Chapter 6 - THE HOUSE HIS MOTHER PROMISED AWAYBrittany Hale didn't sound like a woman calling to fight over a man.
She sounded terrified.
“Please don't hang up,” she said. “I know what you must think of me.”
I sat in the passenger seat of Paige's car, staring at the trees along the roadside.
“I don't know what to think anymore.”
“Then let me explain.”
Rachel motioned for me to put the call on speaker.
Brittany agreed.
She told us she'd met Seth at a property networking event eight months earlier.
He was charming.
Attentive.
Recently separated, or so he claimed.
“He said your relationship had ended, but you were still sharing a house until your finances were sorted out,” Brittany explained.
I closed my eyes.
Seth had told me he was attending weekly investor meetings.
Sometimes he stayed late.
Occasionally, he came home smelling of unfamiliar perfume.
Once, I'd asked him about it.
He'd kissed my forehead and said one of the investors had hugged him after closing a deal.
I'd laughed.
I'd believed him.
“How did you find out about me?” I asked.
“Someone sent me the wedding video.”
I heard her shaky breath.
“I was at work. My coworker showed it to me and asked whether I knew the groom.”
She paused.
“Natalie, I thought I was going to marry him.”
My throat tightened.
“So did I.”
Brittany began crying.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Rachel gently brought the conversation back to the financial issues.
“Ms. Hale, you mentioned money being hidden. What did you mean?”
Brittany took a breath.
“Seth persuaded me to invest in a property renovation project. Forty thousand dollars.”
“Was there an agreement?”
“Yes. I have copies.”
“Did he repay you?”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“Where did the money go?”
“That's what I've been trying to find out. A month ago, I visited one of the addresses Seth listed on the project paperwork.”
She paused.
“There was no renovation.”
I frowned.
“What was there?”
“An empty lot.”
Paige looked at me.
Brittany continued.
“The company owned nothing at that address. I checked the county property records. Someone else had owned it for years.”
Rachel leaned toward the phone.
“Please preserve everything you have, including the original documents and transfer confirmations.”
“I will.”
Then Brittany said something that made my stomach twist.
“There's more.”
Of course there was.
With Seth, there always seemed to be more.
“He showed me a photograph of a townhouse,” she said.
My breath caught.
“Describe it.”
“Brick exterior. Dark green front door. Small white porch columns.”
I went perfectly still.
That was my house.
“He told me it was an investment property he'd recently acquired.”
I couldn't speak.
Brittany continued.
“He said he was going to sell it once a family matter was resolved.”
I heard Paige whisper, “Oh, my God.”
“What family matter?” I managed.
“He said an older relative had a temporary right to live there.”
My hands curled into fists.
An older relative.
Was that how Seth described the woman he planned to marry?
A temporary inconvenience occupying property he intended to control?
“What else did he tell you?”
Brittany hesitated.
“He said the sale would give us enough money to buy a house together.”
I stared out the windshield.
The sunlight suddenly seemed too bright.
For years, I'd imagined growing old in my townhouse.
I'd pictured children playing in the backyard.
Holidays in the living room.
Maybe one day an addition with a bigger kitchen.
Seth had apparently been imagining the day he could turn those dreams into cash.
After the call, nobody spoke for several minutes.
Then Rachel said, “We need to verify any claim about the property independently. A photograph and a story aren't a completed transaction.”
I nodded.
She was right.
But emotionally, something had already changed.
I wasn't grieving the loss of a fiancé anymore.
I was beginning to grieve the person I thought existed.
That evening, I returned home to find four missed calls from Lauren.
Then five messages.
The first was angry.
You have ruined our family.
The second was insulting.
Do you have any idea how selfish you look?
The third was desperate.
I have an interview tomorrow. Who's supposed to take the kids?
I stared at that one.
An interview.
Lauren had been telling everyone she couldn't work because caring for three children was too difficult.
Apparently, she'd already planned to return to work.
She'd simply expected me to replace the childcare she'd otherwise have to arrange.
Then came the fourth message.
Mom says you promised to help us after the wedding.
And the fifth.
If you don't come through, I'm going to lose an opportunity I've waited months for.
I set down my phone.
Before all of this, I would have felt guilty.
I would have rearranged meetings.
Called my supervisor.
Found some way to make Lauren's emergency my responsibility.
But this time, I responded differently.
I hope your interview goes well. You'll need to arrange childcare with a willing caregiver. I never agreed to the arrangement Seth proposed.
Lauren immediately called.
I answered.
“Are you seriously refusing to help?”
“I'm refusing to be assigned a job I didn't accept.”
“These are children, Natalie!”
“I know. That's why they deserve a dependable childcare arrangement, not one built on coercion.”
She laughed sharply.
“Listen to yourself. You sound like a lawyer.”
“I've been spending time with one.”
“Mom says you're trying to destroy Seth.”
I stood by my kitchen window.
“Your brother submitted my financial information without my authorization. He's been lying to multiple people. He's responsible for his own choices.”
Lauren went quiet.
Then she said, “You think you're so much better than us because you have some fancy career.”
“No.”
“Then why won't you help?”
I thought carefully before answering.
“Because helping someone should be a choice. And because your family planned my future without allowing me to be part of the conversation.”
Silence.
Then Lauren whispered, “You don't know what Mom promised me.”
My heart thudded.
“What did she promise?”
Lauren didn't answer immediately.
When she finally spoke, her voice had lost some of its anger.
“She said once you and Seth got married, everything would be easier.”
“How?”
“She said you'd be staying home anyway.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why would she say that?”
“Because she said your company was going to get rid of you.”
My eyes snapped open.
“What?”
Lauren spoke faster.
“She said you weren't going to have a job much longer. That you were too busy working to see it. Seth said the same thing.”
I gripped the counter.
“My company is considering me for a promotion.”
Lauren went silent.
Then she whispered, “That's not what they told me.”
I felt something cold settle in my stomach.
“Lauren, exactly what did Diane say?”
“She said Seth knew people who worked with your company. That they'd heard you were being replaced.”
My heart pounded.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Lauren.”
“I swear!”
She began to cry.
“I didn't know about the money, Natalie. I didn't know he was trying to take your house.”
For the first time, I heard genuine confusion in her voice.
Then she said something that surprised me.
“I thought you wanted to stay home with the kids.”
“Did you ever hear me say that?”
A long silence.
“No.”
I let the answer sit between us.
Then Lauren whispered, “Mom said you told her.”
I closed my eyes.
The entire arrangement had been built out of conversations I was never invited to have.
Lauren's job.
Seth's debts.
Diane's expectations.
My savings.
My home.
My career.
Everyone had been discussing my life except me.
“Lauren,” I said gently, “you need to start asking your mother whether what she tells you is true.”
She didn't respond.
When the call ended, I immediately contacted my supervisor, David Harrison.
He answered even though it was after seven.
“Natalie?”
“David, I'm sorry to call so late.”
“Don't apologize. How are you holding up?”
I blinked.
“You heard about the wedding?”
He sighed.
“Somebody sent me a video.”
I closed my eyes.
“I'm so sorry.”
“Natalie, you have nothing to apologize for.”
The kindness nearly made me cry.
Then I asked the question I'd been dreading.
“David, is my job in danger?”
He sounded genuinely startled.
“What?”
“Has anyone discussed terminating me?”
“Natalie, where is this coming from?”
I explained what Lauren had said.
David was silent.
Then he spoke carefully.
“I think you should come into the office tomorrow.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Because there's something I was planning to tell you next week.”
I gripped the phone.
“Am I being fired?”
“Absolutely not.”
Relief washed through me.
Then he added:
“But someone did contact our company about you.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
He hesitated.
“Natalie, I'd rather show you the email in person.”
I stared at the wall.
Because after everything Seth and his family had done, I was beginning to realize they hadn't merely intended to control my life after the wedding.
May you like
They'd started interfering with it before the ceremony ever happened.
And the next morning, I was going to discover just how far they'd gone.
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