Page 88 of The Family Guest

“I hope so,” she spluttered. “In the meantime, Natalie, I have a huge favor to ask of you.”

She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. I waited for her to continue.

“Can you pay the tuition? It’s due before the end of the month.”

I processed her words. Coldwater’s annual tuition was almost fifty thousand dollars. Right now with Jason Nussbaum in the picture, I couldn’t front that kind of money as much as I wanted to help her out.

“I’m sorry, honey. I can’t do that right now.”

“Why not?” she sniffled. “Papa will pay you back.”

“I just can’t. Why don’t you ask Matt?”

“I did! He refused. He’s mad at me and thinks I stole his mother’s pearls. Which I didn’t…I swear on my life. He wants me to leave. Go back home.”

My heart was breaking for her, but I had to face my new harsh reality. “I’m so sorry, honey. But, honestly, right now, with what’s going on, it’s probably for the better.”

“What do you mean? I thought you loved me like a daughter.”

“I do.” And then the words just tumbled out. “But Matt and I are getting divorced.”

I instantly regretted them. The cat was out of the bag.

Tanya’s mouth fell open. Her voice rose decibels. “How could you do that?”

At a loss for words, I watched as she picked up the half-full bottle of wine and flung it against a wall. Slam. As the bottle smashed into smithereens, she screamed, “I hate you, Natalie,” and stormed out of the room, leaving behind no trace of her English accent.

I was shaking like a leaf. Maybe she was just acting out, but her act of violence totally unnerved me. Especially in my vulnerable state. This day had just gone from bad to worse.

And who knew what the rest of this year would bring.

The horrific reality of what I was doing hit me like a landslide. Something I’d vowed to never let happen. A bitter mixture of guilt, sorrow, and self-loathing burned through me.

I was breaking up my family.

FORTY-SEVEN

NATALIE

The first letter came exactly one week after I met with Jason Nussbaum. The first Monday in December.

I found it in our mailbox. It was simply marked Merritt on the outside. Thinking it was a notification from a neighbor who’d lost their cat, or a realtor offering to sell our house, I ripped the business-size white envelope open. Inside was a folded single sheet of paper. I unfolded it.

Written in red marker, in uppercase letters, it read:

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID.

My stomach twisted. Who could this be from? And what were they referring to? There were so many things I’d done. Things I’d tried to bury. I reread the five words and a thought popped into my head. Maybe this cryptic note was for Matt. Besides cheating on me and having an illegitimate child somewhere in England, had he done something illegal like insider trading? I wouldn’t put it past the greedy bastard. Unsure, I tore it up and tossed the scraps into the trash.

I forgot about the note until another one showed up the following Monday. One word written in red uppercase letters:

BITCH!

This time I knew it was directed at me. A shiver ran through me. Impulsively, I speed-dialed my high-priced attorney, Jason Nussbaum. After I told him about the notes, he asked me to text a photo of the latest one.

“Does your husband know you’re filing for divorce?” he asked upon receiving it.

I hesitated before replying. I’d inadvertently told our exchange student Tanya in a moment of weakness. Had she told Matt?