Chapter 19 - The Cold Truth
Daniel’s smile faltered. "Claire?"
"You really don't understand, do you, Daniel?" I said, my voice dropping into an icy, unyielding register. "Arthur didn't force you to lie to me for eight months. Arthur didn't force you to take Natalie to L'Etoile on our anniversary. Arthur didn't force you to stand in our kitchen and complain about a fuel gauge while your mistress sat in your passenger seat."
"I was stupid!" he cried out, dropping the flowers onto the porch floor. "I made a mistake!"
"A mistake is forgetting to buy milk, Daniel," I said calmly. "What you did was a continuous, arrogant choice to betray a woman who spent twenty years building your entire life for you. You only care about Arthur's manipulation because it ruined you. If Arthur had succeeded and given you your millions, you would still be sleeping with Natalie right now."
He shrank back as if I had struck him.
I reached into my handbag, pulled out a final cashier's check for fifty thousand dollars, and dropped it onto the box of old photographs in his arms.
"That is your share of the assistance fee for cooperating with the federal prosecution," I said coldly. "Consider it your final severance from my life. If you ever set foot on my property again, I will have you arrested for trespassing."
"Claire, please!" he begged, dropping to his knees on the cold stone porch as I unlocked the front door. "Don't do this to me! I have nowhere else to go!"
I paused at the threshold, looking down at him one last time.
May you like
"There's a Speedway on Broad Street, Daniel," I said softly. "I suggest you start walking."
I stepped inside and shut the heavy oak door, locking it firmly behind me.
