Chapter 16 - What Chloe Lost
Chloe Rose Media collapsed within a week.
The loan was frozen.
The launch canceled.
The leased SUV was returned.
The studio closed.
Chloe moved into a small apartment with a roommate from college.
I expected her to hate me.
Instead, she got a job.
We ate on the terrace.
Chloe stared at the city lights.
“I thought Mom loved me more than she loved you.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“She did everything for me.”
“Sometimes doing everything for someone is another way of controlling them.”
She nodded.
“I used to think you were cold.”
“I know.”
“You never begged Dad for anything.”
“I stopped.”
“When?”
I thought about it.
“Probably sixteen.”
She looked embarrassed.
“I was nine.”
“Not your fault.”
“Some of it was.”
That surprised me.
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“You don’t have to forgive me.”
“I’m working on it.”
That was enough.
Then she handed me an envelope.
“I found this in Mom’s old desk.”
Inside was a letter from my mother.
Dated six months before Mom died.
Ms. Price,
I have been informed you accessed my daughter’s trust file without authorization. Do not contact my family again.
My mother knew exactly who Gwendolyn was.
And Gwendolyn still entered our lives two years later.
At the bottom, Mom had written one handwritten note:
Samuel has never met her. Keep it that way.
Chloe whispered, “Mom kept this.”
“For eleven years.”
“She knew your mother warned her.”
“Yes.”
Then another paper slipped from the envelope.
A charity guest list.
The event where Dad claimed he first met Gwendolyn.
Beside his name, someone had written a note in blue ink.
Widower. Elaine Morgan estate. Approach after dinner.
May you like
Gwendolyn had not met Dad by accident.
She had scheduled him.
