PART 4
I barely slept that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I heard my accountant’s words repeating in my head.
Your wife has been legally connected to this company since the day it was established.
What did that mean?
Claire had never been involved in the daily operations of my marketing firm. She had never attended business meetings, negotiated contracts, or dealt with clients.
At least, that was what I had believed.
I got out of bed around 5:30 in the morning.
Claire was already awake, preparing breakfast for Lily and Leo.
She stood near the kitchen counter, cutting strawberries into small pieces for our son. Lily was sitting at the table, coloring a picture for school.
It looked like an ordinary morning.
That somehow made everything worse.
“Good morning, Daddy!” Leo said.
“Good morning, buddy.”
He held up a drawing.
It showed four people standing in front of a house. There was a yellow sun above us and a small dog beside the front door.
“This is our family,” he explained proudly.
I smiled.
“That’s beautiful.”
Then he pointed at the two adults.
“That’s you and Mommy.”
I nodded.
“And that’s me and Lily.”
He looked at the picture again.
“Can you come to my soccer game on Saturday?”
I swallowed.
“Of course.”
He smiled.
“Promise?”
I looked at his little face.
This time, I didn’t want to lie.
“I promise.”
Claire heard the conversation but said nothing.
After the children left for school, I grabbed my car keys.
“I need to go to the office.”
She continued washing the breakfast dishes.
“Okay.”
“Can we talk later?”
“If there’s something important to discuss, we can.”
I wanted to say more, but I couldn’t find the words.
So I left.
At 8:15, I arrived at my accountant’s office.
His name was Robert. He had handled my business finances for nearly six years.
He greeted me with a serious expression and led me into his private office.
“Sit down, Marcus.”
I dropped into the chair.
“Tell me what you know.”
Robert opened a cabinet and removed a thick file.
“Do you remember when you first established your company?”
“Obviously.”
“You started with $40,000 in capital. Twenty thousand came from you. The other twenty thousand came from Claire.”
I frowned.
“That was a personal loan.”
“No. It wasn’t.”
He placed a document in front of me.
It was a copy of our original company incorporation agreement.
I scanned the page.
Then I saw it.
Claire’s name.
Her ownership percentage.
Forty percent.
I stared at the document.
“What is this?”
“Your original shareholder agreement.”
“Claire owns forty percent?”
“Yes.”
I shook my head.
“That can’t be right. I thought she transferred her shares years ago.”
Robert looked uncomfortable.
“She never transferred them.”
My mouth went dry.
“Then why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Because the company records have always listed her as a shareholder. You received copies of the annual filings.”
I tried to remember.
I had signed dozens of documents without reading them carefully.
Robert continued.
“Your wife has also been a guarantor on certain business obligations. But there’s something more important.”
He turned another page.
Over the previous three years, my company had experienced significant financial difficulties.
Several clients had delayed payments. Two major contracts had been canceled. I had continued spending money as though the business was thriving.
I had also used company funds to cover personal expenses.
Robert pointed to several transactions.
“These payments are the reason the accounts don’t balance properly.”
I leaned forward.
“Can this be fixed?”
“Possibly. But you need to understand that company money and marital money are separate issues. You cannot simply move funds around and expect the records to disappear.”
I rubbed my forehead.
“What does Claire know?”
Robert looked at me.
“More than you think.”
He opened another folder.
Inside were emails between Claire and the accounting department.
There were questions about unexplained expenses, missing invoices, and unusual transfers.
She had been investigating for months.
Then Robert said something that made my stomach turn.
“She also discovered that your company was close to losing its largest client.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“You haven’t told her?”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“Marcus, the company is in serious trouble. If you don’t deal with the financial problems immediately, you could lose important contracts and face legal consequences.”
I sat there, feeling as though the room was getting smaller.
For years, I had told Claire that my business was doing well.
I had bought expensive watches, paid for hotel rooms, and taken women to restaurants while telling my wife we needed to be careful with money.
Meanwhile, Claire had been trying to understand why our family savings were disappearing.
I finally understood why she had hired an attorney.
She wasn’t simply preparing for a divorce.
She was protecting herself and our children from financial problems I had created.
When I returned home that afternoon, Claire was sitting in the living room with a laptop.
She looked up.
“Did you speak with Robert?”
I stopped.
“How do you know about Robert?”
“Because he called me yesterday.”
I stared at her.
“You’ve been talking to my accountant?”
“He’s also been handling the company’s financial records. And remember, I’m a shareholder.”
I sat opposite her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Claire closed her laptop.
“Tell you what?”
“That you were investigating the company.”
She looked at me for several seconds.
“Marcus, I asked you about the missing money more than a year ago.”
I remembered.
She had asked why our joint savings account had suddenly dropped.
I had told her I was investing in a new business opportunity.
She had asked for details.
I had become angry and accused her of not trusting me.
“I thought you were trying to control me,” I admitted.
Claire shook her head.
“I was trying to understand what was happening to our family’s money.”
I lowered my eyes.
“Robert told me about the company.”
“I imagine he did.”
“Why didn’t you sell your shares?”
“Because I didn’t want to abandon something I helped build. And because I needed to understand the company’s obligations before making any decisions.”
I leaned forward.
“Can we fix this?”
She looked at me.
“That’s a question you need to answer honestly. Are you asking because you want to save your company, or because you want to save our marriage?”
I opened my mouth.
Nothing came out.
Claire nodded sadly.
“That’s what I thought.”
Then she stood.
“Marcus, I need you to understand something. I didn’t meet Daniel because I wanted another man. I met him because I needed someone who could explain my legal rights without making me feel guilty for asking questions.”
I looked at her.
“Did you ever think about forgiving me?”
She took a long breath.
“Every day.”
Her answer surprised me.
“Even after everything?”
“Especially after everything. I didn’t want our marriage to end. I wanted you to stop making me feel like I was the only person trying to keep it alive.”
She walked toward the window.
“Do you remember our fifth anniversary?”
I nodded.
“You promised we would take the children to the beach the following summer.”
“I remember.”
“You canceled because you said the company needed you.”
I looked down.
Claire continued.
“I later discovered you had spent that weekend with another woman.”
I felt my face burn.
“That was a long time ago.”
“Yes. And I still remember Lily asking why Daddy couldn’t come.”
Claire turned toward me.
“You think betrayal is only about the person you sleep with. But it changes everything. It changes how your children see you. It changes how your wife looks at you. It changes how you remember your own home.”
I couldn’t disagree.
That evening, I made a decision.
I called Vanessa.
She answered immediately.
“Finally! I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Vanessa, we need to talk.”
“Is everything okay?”
“No.”
There was a pause.
“What happened?”
“My wife knows.”
Silence.
Then Vanessa sighed.
“Marcus, I thought you were going to tell her eventually.”
I almost laughed.
Eventually.
Four years of lies had apparently been reduced to a matter of scheduling.
“I’m ending this.”
“What?”
“It’s over, Vanessa.”
“Are you serious? You told me you weren’t happy in your marriage.”
“I lied about a lot of things.”
She became defensive.
“So now you’re going to blame me?”
“No. I’m not blaming you. I made those decisions.”
“Marcus, you said you loved me.”
I closed my eyes.
“I said many things I shouldn’t have said.”
She hung up.
I sat alone in my office for nearly an hour.
Then I deleted the remaining conversations and photographs.
Not because I thought deleting them would erase what I had done.
But because I finally wanted to stop living two different lives.
The following Saturday, Leo’s soccer game began at 10 a.m.
I arrived thirty minutes early.
He was standing near the field with his teammates, wearing his blue uniform.
When he saw me, his entire face lit up.
“DADDY!”
He ran toward me.
I crouched and hugged him.
“You came!”
“I told you I would.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the field.
“Come sit with Mommy and Lily!”
Claire was already there, sitting on a folding chair.
Lily was beside her, eating crackers.
When I approached, Claire looked surprised.
I sat down at the other end of the bench.
We didn’t speak much.
But for the first time in a long time, I watched my son play without checking my phone every few minutes.
When he scored a goal, I stood and shouted louder than anyone.
After the game, he ran toward me.
“Did you see it, Daddy?”
“I saw everything!”
He smiled proudly.
“Will you come next week?”
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