Chapter 5

After the bank representative answered, I stared at the transfer on my screen and checked the destination account again.

“Please send me the wire confirmation and the full memo.”

The bank's documents arrived a few minutes later. The $182,000 transfer from our joint account had gone to Pacific Crest Escrow. Its reference number matched a condominium near Adrian's treatment center, and the buyer was clearly identified as Adrian Vale.

The wire had been sent on the seventeenth of the previous month, one day before Adrian's birthday.

That afternoon, I had been editing a short film for a nonprofit when Claire messaged me. She said she might move the home fund into escrow and told me not to worry if I noticed a large transaction.

I assumed she had found a suitable property for us, so I told her to handle it.

At Adrian's birthday dinner the following night, I noticed that Claire had not brought him a gift. She smiled and said it had already been arranged, adding that our money would eventually be used for family anyway.

Only now did I understand which home and which family she had meant.

I backed up the bank statements, wire confirmation, and our message history. Then I froze the shared credit card, redirected my salary and project payments to my personal account, and forwarded everything to my attorney.

Once that was done, I sent Claire a message.

We need to discuss the home account.

When she did not respond, I went to her office, checked in at reception, and waited while her assistant confirmed that I could go upstairs. The moment the glass door opened, the first person I saw was Adrian.

He sat on the couch with Claire's arms around him. She was rubbing slow circles over his back. As soon as she noticed me, she released him and stepped between us.

“Ethan, what are you doing here?”

The movement came so naturally that she seemed to expect trouble whenever I entered the same room as Adrian.

I placed the printed wire confirmation on her desk.

“Explain this.”

Claire read the first page, and the tension left her shoulders.

“That's what this is about? I told you last month that I was moving the down payment into escrow. You said it was fine.”

“You never told me Adrian was the buyer.”

“His treatment center is nearby, and his doctor said a stable home would help his recovery.” She pushed the document back toward me. “We hadn't signed a contract on the house we wanted. Waiting a few more months won't cost us anything.”

“That was five years of our savings.”

“The money hasn't disappeared. It's in escrow for a property.” She glanced at Adrian behind her. “After treatment, he can refinance the loan or repay us over time. We're family, Ethan. Does it really matter that Adrian is the buyer?”

“The purchase agreement is in his name, the title will transfer to him at closing, and the down payment came from us.”

“Adrian has no reliable income right now, so he couldn't qualify for a mortgage on his own. I agreed to co-sign the loan.” Her words came faster. “You and I both have careers. We can save again. Do you expect him to finish treatment and return to an unstable rental?”

She still believed I could be asked to wait again.

When Claire and I first met, she had cared about Adrian while still knowing where to stop. During our first anniversary dinner, he called because his car had broken down. She arranged roadside assistance, turned off her phone, and stayed with me until dessert.

Later, when Adrian asked to join one of our vacations, she told him clearly that it was time reserved for us as a couple.

I could no longer remember which crisis had convinced her that Adrian never had to respect a boundary. At some point, every compromise became mine to make.

Now he had the legal marriage that should have been ours and the money we had saved for a home. Claire still spoke as though both could simply be replaced.

I had no interest in debating who deserved the condominium.

“Cancel the purchase, have Adrian repay the funds, or replace them yourself. That's your decision.”

Claire frowned and opened her mouth, but I placed my attorney's contact information on top of the transfer record.

“Return the full $182,000 to the home account within forty-eight hours. After that, my attorney will handle the division of our finances.”