“Stop looking at her and answer your wife.”
“In our business.”
I stared at him.
“What business?”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Claire and I started a consulting company.”
The words took several seconds to register.
“You quit your job?”
“Yes.”
“Three months ago?”
“Yes.”
“To start a company with her?”
“Yes.”
I laughed once.
“So there was no promotion.”
“No.”
“Your mother spent an entire evening telling everyone how proud she was of you. Our family toasted you. You raised your glass.”
“I know.”
“You kissed me while they congratulated you.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked down.
“Because the business isn’t doing well.”
That was not the answer I expected.
Claire finally sat down.
Daniel explained that she had worked in another department at his former company.
For more than a year, they had talked about starting a consulting business using the experience they had gained in their industry.
Then Claire left the company.
A month later, Daniel followed her.
“You told me you were unhappy at work,” I said. “You never told me you were planning to quit.”
“I was afraid you’d say no.”
My anger sharpened.
“To what?”
“Using the savings.”
I stared at him.
There it was.
Not an affair.
Not a promotion.
It was a decision about our life that he had deliberately made without me.
“You knew I would object, so you just did it?”
“I thought once it was successful, you’d understand.”
“And is it successful?”
Daniel said nothing.
Claire answered.
“No.”
He looked at her.
She shook her head.
“She deserves the truth.”
I almost laughed at the irony.
“Thank you. Apparently, someone thinks so.”
Claire explained that they had expected to sign two major clients during their first month.
Both deals fell through.
Office expenses, software, insurance, legal fees, and other startup costs kept coming.
Daniel had put in more money.
Then more.
Our money.
“You took $28,000 from savings we built together,” I said.
“I thought I could replace it.”
“Before I noticed?”
His silence answered me.
Then another thought hit me.
“The promotion.”
Daniel looked miserable.
“Why invent that?”
“My mom kept asking questions.”
“So you lied to her.”
“I told her things at work were going well. She misunderstood.”
“She didn’t misunderstand ‘senior manager.'”
He looked away.
“I eventually told her I’d been promoted.”
“And then she planned a party.”
“I didn’t know she was going to do that.”
“But once you knew, you didn’t stop her.”
“No.”
“Why?”
His voice dropped.
“Because I was embarrassed.”
That word infuriated me more than any excuse he had given.
“You were embarrassed?”
“I had told everyone I was doing well. The business was supposed to be successful by now. Instead, I was watching our money disappear.”
“So you let everyone applaud you.”
“I panicked.”
“You had days to cancel that party.”
He had no answer.
I looked at Claire.
“Did you know he hadn’t told me?”
“Not at first.”
“But eventually?”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“About a month.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Don’t blame Claire.”
“I’m asking her.”
Claire met my eyes.
“I told him he needed to tell you.”
“But you kept working with him.”
“Yes.”
At least she did not make excuses.
“Are you having an affair with my husband?”
“No.”
Her answer was immediate.
Daniel looked horrified.
“Celina, no.”
I turned back to Claire.
“His mother saw you together.”
“We were meeting with an accountant. He left before she came inside.”
That explained the papers.
It did not explain the lies.
Claire opened her bag and removed a folder.
“I brought this because Daniel said you had found out.”
She placed it on the table.
Inside were bank statements, invoices, contracts, and a list of business expenses.
I went through them slowly.
The $28,000 was accounted for.
There were payments for the office deposit, equipment, insurance, software, and professional fees.
There was no hotel room, jewelry, or secret apartment.
I should have felt relieved.
Instead, I felt strangely empty.
Daniel seemed to read my expression.
“Nothing happened between us.”
“I believe you.”
Don’t miss
His shoulders dropped.
Then I added, “That doesn’t make this okay.”
