Chapter 3
Samuel continued, "You froze the house. How's Ian supposed to show his face at work now? If he can't make partner, what are you two going to do? Isn't this just hurting both of you?"
"Uncle Samuel," I cut him off, "Ian and I are done. Who he lives with is his business, but he'll have to pay back every single cent I put in."
There was a stunned silence on the other end.
"Why are you being so stubborn? Do you really have to drag this into court and air our dirty laundry in public?" Samuel said.
"I'm not the one who should be embarrassed," I replied.
I hung up.
Without missing a beat, I dialed Helen.
"Helen, can you dig into Ian's finances from the past six months? I want every detail you can find. Why is he acting so desperate?
"He's about to make partner, so you'd think he'd be extra careful right when everything's on the line. But instead, he went and married Nina at crunch time. Something doesn't add up here."
"I'm already on it," Helen replied. "I'll have the preliminary results for you tomorrow."
Helen's findings came in by noon the next day.
I was sitting at my workbench in the studio, tweezers in hand, carefully piecing together the broken edge of an antique bracelet.
Helen's voice came through the phone on speaker, every word cold as ice.
"Nina's brother, Brian Swan, is twenty-four. He started gambling in Monterey last year and racked up nearly one million dollars in debt. The loan sharks have him, and they're threatening to break his hand if he doesn't pay up."
The tweezers froze in my hand.
Helen continued, "All the money Ian took from your joint account ended up in Nina's personal account, and from there, it was funneled straight to a bunch of shady gambling loan sharks.
"And he even tried to use your house as collateral to get a 7 hundred thousand-dollar loan from some sketchy lender. If you hadn't had me freeze the property in time, he would've gotten away with it."
"So basically, he married Nina just so he could use our shared assets to pay off her brother's gambling debts, and make it all look above board," I said.
"Exactly," Helen replied. "He needed a legal marriage to pull off these financial moves. By marrying Nina, he could handle the assets as a couple, without needing your signature."
"And what about me?" I asked.
"You? He planned to keep you around so you'd keep footing the bill and hooking him up with your industry contacts.
"Your reputation and resources in the jewelry world are key for his partner bid at Brightstone Capital. He needs your status to show off and make himself look good," Helen said.
I slowly set the tweezers down.
One woman covered his expenses and boosted his connections, while the other fed his nostalgia and let him play the hero.
He wanted it all; never let go of either of us.
That was the man I'd loved for four years.
"Helen, let's speed up the lawsuit," I said.
"Got it. And just so you know, be ready. He's probably going to start showing up in person soon. Guys like him, when the nice act doesn't work, they always switch to brute force," Helen warned.
Helen's prediction was disturbingly accurate.
Three days later, I stepped out of my studio to grab lunch and spotted Ian waiting by the gate of the courtyard.
He was standing under the old tree at the alley entrance, clutching a bouquet of pale lilies. His suit jacket was all wrinkled, like he'd been standing there in the wind for ages.
As soon as he saw me, he tossed the flowers aside and rushed over.
"Claire!" he called out.
I took two steps back.
"Mr. Rowe, if you have anything to say, contact my lawyer," I said.
"Just listen to me!" he pleaded, reaching for my arm, but I sidestepped him. "I'm already on it! The divorce papers are filed! Once the thirty-day cooling-off period is up, Nina and I will be completely over."
"And what does that have to do with me?" I replied.
"We can start over!" he almost shouted. "These four years..."
"Four years," I cut him off. "In those four years, you drained 100,000 dollars from our joint account, and even tried to use my house to get a 7 hundred thousand-dollar loan. Ian, the way you 'love' me is really something else."
His expression froze.
He didn't expect I'd already dug all this up.
"I'll pay you back," he said, his voice dry. "Once I make partner, with my salary and bonuses..."
"Your promotion has nothing to do with me. The court will make sure you pay me back every cent you owe," I said.
Then I walked past him and out of the alley.
He grabbed my wrist from behind.
His grip was so tight it felt like he was crushing my bones.
"Claire! Do you have to be so heartless? I really do love you!" he pleaded.
I glanced down at his hand, then looked up at him.
"Let go," I said.
"Just let me explain..." he pleaded.
"I said, let go," I repeated.
My tone didn't change, but suddenly, someone pulled Ian's hand away from mine.
It was David Lewis, the landlord of the courtyard house. He was in his sixties, a former soldier with arms thick as tree trunks. I hadn't even noticed when he'd appeared behind me.
"Sir, didn't you hear her? She told you to let go," David said.
"This is between us..." Ian started.
"If you're going to harass my tenant on my property, then it's my business. Are you leaving or not? If not, I'm calling the cops," David said.
Ian's face turned a deep, ugly red.
He shot David a vicious glare, then turned his gaze back to me.
"Anne...Claire, you'll regret this," he spat.
"The only thing I regret is ever meeting you," I shot back.