Chapter 9 - Charles Explained Why He Had Stayed Silent
Daniel invited Charles Benton to lunch.
Just the two of them.
Daniel was angry.
Not because Charles helped Emily.
Because he had known Rebecca’s history and said nothing.
“You sat at my engagement dinner.”
“Yes.”
“You attended the wedding.”
“Yes.”
“You knew what happened with your brother.”
“Yes.”
“And you never thought to mention it?”
Charles set down his fork.
“I considered it.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Because Rebecca did not steal from us.”
“I know.”
“She did not forge documents.”
“I know.”
“She was hired into an impossible family dynamic and exercised too much authority.”
Daniel stared.
Charles continued.
“When she left, Andrew blamed her publicly for things he had encouraged privately.”
“That made me cautious about telling another man what his fiancée supposedly was.”
Daniel sat back.
Charles had a point.
Then Charles said:
“I also watched you use her.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
“For what?”
“To say no.”
The same truth again.
Charles continued.
“At dinners, Emily would ask you something. You would look at Rebecca.”
“She became the person who decided:
schedule,
money,
access.”
“You looked relieved.”
Daniel stared down at the table.
Charles said:
“If I had told you Rebecca had a history of becoming too powerful inside families that hate boundaries, what would you have said eighteen months ago?”
Daniel knew.
He would have defended her.
Maybe ended the friendship.
Then Charles added:
“I should have said something when I saw the pattern becoming specific.”
That mattered too.
No one got to hide behind:
you wouldn’t have listened
forever.
Daniel nodded.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For giving Emily the documents.”
Charles smiled.
“She asked the right question.”
Then Daniel reached into his wallet.
The wedding invitation was still there.
He tore it in half.
Charles looked amused.
“Dramatic.”
“I paid for the ballroom. I’m allowed one gesture.”
May you like
Fair.
---
