Chapter 7 - He Came Back to the Mansion With Flowers
Daniel returned to Hawthorne Crest six weeks after I left.
With flowers.
Security called me.
"Mr. Carter is at the gate."
"Does he have authorization?"
"No."
"Then he doesn't enter."
"He says he lives here."
"Not anymore."
The court had granted me exclusive possession after the assault and fraud evidence.
Daniel knew that.
He simply believed rules softened when he appeared personally.
They didn't.
He called.
I answered from my office.
"Open the gate."
"No."
"Claire, please."
"Speak to Naomi."
"I don't want to speak to your damn lawyer!"
"Then we have nothing to discuss."
"I'm standing outside my home."
"My property."
"Stop!"
His voice cracked.
Then silence.
When he spoke again, he sounded like the man I married.
Soft.
Warm.
"Do you remember the first night we moved in?"
I did.
Boxes everywhere.
No curtains.
Pizza on the floor.
Daniel picked me up and carried me across the doorway even though we'd already been married three years.
We laughed.
I hated that the memory still hurt.
"Yes."
"I loved you."
"Maybe."
"I still do."
"Maybe."
"Then why are you doing this?"
There it was.
He still believed consequences were something I was doing to him.
"I'm not."
"You froze the money."
"My money."
"You took the house."
"My house."
"You destroyed my company."
"Your company couldn't survive without secretly taking my money."
"Everything is yours now, right?"
His bitterness returned.
"The money. The house. The lawyers. Everybody believes you."
I closed my eyes.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"I wanted you."
Silence.
"I didn't need your company. I didn't need this house. I didn't need you to pretend to be wealthy."
His breathing changed.
"I married you because I wanted you."
"Claire—"
"And you spent seven years trying to trick me into giving you things I would have willingly shared if you'd simply been trustworthy."
No answer.
That was Daniel's tragedy.
He stole from an open hand because he couldn't imagine generosity without weakness.
"Go home," I said.
"I don't have one."
For a moment, I felt pity.
Then I remembered the hospital.
Pity did not require access.
"I'm sorry."
And I ended the call.
May you like
Security footage later showed Daniel leaving the flowers beside the gate.
I asked staff to donate them to a nursing home.
