Chương 6
Another director, Elena Ruiz, asked, “Has notice been served?”
“Yes.”
“Contractual?”
“Hayes confirmed.”
“Then we have two separate questions. Whether termination is legally permitted, and whether termination is in the company’s interest.”
“Agreed.”
“And you are recusing yourself?”
“Yes.”
Martin asked, “Would you like us to rescind the notice while we review?”
That hurt in a way Claire had not expected.
Not because she wanted the Sterlings thrown into the street.
Because twenty-four hours earlier she would have protected them.
Now strangers were deciding whether Ethan could remain in the house where he had removed her ring.
She tightened her fingers around her coffee mug.
“I would like the board to make the same decision it would make if I had never been engaged to him.”
Martin nodded.
“Good answer.”
Claire almost told him it was not an answer.
It was the only decent escape from one.
The board voted to let the notice stand while authorizing a thirty-day transition, provided all outstanding reimbursements were paid.
The decision was financially ordinary.
That was what Claire wanted.
It also meant Ethan had to move.
That was what part of her wanted too.
She spent the rest of the day pretending work could organize grief.
It almost worked.
At three nineteen, Ethan arrived at Monroe Capital’s offices without an appointment.
Reception called Nora.
Nora called Claire.
“No.”
Claire stared at the spreadsheet on her monitor.
“I didn’t ask a question.”
“He cannot come up.”
“Security is downstairs.”
“Good.”
“He says he only wants five minutes.”
“No.”
Nora remained silent.
Claire looked at her.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You have a face.”
“I have several.”
“Nora.”
“He’s still your fiancé legally speaking.”
“There is no legal category called fiancé.”
“You know what I mean.”
Claire turned back to the monitor.
A minute passed.
Then another.
“Five minutes,” she said.
Nora sighed.
“I knew it.”
“Conference room.”
“Door open?”
“Closed.”
“I’m staying nearby.”
“You are unbearable.”
“That is why you pay me.”
Ethan entered four minutes later.
He had changed clothes but not slept.
Claire could tell.
His hair was too carefully styled. His tie had been redone at least once. A faint shadow darkened his jaw.
He stopped when he saw her.
For several seconds neither spoke.
Claire had imagined this moment all morning.
In none of those imaginings had she noticed how tired he looked.
That irritated her.
“Five minutes,” she said.
Ethan nodded.
“I didn’t know about the house.”
“I know.”
He frowned.
“My mother told me last night.”
“I assumed.”
“You knew she hadn’t told me?”
“No. I suspected.”
“Why?”
“Because you kept calling it your house.”
His jaw tightened.
Claire looked at the clock on the wall.
“Four minutes.”
“Are you actually timing me?”
“Yes.”
He pulled out a chair but did not sit.
“I’m sorry.”
The words were too small.
Claire waited.
Ethan looked down.
“What I did was cruel.”
She said nothing.
“I was angry.”
“No, you weren’t.”
His eyes lifted.
“You planned it.”
He exhaled.
“Claire.”
“You told me to wear that dress.”
His face changed.
That landed.
“You asked me to come early. You made sure Margaret had a glass in her hand. You invited people who were supposed to watch.”
“It got out of control.”
“No.”
Claire’s voice remained quiet.
“You controlled every part of it.”
Ethan sat.
For the first time since entering, he looked uncertain.
“I thought you were using me.”
Claire stared at him.
He continued quickly.
“My mother showed me documents months ago. Your company had been involved with some of our debt. She said you were positioning yourself.”
“What documents?”
“Acquisition records.”
“Which ones?”
“I don’t know.”
“You accused me of using you based on documents you did not read?”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It is very close.”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“Margaret said your father’s company benefited from ours collapsing.”
“My father’s company bought distressed debt after your father put it on the market.”
“I know that now.”
“And you did not ask me.”
“I didn’t know how.”
Claire laughed softly.
“You knew how to take a ring off my hand in front of thirty people.”
He looked away.
The room became quiet.
Outside the conference room glass, employees moved between desks. Nobody stared openly.
Claire appreciated the effort.
Ethan said, “Vivian left.”
Claire’s stomach tightened despite herself.
“Why are you telling me?”
“She didn’t know.”
“About me?”
“She thought we were finished.”
Claire closed her eyes for one second.
Something inside her shifted.
Not forgiveness.
Not relief.
Just a small correction in a story she had begun telling herself.
“At least you only humiliated one woman intentionally.”
“Claire.”
“Your five minutes are over.”
He stood.
“Can we talk tonight?”
“No.”
“Tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Then when?”
She looked at him.
The desperation in his face was new.
She had once wanted to see evidence that losing her would matter to him.
Now that she had it, the satisfaction was thin and unpleasant.
“I don’t know.”
He nodded slowly.
At the door he stopped.
“My mother still has the ring.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“I don’t want it.”
“I can return it.”
“It was yours before you gave it to me.”
“No.”
She looked up.
Ethan’s hand rested on the door handle.
“My grandmother left it to me to give to the person I married.”
Claire said nothing.
He swallowed.
“So it was yours.”
Then he left.
Claire sat alone until Nora entered.
“Well?”
Claire stared at the closed door.
“He apologized.”
“Badly?”
“Not as badly as I wanted.”
“That’s inconvenient.”
Claire almost smiled.
At Sterling House, Margaret began packing before Ethan did.
Not clothes.
Documents.
She sat at her husband’s old desk with three banker boxes and removed folders from drawers Ethan had been told not to open since childhood.
He watched from the doorway.
“What are those?”
“Records.”
“I can see that.”
Margaret continued sorting.
“Why are you packing them yourself?”
“Because staff do not need to see private family information.”
May you like
Ethan stepped into the room.
Among the folders he recognized the Sterling Development logo.
