Chapter 37 #2
“He was never mine,” I snap, the words stinging my throat. “She was apparently his student too. Ten years ago. And she was in love with him. They had an affair. He got bored like he always does, moved on to the next girl, but they stayed close. Maybe she’s still in love with him.”
Lucie’s face contorts, disgust etched into every line. “It’s incredible what women will just give away for free. Astounding. What does that douchebag have to do with any of this?”
My throat and stomach are still tight with rage twinged with irrational jealousy.
I’m furious that this man who ripped my tender heart to shreds and crumpled my ambition in his hands is now the reason all of this will fall apart.
But it’s not just for him. Stella too. Stella let me go on and on about my affair with Pascal and never once mentioned knowing him or bringing him into this.
“He’s one of the experts Stella reached out to, that she trusted as part of her inner circle, who she thought would be willing to help her prove the paintings in the Orsay were fakes.”
“Pascal? Why wouldn’t she tell us? She knew about you and him.”
“Exactly. Why wouldn’t she?” I say. “And why bring him into all this? It’s sloppy. He went to Caroline, but he had no idea what Stella was planning next. That’s why Caroline needed me.”
“Needed you to what?”
I whisper it, because once it’s out there, everything we’ve worked so hard for may just disappear. “To bring her here.”
“She’s here? In Amsterdam? Is her father here?” Panic frays the edges of Colette’s words.
“I don’t think so, no. This is where it gets strange.”
“Everything to do with this family is strange.” Lucie throws her hands up. “I don’t even know if you could surprise me with anything any longer, though Pascal is a real curveball.” Her voice softens. “How do you feel?”
“Oh god.” I press my palms against my eyes, hard enough to see stars.
“Honestly I can’t feel anything about it or him.
There are too many other feelings to have.
Namely terror that we’re all going to jail.
But Caroline doesn’t seem to want to tell her father.
I got the sense that maybe she hates him as much as Stella does.
She came after me in order to bring her here, to Stella. ”
Lucie paces, her heels clicking against the floor like a ticking clock. Her arms wrapped tightly around herself, knuckles white.
And then I hear her.
“Did Caroline come with you, my love?” The endearment that floats down the stairs feels like a threat.
Stella stands at the top of the whirling staircase, a silhouette against the dim light, watching us. Her tone is casual, as if we’re discussing who is coming to a dinner party.
“I thought you were sleeping,” I manage, my voice strangled. “Did you hear everything?”
“I did.” A smile stretches across her lips, too wide and too pleased. She claps her hands together and glides down the stairs with unnerving grace. Suddenly, she doesn’t look tired at all.
“Yes. This is wonderful. It’s all going splendidly. Exactly to plan.”
My stomach drops. Every suspicion I had about her is confirmed.
“I can’t wait to see her,” Stella continues, practically purring. “When is she arriving?”
I want to lunge at her, grab her and shake her. We’re not players in this game. We’re pawns.
“What the hell is going on here?” I scream, my voice echoing off the walls. I don’t know what to ask first. “You want her here?”
“She’s been part of my plan all along.” Stella’s eyes gleam with a manic light.
“Why do you think I bothered with Pascal? He isn’t nearly as good at his job as he thinks he is.
We need Caroline and I knew he would run to her and tell her about you and me working together.
I suspected she would then come to you in order to learn more. ”
“Why not just go straight to Caroline?”
“Because I know her too well. She’s a woman who likes to put together a puzzle, to cipher things out for herself. And besides, this has all been easier with me dead until now. Caroline is going to be our secret weapon.”
I can’t control my rage. I get right up in Stella’s face, but she doesn’t back away. “How dare you fuck around with us like this! Our lives are at stake, and you’re keeping us in the dark about half of your plans!”
I expect her to deny it, to deflect with some cleverly crafted excuse or witty retort, but she says nothing. The silence only feeds my fury.
“Your granddaughter locked me in her goddamn bunker without food or water for two days.” My voice trembles with barely contained rage. “I thought she was going to murder me. We’ve stolen for you. We’ve lied for you. And you repay us like this?”
She finally takes a step back, crosses her arms in front of her. “I didn’t think that is how she would go about speaking to you or reaching out.”
“Did you know my mother wasn’t dead, Stella?”
“I suspected,” she says evenly. “I thought it was a way for her to separate you from us, to test the waters.”
“She fucking starved me, Stella. Locked me in that crypt below your castle.”
“I didn’t…I knew she would likely get in touch. I didn’t think she was capable…of that.” Stella reaches for me, but I hit her arm away hard. I don’t care if I hurt her.
Lucie puts a hand on my shoulder. “Emma…” She trails off, because there are no words for what’s happening.
My entire body vibrates with anger. “I want nothing to do with any of this.” I stare directly at Stella.
“Nothing to do with you. Find another patsy.” I’m done.
I don’t care about the money or the security or any of the other things Stella promised us at the end of this fiasco.
None of it matters if we’re just sacrificial lambs in her grand scheme.
But before I can storm out, there’s a knock on the door, followed quickly by the turn of a knob.
“Hello, Grandmum,” Caroline says coolly as she strolls in.
“You’re the only one I ever allowed to call me that.”
I’m woozy from the outburst, caught off guard by Caroline’s sudden entry.
Lucie pulls me down onto the couch between her and Colette as Stella crosses the room with measured steps until she stands directly before Caroline.
Despite the dramatic height difference between them, Stella manages to stare her granddaughter squarely in the eyes.
“You look more and more like your grandfather,” Stella says softly.
“Around the eyes.” Pain flickers across Caroline’s face.
“I missed you,” Stella continues, undeterred. “Every day.”
“You chose to get rid of me,” Caroline counters, her voice brittle.
“No. That’s not true…Your father said you wanted nothing to do with me.”
“Father told me you thought I was a disrespectful little brat.”
I can’t take it anymore. “Oh my god, stop it. Don’t you both see what happened?
He turned you against one another. I’m so sorry that both of you got played by Louis Swanson.
This really could have been avoided if you had fucking talked to each other, but that seems to be something your family is the worst at…
in addition to treating one another like basic human beings. ”
“I remain very confused,” Lucie interjects. Colette seems to have stopped breathing entirely.
“I think that’s what they want,” I retort.
“I wanted you, Caroline.” Stella isn’t paying me any attention.
Her eyes are on her granddaughter. Her hand lifts slightly, as if she might reach for Caroline’s face, then drops back to her side.
“I tried so many times to reach out, but your father brushed me off every time. I even asked if you could live with us full-time instead of being sent off to school in year ten.”
“Did you know that was the year he encouraged me to spend the night with the son of a Russian billionaire who was willing to pay nearly a hundred million for a set of three obscure Monets?” Caroline volleys back.
“We were both fifteen and the boy wanted to lose his virginity to a Westerner.” Her face contorts in disgust at the memory.
None of us ask if she agreed to it; we can tell that she did and that she didn’t truly have a choice.
“I begged to live with you then. He produced a letter from you saying to leave you alone.”
“It wasn’t real,” Stella pleads.
“How could I have known?” Despite her poise and grit, Caroline now appears as a terrified teenager to me, desperate for an escape. The two formidable women face off in a staring contest that the rest of us can only observe.
“You could have fought harder,” Caroline finally adds, the accusation hanging in the air.
“Yes,” Stella admits simply. “I could have.” The unexpected acknowledgment seems to disarm Caroline more than any defense could have. Her shoulders drop a fraction of an inch; the rigid line of her jaw softens.
“And you could have done more to make sure he didn’t bankrupt me and try to lock me away in a loony bin,” Stella adds. “Perhaps we’re even.”
A look passes between the two women then, family secrets they will probably never reveal to the three of us. The air is heavy with their history. My eyes dart between them as I try to keep up.
“I don’t know if we’re even,” Caroline says. “You are setting out to destroy my company.”
“It was all of ours.”
“Not officially. Did you go to Pascal, knowing he would come to me?”
“I did,” Stella admits evenly. “I’d heard the rumors about the two of you.”
Caroline’s voice hardens. “And what if I told my father about your schemes?”
“I gambled you wouldn’t. You aren’t like him.”
“Oh, I am in many ways. He made sure of that.”
“But you love the art.” Stella’s voice softens slightly with nostalgia. “He never has.”
Caroline just nods, because maybe that’s true. Then, after a pause, she finally reveals why she came.
“I would like to be the one to expose the fraud.” Her voice is measured, deliberate. “Let me be the whistleblower here. It has to be me if the rest of the company is going to stay intact. If anything is to remain of Swanson Enterprises and Grandfather’s legacy.”