Chapter 5 - THE SISTER WHO WAS ALWAYS SECOND
Natalie agreed to meet without lawyers.
Claire almost refused.
Then accepted.
They sat on the terrace of a neutral hotel.
Natalie wore no pearls.
Good.
Claire placed the Meridian documents on the table.
“You own ten percent.”
Natalie looked at them.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I helped.”
“With what?”
“Introductions. Family contacts. Vendor relationships.”
Claire laughed.
“You planned to buy into Mom’s company using Ethan’s divorce money.”
Natalie’s face hardened.
“You mean your company.”
There it was.
Old resentment.
Claire leaned back.
“Say it.”
Natalie did.
“Mom gave you everything.”
“No.”
“She gave you control.”
“Because I worked there.”
“I worked there too.”
“You worked events.”
“I was twenty-two.”
“You quit.”
“Because Mom treated me like an intern forever.”
Claire looked away.
That part was true.
Margaret Whitmore had believed Claire was serious and Natalie was social.
Maybe she had helped make that identity permanent.
Natalie continued.
“You got the board seat. The trust. The house. The respect.”
“I got responsibility.”
“You got chosen.”
Claire looked at her sister.
Natalie’s eyes were wet.
Then:
“Ethan was the first person who said maybe Mom was wrong.”
Claire’s face changed.
Of course.
That was how he got in.
Not with romance first.
With validation.
Natalie whispered:
“He said I understood people better than you. He said Whitmore needed me.”
“And then he slept with you.”
“Yes.”
“While married to me.”
Natalie looked away.
Claire said:
“Your pain is real.”
Natalie looked back.
“So you understand?”
“No.”
Claire leaned forward.
“I understand why you wanted my life.”
Then:
“I do not understand why you thought taking my husband would give it to you.”
May you like
Natalie flinched.
Good.
