He Locked Me Out Now He’s Begging Me Back Chapter 24
Friday after work, I had just reached my apartment building when I saw Daniel standing outside the lobby.
He was holding takeout from my favorite Thai restaurant. When he saw me, he quickly forced a smile.
“I didn’t tell you I was coming. I thought you might refuse to see me.”
“What do you want?”
He held the bag out. “Tomorrow’s Tessa’s birthday. My mom and a few relatives are coming over. Come home and have dinner with us, okay?”
I didn’t take it.
“I’m working this weekend.”
“It won’t take long.” He paused. “I checked with one of your coworkers. You don’t have anything important this weekend.”
I looked up at him. “You contacted my coworker?”
“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t using work as an excuse.”
He said it as if there were nothing strange about investigating my schedule behind my back, as if this were normal concern between spouses.
I turned to swipe my building access fob, but he reached out and blocked the door.
“Claire, the relatives are already talking. They think something’s wrong between us, and they’re saying Tessa took your room and made you live in the ADU. If you show up tomorrow, the rumors will die on their own.”
“That’s not a rumor.”
I looked at him. “You signed papers promising Noah a full school year here. You made me a guest whose access expired in twenty-one days. And now Tessa wants to use our home equity to buy herself an apartment. Which part of that is false?”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I admit I handled things badly. But a birthday only comes once a year. Just help me out this one time.”
“How? By standing there in front of everyone and lying that I invited Tessa into the master bedroom and agreed to use our house to finance her apartment?”
He said nothing.
That was answer enough.
I stepped around him and went into the lobby.
Behind me, Daniel called out, “Claire, you’re part of this family, too!”
I stopped, but I didn’t turn around.
“Then why is it that every time you need to prove your daughter has a home, I’m the one who has to disappear?”