“You knew the entire time I wasn’t going?”

He gave a small shrug.

“I didn’t want to deal with drama before the trip.”

I almost laughed.

Lorraine tilted her head.

“Use the week to think about where you fit into this family.”

Dana actually laughed.

Something inside me became very calm.

Not angry.

Calm.

I looked at Mark again.

“Who paid for the villa?”

He rolled his eyes.

“Claire, don’t start.”

“I asked you a question.”

“You paid the deposit. I took care of everything else.”

That answer mattered more than he realized.

For nearly a year, Mark had been encouraging me to move more of my consulting income into our joint accounts.

He called it trust.

I had started calling it suspicious.

Especially after I noticed repeated transfers to a development company connected to one of his old college friends.

Whenever I asked about them, Mark insisted they were temporary investments.

So I had quietly begun keeping copies.

Bank statements.

Transfers.

Emails.

Anything that seemed unusual.

Standing in the foyer, I simply stepped aside.

“Have a nice trip.”

Mark blinked.