””
Dad moved closer.
“What exactly did it say?””
Madison thought.
Then she remembered.
“ZB Future.””
Grandma grabbed the back of a chair.
Dad's face went white.
I didn't understand.
“Grandma?””
She looked at me.
Then at Dad.
“Rachel used that phrase.””
Dad stared at her.
“What phrase?””
“ZB Future.””
Grandma's voice shook.
“She labeled Zoe's college savings that way when Zoe was little.””
Dad turned slowly toward Lauren.
Lauren backed toward the wall.
“No.””
Grandma stepped forward.
“That account wasn't created by Lauren.””
Dad looked sick.
Grandma continued.
“It was Rachel's.””
I stopped breathing.
Dad whispered:
“How much did Rachel leave?””
Grandma closed her eyes.
“When she died?””
She looked at me.
“Just over one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.””
The room disappeared around me.
Dad gripped the edge of the table.
“I thought that money was transferred into the trust.””
“So did I.””
Lauren whispered, “Evelyn—”
Grandma turned.
“What did you do?””
Lauren shook her head.
Grandma's voice rose for the first time.
“What did you do with my daughter's money?””
Lauren started crying.
Dad looked at her.
Not like a husband.
Not anymore.
Like a stranger.
Then Eric quietly said:
“There’s something else.””
Nobody wanted to hear those words again.
But he reached into his envelope anyway.
He removed a photograph.
Dad took it.
His expression changed.
“What is this?””
Eric looked toward me.
“I found it in Lauren's office at the house we were buying.””
Dad turned the photograph around.
It showed Lauren standing beside a bank representative.
On the table between them was an old document.
At the bottom was a signature.
Rachel Bennett.
My dead mother's signature.
Grandma stared at it.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Rachel had already been dead four years when that document was signed.””
