Chapter 15
The notary was emphatic: she had not witnessed June sign the affidavit.
Her commission number and stamp image appeared on the disputed document, but the entry was absent from her journal. She explained that she had notarized unrelated paperwork for Celeste's consulting company months earlier. Dana advised her to preserve those records and consider reporting possible misuse of her identifying information to the appropriate authorities.
Brielle read the summary of the call with a strange emptiness. For weeks she had wanted a single decisive clue. Now the evidence was accumulating, and the consequences ahead looked less like revenge than paperwork, hearings, damaged relationships, and expensive months.
June noticed. "It's all right to be tired," she told her.
"What if we win the building back and still lose our family?"
June considered the question. "Some things have already been lost. But keeping a false peace won't restore them."
Dana sought a temporary order preserving the property while the disputed authority was reviewed. At the hearing, the judge heard from both sides and entered a limited order preventing transfer or encumbrance pending further proceedings. It was not a final ruling that Celeste had committed fraud. The distinction frustrated Brielle and reassured June. A system that demanded proof from Celeste also demanded proof from them.
Brielle attended school on the morning of the hearing even though every nerve urged her toward the courthouse. Ms. Park helped her plan which assignments could reasonably be postponed and which she could finish on schedule. The principal had warned students not to harass classmates about videos circulating online. It did not eliminate the whispers, but the hallway was quieter than it had been a week earlier.
In history class, the teacher discussed how people sometimes confuse an accusation with an established fact. Brielle kept her head down, certain the lesson was directed at her. Afterward the teacher quietly told her it was part of the regular curriculum. Brielle was embarrassed by how completely the scandal had become the center of her attention. She had stopped believing ordinary events could happen without referring to her.
That afternoon, when June brought news of the temporary court order, Brielle did not cheer. The property was protected for now. The accusation against her remained painful. Marcus's silence remained part of the history of their house. Still, the decision created a space in which the adults could examine the evidence without a sale racing ahead of them.
She asked June whether they should celebrate. June suggested buying Naomi a new box of colored pencils and eating dinner together. It was a quiet way to mark a serious achievement. As they walked through the store, Brielle saw blue thread displayed near a row of scissors. For the first time she could look at them without picturing the ruined graduation dress.
Outside the courthouse, reporters from a small local outlet approached. Brielle declined to speak. Naomi had asked not to become a headline, and Brielle honored that decision even though she knew silence could be mistaken for weakness.
Marcus gave Dana another document: a spreadsheet Celeste had used to persuade him the studio owed enormous sums. Its maintenance entries included roof work quoted at nearly three times the contractor's actual estimate, and several payments appeared twice under different labels.
When asked why he hadn't caught the discrepancies, Marcus said, "I trusted the explanation because checking it meant admitting I was lost."
Dana told him to provide a written statement that distinguished his own actions from what Celeste had told him. He would not be allowed to hide behind confusion in sworn testimony.
At June's apartment that night, Naomi climbed onto the couch beside Brielle.
"I don't want Daddy in trouble," she said.
"Neither do I," Brielle answered. "But I don't want him to lie anymore."
"Can both be true?"
"Yes."
Naomi thought about that while turning her graduation tassel between her fingers. "I don't know if I want to live with him again yet."
Brielle felt a protective impulse rise and deliberately held it back. "You can say that. You should tell Grandma and the grown-ups helping us, too."
"What about you?"
"I don't know yet either."
They sat without forcing an answer. Below the apartment window, a bus sighed to a stop and pulled away. Somewhere across town, the studio remained standing behind its repainted door.
May you like
In the morning, Dana received notice that the property's buyer had suspended closing. Hale River wanted to know whether Celeste had misrepresented her authority. The transaction was no longer moving forward.
But Celeste, facing the collapse of the deal, had begun demanding payment from Marcus for debts she claimed he owed her personally.
