The Night of the Crash
Chapter 15 - The Night of the Crash
Clara agreed to hear her.
They sat in the drawing room.
Rebecca remained standing.
For several seconds, she could not speak.
Then she looked at Clara.
“Your mother called me the night of the accident.”
Clara went still.
Ethan’s chest tightened.
Rebecca continued.
“She was angry with Ethan.”
Ethan frowned.
“About what?”
“Work.”
The word hurt because it was so ordinary.
Laura had wanted Ethan to come home early.
He had stayed at a company dinner.
She had taken Clara to visit Rebecca instead.
On the drive home, snow began falling.
Laura called Rebecca from the car.
“She said she was tired of feeling like she came second to your company,” Rebecca said.
Ethan looked down.
Clara whispered, “Did Mom crash because she was upset?”
“No,” Rebecca said quickly. “The police report was clear. Another driver lost control.”
“Then why hide this?”
Rebecca’s face twisted.
“Because after she died, I blamed him.”
She looked at Ethan.
“And every time you went back to work, I hated you more.”
Ethan said nothing.
Rebecca began crying.
“I told myself I was protecting Clara because you had already failed Laura.”
Clara stared at her.
“So you punished him through me.”
Rebecca flinched.
“No.”
“Yes.”
The word came from Ethan.
Rebecca looked at him.
“You made Clara dependent because it guaranteed she would never be left the way you believed Laura was.”
Rebecca sank into a chair.
“I didn’t plan it like that.”
“No,” Ethan said. “You just kept making choices that felt justified.”
Clara’s eyes were wet.
“Did you know about the trust money?”
Rebecca nodded.
“Yes.”
“Did it affect your decisions?”
A long silence.
Then Rebecca whispered, “Eventually.”
Clara turned her face away.
That was the moment Rebecca finally broke.
Not when Ethan accused her.
Not when the audit exposed her.
When Clara stopped looking at her.
Rebecca agreed to repay what she could.
She agreed to cooperate with investigators.
She did not ask to move back into the house.
At the front door, she turned to Clara.
“I am sorry.”
Clara’s voice was quiet.
“I believe you.”
Rebecca’s face lifted with hope.
Then Clara added, “But believing you’re sorry is not the same as trusting you again.”
May you like
Rebecca nodded.
For once, she accepted a boundary she had not chosen.
