Chapter 9 - The Hotel
I expected freedom to feel exciting.
Instead, my first night at the hotel felt empty.
No Diane opening cabinets.
No Madison calling from another room.
No Eric asking why I was “making things difficult.”
Just silence.
I ordered room service and barely touched it.
At 9:08, Eric called.
I ignored him.
9:11.
Again.
9:19.
Again.
At 9:24, he texted.
Mom is freaking out. Madison is crying. Please call me.
I turned my phone over.
At 10:02:
We need to discuss housing.
At 10:18:
You can’t just disappear.
At 10:31:
I’m sorry.
That one almost made me answer.
Almost.
The next morning, Rachel came to the hotel.
She brought coffee and divorce papers.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then read everything.”
I did.
Slowly.
There was no dramatic fortune to fight over.
Separate accounts.
The house was mine.
Our joint savings would be divided.
Cars were straightforward.
No children.
The marriage looked surprisingly simple on paper.
Human beings were the complicated part.
Rachel tapped the house file.
“Buyer’s inspection came back clean.”
“So we’re good?”
“Mostly.”
“What does mostly mean?”
“Eric could become difficult about leaving.”
“He knows he has to.”
“Knowing and doing are different.”
My phone buzzed.
Madison.
I nearly ignored it.
Then another message arrived.
Please. This isn’t about Eric.
I opened it.
Can I come see you? Alone?
I showed Rachel.
“What do you think?”
“Public place.”
We met at a café downstairs.
Madison arrived wearing a gray maternity sweater.
She looked exhausted.
She sat across from me.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she said, “I owe you an apology.”
I waited.
“I shouldn’t have moved in like that.”
“No.”
“I thought Eric had talked to you.”
“He hadn’t.”
“I know that now.”
I studied her.
“What changed?”
She stared at her tea.
“Mom.”
“What about her?”
“She’s telling everyone you’re unstable.”
I almost laughed.
“Of course she is.”
“She said you’re having some kind of breakdown and selling the house impulsively.”
“I expected that.”
“There’s more.”
Madison swallowed.
“She wants Eric to challenge the prenup.”
“He can try.”
“She thinks if she proves you were hiding money during the marriage, he can get part of the house.”
I leaned back.
“Hiding money?”
“I told her that sounded insane.”
“It is.”
Madison rubbed her stomach.
“Eric didn’t.”
My chest tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“He met with a lawyer this morning.”
Silence.
“He told me he doesn’t want a divorce,” she continued. “But Mom says he needs to protect himself.”
I smiled without humor.
“Protect himself from what?”
Madison looked directly at me.
“From you leaving with everything.”
My phone rang.
Rachel.
She had gone upstairs thirty minutes earlier.
I answered.
“Claire,” she said. “I just received notice from Eric’s attorney.”
I looked at Madison.
“What notice?”
May you like
Rachel paused.
“He’s threatening to seek an emergency order delaying the sale.”
