“She doesn’t have to say it. It’s the way she looks at me. The way she answers questions. The way she acts as if everything she owns is too precious to share.””
I pulled a chair away from the dining table.
“Let’s discuss the things she actually did.””
Ashley sat on the sofa.
“Fine.””
“You wanted her to help us buy a three-million-dollar house.””
“We could afford it with her help.””
“That wasn’t my question. You wanted her to help us buy it, and she offered to contribute toward a less expensive property. Why was that an insult?””
“Because she made me feel like I wasn’t good enough.””
“She didn’t say that.””
“She didn’t have to.””
I nodded slowly.
“And you wanted access to the company’s sports suite.””
“For a birthday party.””
“Which she offered to reschedule.””
“After I’d invited everyone.””
“And she gave you a spa gift certificate instead of the designer handbag she gave Rachel.””
Ashley looked at me sharply.
“How do you know about that?””
“Mom told me.””
“Of course she did.””
“What would have happened if she had given you the handbag?””
“I would have felt appreciated.””
“What if she had given you a more expensive gift?””
“Daniel, why are you interrogating me?””
“Because I’m trying to understand what you believe you are entitled to.””
Her expression hardened.
“I am your wife. I should not have to beg for basic respect.””
“Respect isn’t the same thing as access to someone’s money.””
She stood.
“You keep saying that as though I’m some gold digger.””
“I haven’t called you that.””
“But you’re thinking it.””
I didn’t answer.
She walked toward the window, her heels clicking against the hardwood floor.
“Do you know what my parents think?”” she asked.
“No.””
“They think your family has treated me like an outsider from the beginning. My mother says Diane deliberately keeps me at a distance because she’s afraid of losing control over you.””
I frowned.
“Your mother said that?””
“Yes.””
“What exactly has Mom done to keep you at a distance?””
Ashley turned around.
“She hasn’t made any effort to include me in her financial plans.””
I stared at her.
“Why should she include you in her financial plans?””
“Because we’re married!””
“You married me, not my mother’s bank account.””
The words came out before I could stop them.
Ashley went very still.
For the first time, she looked genuinely offended rather than angry.
“That’s cruel.””
“Is it?””
“Yes. You know I love you.””
I looked at her face, searching for the woman who had laughed with me on our first date, who had cried when I told her about my father, who had held my hand at the cemetery and promised that she wanted to build a family with me.
I still remembered those moments clearly.
I couldn’t tell whether they had been genuine.
That uncertainty was almost unbearable.
“Then tell me something,” I said.
“If Mom owned no company, had no trust, and had no money to give us, would you still have married me?””
Ashley stared at me.
“That’s a ridiculous question.””
“Answer it.””
“Of course I would.””
“Then why does everything you want from her involve money?””
“Because it’s not just about money!””
“What is it about?””
She threw her hands up.
“It’s about respect. It’s about being treated like a member of the family. It’s about not having to live like we’re ordinary people when we have the means to do better.””
I looked around the apartment.
The marble kitchen island. The floor-to-ceiling windows. The furniture we had chosen together. The designer handbag resting on the console table.
“We’re not living like ordinary people?””
Ashley looked at me as if I’d deliberately misunderstood her.
“You know what I mean.””
I did.
She wanted the kind of life where every door opened because of the Bennett name. Where she never had to wait for a promotion, save for a house, or wonder whether a restaurant was too expensive.
And she believed my mother was standing between her and that life.
I took a breath.
“Did you submit a request to Bennett Freight for confidential documents under my name?””
Ashley didn’t move.
“What?””
“The succession documents. The share agreements. The estate records.””
Her face changed.
It was subtle, but unmistakable.
“Who told you that?””
“That’s not an answer.””
She looked away.
“I was trying to help you.””
“How?””
“You never pay attention to the financial side of your family. Someone had to understand what was happening.””
“You signed my name?””
“I didn’t forge anything.””
“Then why did Rachel say the signature didn’t match mine?””
Ashley pressed her lips together.
“I was told the request was only an administrative formality.””
“By whom?””
She hesitated.
