Chapter 6 - The Smile at the Front Door.
By Saturday afternoon, Ethan wanted distance from every person connected to his mother's plan.
Instead, Vivian arrived at his front door carrying a casserole.
The new lock stopped her key.
The doorbell camera captured the moment she discovered that.
Her polite smile disappeared for less than a second.
Then it returned.
Ethan watched from the hallway monitor without opening the door.
Claire stood several feet behind him holding Owen.
"She's going to act like nothing happened."
"Then we don't play along."
Vivian rang again.
"Ethan, I know you're home."
He opened the door but left the security chain engaged.
His mother looked at the chain and then at him.
"Really?"
"Really."
She lifted the casserole dish.
"You left before anyone ate."
"Why did you photograph Claire outside Owen's doctor's office?"
The smile finally vanished.
"I didn't."
Ethan held up the photograph through the narrow opening.
Vivian's eyes moved to it.
"Where did you get that?"
It was not the response of someone seeing it for the first time.
Claire stepped closer.
"You know what it is."
Vivian looked toward her.
"I know you're exhausted, Claire."
"Stop doing that."
Claire's voice surprised all three of them.
"Doing what?"
"Talking to me like I'm confused whenever I disagree with you."
Vivian's expression turned almost sympathetic.
"I'm worried about you."
"You had me sign property papers while telling me they were insurance forms."
"They were preliminary documents."
"That isn't an answer."
Vivian shifted the casserole to her other hand.
"Your husband was making reckless financial choices."
Ethan laughed once in disbelief.
"Name one."
"Refusing to invest in the new Mercer fund."
Ethan stared at her.
There was no new Mercer fund.
The old company was gone.
Vivian continued.
She claimed a group of former partners wanted to revive part of the business and needed the family's property position to look stable.
She called the plan temporary.
She called Claire's signature a precaution.
She called Ethan emotional for objecting.
Then Claire asked the question that ended the performance.
"Why was there a note on my photograph calling me unreliable?"
Vivian looked at her for several seconds.
"Because someone needed to document what was happening."
Ethan gripped the edge of the door.
"Who took the picture?"
Vivian's eyes shifted down the street.
A black sedan was parked near the corner.
It had been there when Ethan arrived home.
He had not noticed it until now.
Vivian stepped back from the door.
"You're making a mistake by turning this into a war."
"Who is in that car?"
She did not answer.
The sedan pulled away before Ethan could see the driver.
Vivian followed it with her eyes.
Then she looked at Claire.
"Ask Martin what he was paid to keep quiet."
She set the casserole on the porch.
"And before you trust your husband's father from beyond the grave, ask why he hid those records from Ethan for six years."
She walked away without another word.
Claire looked at Ethan.
The confidence they had found at the archive facility suddenly felt less secure.
May you like
Because Vivian had not denied the documents.
She had only suggested that everyone else was lying too.
