Claire
The following morning, I bought flowers and returned.
The same woman opened the door. “You again?”
“Yes.”
“I told you…”
“I’m not here to take your apartment.”
She hesitated.
“My husband was Richard. He died thirty-two years ago. I’m very ill, and I don’t know how much time I have left.”
Her expression softened.
“I only want the truth.”
She looked at the flowers. “Why did you bring those?”
“Because my mother taught me not to arrive empty-handed.”
She almost smiled. “My name is Claire.”
“Mrs. Wilson.”
“I know.”
My heart sank. “You know me?”
“I’m sorry about yesterday,” Claire said. “When I saw you, I panicked.”
“Why?”
“I thought you’d come to take the apartment. And I was terrified you’d discover the truth about Richard.”
“What truth? What are you hiding from me?”
She hesitated, then stepped aside.
“Come inside.”
The apartment was beautiful.
On the shelf stood Richard’s photograph.
Claire picked it up. “He loved this picture.”
“Did you work with Richard?”
She shook her head.
“Then how did you know him?”
She hesitated. “Richard and I were together for almost four years.”
I felt the room tilt. “Together?”
“Yes.”
“As friends?”
“No.”
I sat down. “Four years?”
She nodded. “His business trips brought him to Paris. That’s how we met.”
I had a terrible feeling the affair wasn’t the last secret Richard had kept from me.
“He was married.”
“I knew.”
“And you continued?”
“Yes.”
“He bought this place for you?”
“For us. He purchased it in his name.”
“He wrote that it was for me.”
Claire looked uncomfortable. “I know about that letter.”
“You knew?”
“Not everything. But enough.”
“Then why is this apartment yours?”
“Richard transferred it into my name a few months before he died.”
“Wait. How did he know he was going to die? His heart attack was sudden.”
“He’d been having serious heart problems. Doctors warned him another attack could happen at any moment.”
“He never told me.”
“He didn’t want to worry you.”
“Then why did he give you the apartment?”
“He wanted to make sure I had somewhere to live, even if we separated.”
She showed me the documents.
“So that’s why I never knew about it.”
May you like
Claire nodded. “It was no longer part of his estate.”
At least I finally understood what had happened to the apartment. But I was beginning to wonder whether I’d ever really known the man I’d married.
