Caroline stood suddenly.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
“No.”
Her voice grew louder.
“This is insane.”
Peter said:
“Caroline.”
“No! He pays Henry’s debt and then gives her everything?”
Elena closed her eyes.
Caroline turned on Simon.
“And me?”
Simon sighed.
“Caroline.”
“What did I supposedly get early?”
No one answered.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
Simon looked uncomfortable.
Caroline’s voice sharpened.
“Say it.”
“Your London studio.”
She went still.
“No.”
“Julian purchased the building through a holding company eleven years ago.”
Caroline stared.
“No.”
“He charged your company below-market rent.”
“That’s a lie.”
“It isn’t.”
“No.”
“He intended to transfer the property to you after ten years.”
Caroline whispered:
“He never told me.”
“No.”
Her face collapsed.
“Why?”
Simon looked at the letter again.
“He wrote that you would have refused it if you knew.”
Caroline shook her head.
“No.”
“He knew you wanted to believe you had built everything without him.”
Caroline looked physically sick.
Peter sat staring at the floor.
Then slowly lifted his head.
“And me?”
Nobody answered.
Peter laughed softly.
“Go on.”
Simon looked at him.
“Your children’s school fees.”
Peter frowned.
“I knew about those.”
“Not all of them.”
Peter stared.
Simon continued.
“And the mortgage on your Brussels apartment.”
Peter went still.
“I paid that mortgage.”
“You paid part.”
Peter closed his eyes.
The room became quiet in an entirely different way.
Their outrage had nowhere clean to go anymore.
