Chapter 3 - Natalie Knew I Was Watching
I stared at the note for almost a minute.
The handwriting wasn't Ethan's.
It wasn't mine.
It wasn't Natalie’s.
I photographed it before touching it.
Then I checked the cameras.
Our house had no interior cameras.
At least none I knew about.
I called my friend Maya.
She was a forensic accountant who had once helped my father untangle a business fraud case.
“What do you think?” I asked.
She listened as I explained the transfers.
“Claire, don't confront either of them yet.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Good.”
“What should I do?”
“Find out where the money actually went.”
The next morning, I took a day off.
I told Ethan I had a client meeting.
He didn't question it.
That bothered me.
I followed him.
Not directly.
I waited outside our house until he left.
He drove downtown.
Then to an office building in South Lake Union.
He went inside.
I parked across the street.
At 10:11, Natalie arrived.
She entered the same building.
My stomach tightened.
I called Maya.
“I found them.”
“Together?”
“Yes.”
“Then don't go inside.”
I didn't.
For two hours, I watched people enter and leave.
At 12:24, Ethan and Natalie walked out.
They were arguing.
I couldn't hear every word.
But I heard one sentence.
“You promised me.”
Natalie said it.
Ethan shook his head.
“I can't keep doing this.”
“You don't have a choice.”
I recorded them from my car.
Then Natalie grabbed his arm.
He pulled away.
She said something that made him go pale.
“Tell your wife.”
He looked around.
“Keep your voice down.”
“She has to know eventually.”
I turned up the volume.
“Not until after the merger.”
My heart skipped.
Merger.
Maya listened to the recording.
“Your husband may be transferring marital assets before a business transaction.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means this could be financial fraud.”
My blood ran cold.
I thought about our house.
Our savings.
His company.
Everything we owned.
“Can they take my share?”
“Depends on how the assets are structured.”
I spent the afternoon pulling public records.
Ethan owned thirty-eight percent of Bennett Logistics, the company he had built with two partners.
I owned nothing.
Not one share.
But we had invested marital money into the company.
Over seven years, nearly $300,000 from our joint account.
If Ethan was moving money before a merger, he could be hiding the value.
And Natalie might be helping.
But why?
I drove to her townhouse.
I didn't knock.
I parked nearby.
At 5:08, a man left the building.
Not Ethan.
Someone older.
Gray hair.
Black coat.
He carried a folder marked Bennett Logistics.
I photographed his license plate.
Maya searched it.
“Attorney.”
“Whose?”
“Victor Hale.”
The name made my stomach twist.
Victor Hale was one of the city's most aggressive corporate attorneys.
He represented Bennett Logistics.
And apparently Natalie.
That night, Ethan came home with a smile.
“How was your day?”
“Good.”
He kissed my cheek.
I didn't move.
“You're cold.”
“I'm tired.”
He poured wine.
“Big announcement soon.”
“What kind?”
He looked at me.
“The company is negotiating a major merger.”
“Congratulations.”
“You're not excited?”
“I didn't know about it.”
He smiled.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
There was the lie.
Again.
He had been negotiating without telling me.
And we had $214,900 flowing into Natalie’s company.
I decided to stop reacting.
I would watch.
I would gather everything.
Then I would choose the moment.
Two days later, Natalie came to our house.
Alone.
She wore a cream coat and carried a box.
“Claire.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I brought something.”
She stepped inside.
I glanced at the box.
“What?”
“A wedding gift.”
I almost laughed.
“Seven years late?”
She smiled.
“Funny.”
We sat in the living room.
She opened the box.
Inside was a silver picture frame.
A photograph was already inside.
Ethan and Natalie.
College.
Young.
Laughing.
Her head on his shoulder.
The picture was intimate without being romantic.
But there was something handwritten on the back.
August 14.
Always us.
My skin prickled.
“Cute,” I said.
Natalie studied me.
“You've always been suspicious of me.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I've always respected your friendship.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
I looked at her.
“Why are you here?”
She leaned forward.
“Because Ethan doesn't love you.”
The words were almost gentle.
I said nothing.
She smiled.
“He cares about you.”
“That isn't the same.”
“No.”
She touched the frame.
“He married you because you made sense.”
My hands curled into fists.
“What do you want?”
“To give you a chance to leave with dignity.”
I stared at her.
“Are you sleeping with my husband?”
She didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
But then she surprised me.
“No.”
I blinked.
“Not anymore.”
The room went silent.
“Not anymore?”
She nodded.
“We were together before your wedding.”
The air left my lungs.
“When?”
“Almost a year.”
I remembered.
Ethan had told me they were finished.
He had told me Natalie was dating someone else.
Natalie continued.
“He chose you.”
I couldn't speak.
“But he never stopped loving me.”
She stood.
“And if the merger closes next month, you will lose much more than your husband.”
My voice came out low.
“What does that mean?”
She smiled sadly.
“Ask Ethan what happens to a company when one shareholder becomes unavailable.”
Then she left.
I waited until her car disappeared.
Then I called Maya.
“I know about the affair.”
“What?”
“Before our wedding.”
Maya was silent.
“Claire, are you okay?”
“No.”
I looked at the photograph Natalie had left behind.
Then I turned it over.
The writing on the back was different from the note in my kitchen.
Always us.
I photographed it.
Then something occurred to me.
Natalie hadn't come to threaten me.
She had come to warn me.
And if she was telling the truth, Ethan was planning something bigger than divorce.
He was planning to make me financially disappear from our marriage.
That night, Ethan came home after midnight.
He thought I was asleep.
He showered.
Then he stood beside the bed in the dark.
I kept my eyes closed.
He whispered one sentence into his phone.
“Claire doesn't know yet.”
A voice answered from the speaker.
Natalie.
“She will.”
Ethan whispered:
“Not if we finish this before she finds the documents.”
I opened my eyes.
He didn't see.
I watched my husband leave the bedroom.
May you like
And for the first time in seven years, I was grateful that he thought I was asleep.
Because the next morning, I was going to find those documents before he could destroy them.
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