Chapter 18 - WHAT ETHAN NEVER TOLD HANNAH
For the first time since the night of the dishes, Hannah became angry with Ethan.
Not because of something Lorraine had done.
Because of something Ethan had not told her.
It began with a question from David.
"Did you ever know your mother had financial trouble?"
Ethan hesitated.
Hannah saw it.
"What?"
He looked at her.
"There was something after Dad died."
"What something?"
"Mom had debt."
"How much?"
"I don't know exactly."
"Ethan."
"Maybe three hundred thousand."
Hannah stared at him.
"You knew she had three hundred thousand dollars in debt?"
"It was not trust debt."
"How do you know?"
"She said it was personal."
Hannah laughed once in disbelief.
"And you believed her."
He flinched.
"At the time, yes."
"What did you do?"
Ethan looked away.
That was the wrong movement.
Hannah's expression sharpened.
"What did you do?"
"I paid some of it."
Silence.
"How much?"
"Hannah."
"How much?"
"One hundred and eighty thousand."
She stood.
"You gave your mother one hundred and eighty thousand dollars and never told me?"
"It was before we combined everything."
"We were engaged."
"I know."
"We were planning a wedding."
"I know."
"We were talking about buying a house."
"I know."
"And you gave her almost two hundred thousand dollars."
"It was my money."
The sentence came out too quickly.
Ethan regretted it immediately.
Hannah's face went still.
"Your money."
"That is not what I meant."
"No, I heard you."
"Hannah."
"We were building a life."
"I know."
"You told me your investment account was lower because the market had turned."
Ethan closed his eyes.
"I was embarrassed."
"So you lied."
"Yes."
The word sat between them.
David quietly gathered his papers.
"I am going to give you two privacy."
He left.
Hannah moved to the window.
"Did you give her anything else?"
"After we married, no large payments."
"Define large."
"A few thousand here and there."
"How many times?"
"Maybe six."
"How much total?"
"About thirty thousand."
Hannah turned.
"You gave her another thirty thousand after we were married."
"Over four years."
"Without telling me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"She said Dad left obligations."
"What obligations?"
"Property taxes. Legal fees. Repairs."
"Did you ever see bills?"
"No."
Hannah laughed bitterly.
"Of course not."
Ethan did not defend himself.
"I was wrong."
"You were secretive."
"Yes."
"And your secrecy gave her a place to hide more secrecy."
"Yes."
"Do you understand why I am furious?"
"Yes."
"No, I don't think you do."
Her eyes filled, but her voice stayed steady.
"For weeks, she told me I was difficult for wanting to know what was happening in my own house."
"She told me good wives do not question every family expense."
"She told me you hated being bothered about money because you handled enough of it at work."
Ethan felt sick.
"I never said that."
"I know."
"But it worked because you had already taught her that you would keep money secrets from me."
That sentence hurt because it was true.
He sat down.
"I am sorry."
Hannah wiped her cheek.
"I do not need another apology right now."
"What do you need?"
"Everything."
"What?"
"Every account."
"Every debt."
"Every transfer."
"Every time you gave her money."
"Every financial thing you have ever hidden because you thought it would be easier not to tell me."
Ethan nodded.
"Okay."
"And if there is something else, tell me now."
He thought carefully.
"There is one more thing."
Hannah closed her eyes.
"Of course there is."
"After Dad died, Mom asked me to sign a waiver."
"What waiver?"
"I don't know."
"You signed something you didn't understand?"
"She said it allowed her to settle the estate."
Hannah stared at him.
"Do you have a copy?"
"No."
"Did you read it?"
Ethan looked down.
"Not carefully."
Hannah sat because the anger had suddenly become too exhausting.
"When?"
"Four years ago."
"Where?"
"At her kitchen table."
"Who was there?"
"Russell."
"Again."
"Yes."
"Did he witness it?"
"I think so."
Hannah rubbed her forehead.
"Call David back."
Ethan did.
David returned and listened without comment.
Then he asked one question.
"Did the document mention Carlisle?"
"I don't remember."
"Schedule R?"
"No idea."
"Release?"
"Maybe."
David stared at him.
"We need that document."
"How?"
"If it was used in the estate, there may be a filed copy."
"And if it wasn't?"
"Then we find whoever drafted it."
They searched public estate records that afternoon.
No waiver was filed.
David contacted the lawyer who handled Ethan's father's probate.
The lawyer had no record of such a document.
Russell stopped answering calls.
Lorraine's attorney refused to provide anything voluntarily.
Then Claire remembered something.
"Your father kept private papers in a safe deposit box."
"Where?"
"First Meridian."
"Does Mom have access?"
"She did after he died."
"Would the box still exist?"
"Maybe."
First Meridian confirmed it did.
The box was registered in Ethan's father's name with Lorraine as surviving co-lessee.
But there was a complication.
Someone had accessed it two days earlier.
"Who?" Ethan asked.
The bank representative would not disclose without legal process.
David obtained an emergency preservation request.
Security footage was retained.
The next morning, Detective Brooks viewed it with the bank's counsel.
She called Ethan afterward.
"Lorraine accessed the box."
"What did she take?"
"We don't know."
"Was she alone?"
"No."
"Who was with her?"
Brooks hesitated.
"Russell."
Ethan closed his eyes.
The same uncle who had witnessed Hannah's forged signature.
The same uncle who may have witnessed Ethan's mysterious waiver four years earlier.
"Can you see what they carried out?"
"A document envelope and a small metal case."
"Where are they now?"
"Unknown."
Then Brooks added something else.
"But there is another reason I called."
"What?"
"Madison's phone had a text from Lorraine sent less than ten minutes after she left the bank."
"What did it say?"
Brooks read it aloud.
I HAVE THE ORIGINAL.
May you like
IF ETHAN FINDS OUT WHAT HE SIGNED AFTER HIS FATHER DIED, HE WILL NEVER FORGIVE ME.
