Chapter 4

I pushed the tablet back toward Ethan.

"You're sleeping in the guest room tonight."

"Claire, we need to talk this through first."

"After fourteen years without the truth, one more night won't make a difference."

The next afternoon, Ethan texted me to say his mother wanted the whole family to sit down and talk.

I thought I would at least hear an apology.

When I walked into Margaret's house at seven that evening, Rachel and the twins were already seated in the living room.

Lauren leaned against the fireplace, while Margaret sat in the middle of the sofa like a judge waiting to pass sentence on someone else.

No one offered me a seat.

"Now that you know, there's no point in hiding it anymore," Margaret began. "But the children are innocent. You can't destroy their lives just because this has been a shock to you."

"What exactly have I destroyed?"

"Their tuition, vacations, and daily expenses have always been covered. Now you're suddenly checking the statements and confronting Ethan about everything. It's making them feel insecure."

So what truly unsettled them wasn't fourteen years of deception.

It was the fact that I'd discovered where my money was going.

Rachel took Lily's hand.

"I never wanted to replace you. You have the marriage and the title of Mrs. Hale. All I ever wanted was for my children to have their father."

"If you never wanted to replace me, why did you let the children call you the real Mrs. Hale?"

Rachel's expression stiffened.

Margaret answered for her. "She gave the Hale family two children. You should be grateful that she accomplished what you couldn't."

Ethan frowned.

"Mom, don't say that."

"Isn't it the truth?" Margaret shot back. "Who's been taking care of the two of you all these years? And who carried on the family line? What's wrong with two women taking on different responsibilities?"

Lily suddenly laughed.

"Claire doesn't have any children anyway. Isn't it only natural that her house and money should go to us one day?"

Noah leaned back against the sofa and added carelessly, "Dad said we'd always be his responsibility. Since she's Dad's wife, she should be responsible for us too."

I looked at Ethan.

"Is that what you taught them?"

"I never said your property belonged to them," he denied immediately. Then he lowered his voice. "But they are my children. I can't just abandon them."

"So I'm supposed to take care of them?"

"That's not what I said. We can rearrange the expenses."

At last, he walked over to me.

"As long as you don't leave, I'll spend less time alone with Rachel. From now on, I'll also tell you in advance whenever something involves the children."

"What about the group chat?"

The room fell silent.

"Make them publicly admit that they deceived me. Delete everything they posted to humiliate me, and apologize."

Margaret immediately rose to her feet.

"Absolutely not. We will not humiliate the children in front of the family just to soothe your feelings."

I looked at Ethan.

He avoided my gaze.

"Making this public will only make everything uglier. Can we settle it privately?"

For fourteen years, they had been the ones humiliating me.

Now that the truth had come out, they expected me to protect their dignity.

I was silent for a moment before nodding.

"All right."

Relief visibly washed over Ethan.

"I'll come to Sunday dinner," I said. "We'll settle everything at once then."

They thought I'd finally accepted reality.

None of them knew that the first thing I did when I got home was make a list of every expense I'd paid for the Hale family over the past eight years.