“You want the truth? Fine. Daniel came to me because he was worried about you. He said you were spiraling. He said you were paranoid about money.”
I stared at her.
“He came to you?”
Courtney’s chin lifted.
“Yes.”
“When?”
She hesitated.
And that hesitation told me the answer before she did.
I felt my stomach drop.
“Before the divorce,” I said.
Courtney said nothing.
The dining room seemed to tilt.
My mother looked away.
I turned to her.
“You knew.”
Patricia’s mouth tightened.
“Daniel was trying to manage an impossible situation.”
“How long?”
Courtney rolled her eyes.
“Don’t be pathetic.”
“How long?”
My voice cracked across the room like a whip.
Courtney flinched.
For once, everyone saw it.
She recovered fast, but not fast enough.
“It wasn’t like that,” she said.
Thomas Vail muttered, “Good Lord.”
Rebecca closed her eyes for half a second, like even she needed patience.
I looked at my sister. My beautiful, polished, cruel younger sister who had spent our childhood taking my clothes, my friends, my achievements, and somehow convincing our mother that I was selfish for noticing.
“You slept with my husband.”
Courtney’s face hardened.
“He was leaving you anyway.”
There it was.
The final little blade.
Gasps moved through the room.
My mother snapped, “Courtney.”
But it was too late.
Courtney had always loved winning more than surviving.
I nodded slowly.
“Thank you.”
She blinked.
“For what?”
“For saying it in front of witnesses.”
Rebecca was already typing on her phone.
Courtney realized it then.
Her mouth opened.
“No. No, that’s not—”
I sat back down.
My legs were steady, but only barely.
The girl I had been five years ago would have collapsed. The woman I had become knew better than to waste a public confession.
My mother stepped closer to me.
“Madeline, please. Whatever happened between Daniel and Courtney was private.”
I looked at her.
“You just demanded I be publicly removed from my own club because I embarrassed you by existing.”
Patricia’s face reddened.
“Family protects family.”
“No,” I said. “You protect Courtney. You use me.”
Courtney laughed bitterly.
“Oh, please. You’ve been jealous of me since I was born.”
I looked at her for a long moment.
Then I smiled.
That unsettled her more than anger would have.
“You know what’s funny?” I said. “I used to believe that.”
Courtney frowned.