Chapter 9: The Breakdown
Victor showed up at the house at 3:40 p.m.
Claire was in the kitchen when she heard the car pull into the driveway. She recognized the sound of his engine immediately. She did not move from where she stood.
The front door opened without a knock. Victor had kept his key.
He walked into the kitchen looking like a man who had not slept in two days. His shirt was wrinkled, his hair was messy, and there was a wild, desperate look in his eyes that Claire had never seen before.
“Claire,” he said, his voice rough. “We need to talk.”
She turned slowly and looked at him. For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
“You froze everything,” Victor said. “The accounts. The company. My passport is flagged. The FBI is involved. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Claire set down the dish towel she had been holding.
“I know exactly what I’ve done,” she said. “I collected evidence of every lie you told me for the past year. I documented every dollar you stole. I sent it all to the people who could do something about it.”
Victor took a step closer. “You’re destroying us. You’re destroying everything we built.”
Claire laughed once, a short, bitter sound.
“We didn’t build anything, Victor. You took. And I let you because I thought that was what marriage was supposed to be. I was wrong.”
He stared at her, breathing hard.
“You were never like this,” he said. “You were quiet. You were easy. What the hell happened to you?”
Claire looked at him without flinching.
“You happened,” she said. “You and Olivia and every lie you told me while I was trying to be a good wife. You made me into this.”
Victor’s face twisted. For a moment, it looked like he might hit something. Instead, he sank into one of the kitchen chairs and put his head in his hands.
“I just wanted out,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want to fight. I thought if I left fast enough, you wouldn’t make it ugly.”
Claire walked over and stood across the table from him.
“You should have known me better than that,” she said.
Victor looked up at her. For the first time, she saw real fear in his eyes.
“What do you want?” he asked.
May you like
Claire didn’t answer right away.
“I want you to understand,” she said finally, “that you didn’t leave me with nothing. You left me with everything I needed to take it all back.”
