Chapter 12 - The Cameras
Cedar House had four exterior security cameras.
Natalie had forgotten about them because Ethan managed the account.
That fact now felt intentional.
Rachel advised her not to contact the anonymous sender yet.
“Preserve everything first.”
Natalie returned home and searched her email for the camera service.
Three years earlier, Ethan had invited her as a secondary account user.
The invitation still worked.
She reset her password.
The service retained only thirty days of standard cloud footage.
But archived clips could be saved manually.
Someone had saved dozens.
Natalie opened February 16.
Ethan’s SUV appeared at 4:12 p.m.
Vanessa stepped out of the passenger side.
Natalie watched without sound.
They unloaded grocery bags.
Ethan carried wine.
Vanessa carried an overnight case.
Natalie’s fingers went numb.
At 7:43 the following morning, they appeared on the back porch.
Vanessa wore Ethan’s Northwestern sweatshirt.
His arm circled her waist.
She kissed his cheek.
Natalie shut the laptop.
For several minutes she could not move.
February.
Not May.
That meant every later confession had contained another border placed around the truth.
She opened January.
Nothing.
December.
Nothing.
November.
Ethan alone.
He had visited Cedar House November 22.
The night he claimed he was attending a supplier dinner in Milwaukee.
He walked around the property taking photographs.
Then another vehicle arrived.
Ruth’s Mercedes.
Natalie stared.
Ethan and his mother spent two hours at the house.
At one point, they stood near the lake pointing toward the eastern acreage.
The land Hawthorne wanted most.
Natalie opened the audio-enabled doorbell clip when they left.
Ruth’s voice was faint but clear.
“She’ll come around if you present it properly.”
Ethan replied, “She won’t if she thinks it’s about the firm.”
Ruth said, “Then don’t make it about the firm.”
Natalie replayed it three times.
A knock sounded downstairs.
She froze.
Then heard Sophie.
“Mom?”
Natalie closed the laptop.
“Yes?”
“Grandma’s here.”
Of course she was.
Natalie went downstairs.
Ruth stood in the foyer.
Ethan had already left for the office.
He had taken two suitcases and agreed to stay with Owen temporarily, though Natalie doubted that arrangement would last after their argument.
Ruth looked at Sophie.
“Could I speak with your mother alone?”
Sophie folded her arms.
“Anything you say to her you can say in front of me.”
“Sophie.”
Natalie said gently, “Go upstairs.”
Her daughter hesitated.
Then obeyed.
Ruth waited until she heard the bedroom door close.
“You hired a lawyer.”
“Ethan told you.”
“He is my son.”
“And I’m beginning to understand what that phrase excuses.”
Ruth ignored it.
“If you file now, the bank may panic.”
“The bank has already frozen the firm’s credit line.”
Ruth’s face changed.
She had not known.
Natalie almost smiled.
Finally, someone in the family had information before Ruth.
“What happened?”
“Owen found the Northline transfers.”
Ruth sat down.
“This can still be stabilized.”
“Why were you at Cedar House last November?”
Ruth looked up sharply.
Natalie watched the calculation.
“Security camera.”
Ruth exhaled.
“We discussed the property.”
“Without me.”
“We were evaluating possibilities.”
“I heard you.”
Ruth’s face went still.
“You told Ethan not to make the sale about the firm.”
“Natalie—”
“You told him I would come around if he presented it properly.”
“I meant that you become defensive when money is involved.”
“Because apparently everybody else handles it with such integrity.”
Ruth’s expression hardened.
“You have no idea how much Ethan has carried.”
Natalie stared.
“His own debt?”
“The expectations of this family.”
“What expectations?”
“To succeed.”
“Whose?”
“His father’s.”
“Charles paid three hundred thousand dollars to clean up Ethan’s previous development disaster.”
Ruth went pale.
“Owen had no right.”
“Was it true?”
Ruth said nothing.
Natalie continued.
“Did Charles leave instructions limiting Ethan’s access to the trust because of it?”
That was a guess.
Ruth’s silence confirmed it.
Natalie’s pulse quickened.
“There are restrictions.”
“Tell me.”
“The trust grants me discretion.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Ruth looked toward the window.
“Charles did not want Ethan receiving a large distribution before fifty.”
“Why?”
“He worried about risk.”
“When does Ethan turn fifty?”
“Six years.”
“And you’ve been giving him money anyway.”
“Within my discretion.”
“Two hundred fifty thousand this year.”
Ruth stiffened.
Natalie leaned forward.
“How much total since Charles died?”
“That is private.”
“Is any of it in Northline?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Because Ethan lies to you too.”
Ruth looked offended.
Natalie almost pitied her.
Almost.
Then Ruth said something unexpected.
“Vanessa told me the affair was over.”
Natalie froze.
“When?”
“July.”
The room went still.
“So you knew about the affair.”
Ruth closed her eyes.
Too late.
Natalie stared at her.
“You told me yesterday you didn’t know.”
“I knew they had crossed a line.”
“What line?”
“They had slept together.”
“Say it.”
Ruth looked at her.
“They had an affair.”
“And you did nothing.”
“I told him to end it.”
“You kept helping with the project.”
“The project was separate.”
Natalie felt rage rise slowly.
“No, Ruth. You decided my marriage was expendable but the deal wasn’t.”
Ruth stood.
“That is not what happened.”
“You knew.”
“I believed he had stopped.”
“You knew.”
“Natalie—”
“You sat across from me at Sophie’s birthday dinner in August.”
Ruth looked away.
“You watched me kiss him.”
“I was trying to keep the family together.”
Natalie’s voice broke.
“By helping everybody except me know why it was falling apart?”
Ruth’s face softened for the first time.
“I am sorry.”
Natalie almost hated that more.
Her phone buzzed.
Another anonymous message.
She looked down.
Ask Ruth who first introduced Ethan to Hawthorne.
Natalie slowly raised her eyes.
“Who introduced Ethan to Hawthorne Ridge?”
Ruth’s face emptied.
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Natalie knew before she answered.
“I did.”
