Chương 8
“You took my phone.”
“I was trying to buy time.”
“You bought him a ceremony.”
“I believed the paperwork could be stopped.”
“You didn’t stop it.”
“No.”
The admission came without defense. Emma almost trusted it, which made her cautious.
Victor placed his hands in his pockets.
“The board is meeting tomorrow morning. Mercer Capital may withdraw the bridge facility.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“I’m here because Claire is my daughter.”
“Which answer came first in your head?”
His eyes sharpened.
Emma regretted the question and did not take it back.
Victor said, “You have always believed my failures prove I do not love you.”
“No. I believe you love us. I also believe you choose control when love asks you to lose something.”
“That sounds like something you practiced.”
“It’s something I learned tonight.”
He glanced toward the closed bedroom door.
“You think telling the truth absolves you from how you told it.”
“I don’t.”
“Then why did you do it publicly?”
“Because privately, you kept winning.”
He looked at her.
Emma held the shoes by their straps.
“I told you Wednesday. You said wait. I tried Thursday. You had Daniel call me unstable. I came upstairs today. Security blocked me. I went to the chapel. A groomsman stopped me. Every quiet way required permission from someone who wanted me silent.”
“You could have called your mother.”
“I should have.”
“You could have called Claire’s friends.”
“I should have.”
“You could have interrupted the ceremony.”
“I should have.”
Victor seemed unsettled by her agreement.
Emma said, “I failed her before I exposed him. Both are true.”
He nodded once.
For a moment, they stood without speaking. A housekeeping cart squeaked at the far end of the hall.
Victor said, “Daniel’s attorney will likely send you a demand letter.”
“For what?”
“Defamation. Interference with contractual relations. Publication of private communications.”
“Are you warning me or helping him?”
“Warning you.”
“Will you tell the truth if he sues me?”
Victor looked away.
That was the answer.
Emma shut the door.
The next morning, Claire woke at seven and asked for black coffee, toast without butter, and Leah’s phone number.
Emma ordered breakfast.
While they waited, Claire sat at the small desk in leggings and an oversized hotel sweatshirt Sophie had found in the gift shop. Without the gown and veil, she looked younger and more tired. A line from the lace sleeve remained pressed into her forearm.
“Do you know what I did before I met Daniel?” she asked.
Emma was surprised.
“You worked at Children’s Harbor.”
“No. That morning.”
Emma thought back two years.
“You spilled coffee on a patient file.”
Claire looked at her.
“How do you remember that?”
“You called me.”
“I was late. My car wouldn’t start. I wore two different shoes to work.”
“One black, one navy.”
“I met him that night at Dad’s fundraiser, and he told me I looked composed.”
Emma sat on the edge of the sofa.
Claire gave a small, exhausted smile. “I thought he saw something in me nobody else did.”
“He probably did.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“I know.”
The coffee arrived.
Claire stirred hers though she had not added sugar. The spoon clicked against the cup several times before she set it down.
Emma contacted Leah.
She replied after fifteen minutes.
I will speak to Claire by phone. No recording. No attorneys on the line.
Claire agreed.
They called from Emma’s phone with the speaker off. Emma sat near the window and tried not to listen, but Claire’s side of the conversation filled the room.
“Hello. This is Claire.”
A pause.
“Yes. I know.”
Another pause.
“No, you don’t need to apologize.”
Claire covered her eyes.
“I should be apologizing to you.”
She listened for a long time.
“When did you find the website?”
“What did he tell you?”
“No. He told me he had never been married.”
Her voice changed.
“He said that?”
Emma watched a pigeon land on the opposite ledge. It pecked at something invisible, lost interest, and flew away.
Claire said, “Would you be willing to meet me?”
A longer pause.
“I understand.”
Another.
“Tuesday is fine.”
When the call ended, Claire kept the phone against her ear for several seconds.
Emma waited.
Finally Claire placed it on the desk.
“He told Leah the wedding was ceremonial.”
Emma said nothing.
“He said we were having the party because Dad’s investors expected it, but that we would not be legally married until after his divorce.”
Emma stared at her.
“He told her you knew?”
“Yes.”
“That’s why she didn’t contact you sooner.”
Claire nodded.
“He told her I was part of it.”
A knock sounded.
Margaret entered carrying a canvas overnight bag and a paper sack from the bakery Claire liked. She wore navy pants and a white blouse, her hair pulled into a low knot. She looked like herself again except for the absence of her wedding ring.
Claire noticed immediately.
“Mom.”
Margaret set down the bags.
“I took it off because my fingers were swollen.”
Claire looked at her hand.
Margaret sighed. “That was a lie. I don’t know what I’m doing yet.”
Claire stood and hugged her.
The embrace was awkward at first because neither knew who was holding whom up.
Emma looked away.
Margaret had brought croissants. They ate them without plates, dropping flakes over the coffee table. For several minutes, nobody discussed Daniel, Victor, Leah, the company, or the video. Margaret complained that the bakery had stopped making the almond filling properly. Claire said it had always been too sweet. Emma ate two.
The ordinary conversation did not make anything better. It gave their bodies something to do while their minds caught up.
At nine, Claire’s phone began ringing inside Sophie’s bag.
May you like
She found twelve calls from Daniel, four from Victor, three from Elaine, and one from an unknown number that left no message. There were also more than three hundred texts.
Claire turned the phone facedown.
