Claire:
— But you used money to justify making me believe my husband was abandoning me while I had cancer.
Margaret closed her eyes.
— Yes.
— I don't need you to explain why you were hurt every single time.
— I know.
— No, I don't think you do.
Claire took a breath.
— During my treatment, you told me many times that I shouldn't worry about David because you were with me.
— That helped me.
— It also isolated me.
— Both things are true.
Margaret wept.
— I'm sorry.
Claire:
— I can't do anything with that yet.
— I understand.
— Good.
No forgiveness.
No hug.
The auditor concluded:
Margaret had exceeded investment policy.
Filed an unauthorized continuity election.
Used David's digitized signature without consent.
She had not drained the accounts for direct personal gain.
But she had hidden risk and improperly misused fiduciary authority.
The Charleston project still held value.
Money hadn't vanished.
It could be sold at an approximate loss of 2.4 million dollars.
Painful.
Not ruinous.
Margaret had risked her son's marriage and her family's trust just to avoid admitting a manageable loss.
That was the tragedy: it hadn't been necessary.
WHAT DAVID HAD ALSO DONE WRONG
It was easy to turn Margaret into the center of everything.
Claire didn't want to.
— There's something we need to talk about, — she said one night.
David:
— Okay.
— Before you leave.
— What?
— We already had problems.
He tensed up.
— Not like this.
— No.
— But yes.
David sat down.
Claire:
— When you accepted the deployment, you told me after applying for it.
— I consulted with you.
— You informed me.
David remembered.
— I thought it was an opportunity.
— It was.
— I'm not saying you shouldn't have gone.
— I'm saying you made the decision assuming I would agree afterward.
He swallowed hard.
— Yes.
— And when your father died, you closed off.
— Yes.
— Whenever I tried to talk about my fear of illness because my mother died young, you changed the subject.
David:
— Because it scared me.
— I know.
— But that helped make Margaret's fake email seem possible.
A blow.
Not blaming him for the manipulation.
Context.
— You're right.
Claire:
— I don't want you to use this to say: «Now I'll be the perfect husband.»
— That doesn't exist.