Chương 5
“You had one glass of wine.”
Victoria felt a cold sensation move through her chest.
“You told me I was drunk.”
“No. Richard did.”
“You agreed with him.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I know.”
Victoria’s voice rose for the first time.
“Then why did you let me believe it?”
Madeline’s expression hardened defensively.
“Because when you’re standing in a hospital room and Richard Hale tells you that the version of the night you remember is medically unreliable, that his attorneys will handle everything, that the police will turn your name into a headline, and that your fiancé’s entire career depends on his goodwill, you make worse decisions than you imagine you will.”
“That is a very polished explanation.”
“I’ve had eleven weeks to hate it.”
Victoria looked toward the windows.
Traffic moved thirty floors below.
She could see headlights on the avenue.
Her father used to bring her to this apartment when it was still being built. He had stood where her kitchen was now and told her she would never need curtains because nobody could see into a home this high.
At sixteen she had believed him.
At thirty-two she had curtains.
“Where’s the copy?”
Madeline reached beneath the layers of her wedding skirt.
Victoria stared.
“There’s a pocket.”
“You have pockets?”
“Yes.”
“That’s unfair.”
Madeline almost smiled.
Then she removed a folded piece of paper sealed inside a clear plastic sleeve.
Victoria took it.
The first page was a printed screenshot of an email.
FROM: Richard Hale.
TO: Madeline Brooks.
Time: 4:41 A.M.
Keep the registration as Brooks until discharge. Do not involve Ethan. Do not contact law enforcement unless I authorize it. My team will manage the rest. Delete this message once you have read it.
Victoria read it twice.
“That’s real?”
“Yes.”
“How did you keep it?”
“I took a photo of the email with Ethan’s old tablet before Nolan took my phone.”
“Why?”
Madeline’s laugh held no humor.
“Because your father had just told me to delete evidence.”
“Why didn’t you give this to me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Three days after you left the hospital.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I came to your apartment.”
Victoria remembered a message from the doorman.
Ms. Brooks is downstairs.
She had told him to send Madeline away.
“I thought you were the one who hurt me.”
“I know.”
“Did Richard tell you that?”
“No.”
“Who did?”
Madeline hesitated.
“Ethan.”
Victoria stared at her.
A silence opened between them.
“Ethan told you I thought you hurt me?”
“No. Ethan told me you had accused someone before you lost consciousness.”
“Who?”
“He didn’t say.”
“How would Ethan know?”
Madeline rubbed her arms.
“He was at the foundation that night.”
Victoria sat down.
Not because she intended to.
Her knees simply bent.
Madeline remained standing.
“He told me he had left before midnight,” Victoria said.
“He lied.”
“How long was he there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Madeline.”
“I don’t.”
“Stop protecting him.”
“I’m not.”
“You married him six hours ago.”
“And I’m standing in your apartment in my wedding dress.”
That ended the argument.
Victoria looked again at the email.
“What happened before you found me?”
Madeline sat on the edge of a chair only after Victoria nodded.
“I came to the foundation because Ethan wasn’t answering.”
“Why were you looking for him?”
“We’d had a fight.”
“About?”
Madeline stared at her hands.
“You.”
Victoria gave a tired laugh.
“Of course.”
“Not like that.”
“Then like what?”
“He’d been worried about you for weeks.”
“Before I got hurt?”
“Yes.”
Victoria’s fingers tightened around the paper.
“Why?”
“He said you were fighting with Richard over something at Hale Meridian.”
“I fight with Richard over breakfast reservations.”
“This was different.”
It had been.
Victoria had spent seven months reviewing the foundation’s grant structure after finding payments to consulting firms that seemed to exist only on paper. The money was not enough to threaten Hale Meridian. It was enough to threaten reputations.
She had assumed the irregularities belonged to a vice president trying to impress donors.
Then she had found Richard’s initials.
She never told Madeline.
Apparently she had told Ethan enough.
“What did Ethan say?”
“That you’d found something.”
“What?”
“He wouldn’t tell me.”
“Why would he know?”
“He used to review foundation investments.”
Three years earlier.
Before Richard promoted him into the corporate group.
Victoria had forgotten.
Or chosen to.
Madeline continued.
“He said Richard was furious because you refused to sign something.”
A memory came.
A conference room.
A stack of documents.
Richard’s watch tapping once against the table.
You are confusing suspicion with expertise, Victoria.
She had refused to authorize a restructuring of the foundation accounts.
That had been four hours before she woke in a hospital.
Victoria stood.
“I need Ethan.”
Madeline looked miserable.
“So do I.”
Victoria called him.
He answered before the first ring finished.
“Where are you?”
“My apartment.”
“Come here.”
Silence.
“Is Madeline with you?”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
“I’ll be there.”
“No Richard.”
“I’m alone.”
“Make sure you stay that way.”
He arrived twenty-four minutes later carrying Madeline’s shoes.
She looked at them when he entered.
“Really?”
“They were in the car.”
“You brought my shoes?”
“I didn’t know what else to bring.”
For one second Victoria saw the marriage they might have had.
Two imperfect people still performing tiny acts of care while the larger structure between them collapsed.
Then Ethan saw the printed email in Victoria’s hand.
His face changed.
“Where did you get that?”
Madeline stood.
“You knew about it.”
“No.”
“You knew enough.”
“Madeline—”
“You told me Victoria accused someone.”
Ethan stared at her.
Victoria said, “Sit down.”
Neither moved.
“I’m tired,” she said. “My shoulder hurts, my dress is on the bathroom floor covered in my blood, and if either of you makes me conduct this conversation standing up, I’m going to throw something expensive.”
They sat.
Victoria remained standing.
“Were you at the foundation the night I was hurt?”
Ethan nodded.
“How late?”
May you like
“About one fifteen.”
Madeline whispered, “You said eleven.”
