Chương 5
Rose had once said something similar about Ethan’s father.
He hadn’t believed her then.
Upstairs, Claire changed out of her wedding gown.
Ethan did not see her do it.
He knew only because, close to eleven, she entered the small sitting room off the west corridor wearing black leggings, a cream sweater, and the pearl earrings she had worn during the ceremony.
Without the gown, she looked younger.
More dangerous because she looked familiar.
For two years, this was how he had known her at home: hair loose, makeup half removed, sleeves pulled over her hands.
She closed the door.
“Can we talk alone now?”
Ethan was sitting on the sofa with a bottle of water.
He nodded.
She remained near the door.
For a while neither spoke.
The storm had weakened.
Snow drifted softly now against the exterior lights.
Claire looked at the floor.
“I’m sorry I hit Rose.”
Ethan waited.
She looked up.
“I know that isn’t enough.”
“No.”
“I don’t know why I did it.”
“You were angry.”
“I’ve been angry before.”
He nodded.
She rubbed her fingers together.
“She told me she was going to stop the wedding.”
“Would she have?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. She said she would tell you before you signed the license.”
“That’s not stopping the wedding. That’s telling me the truth.”
Claire looked at him with tired irritation.
“You always do that.”
“Do what?”
“Make things cleaner after they happen.”
He stared at her.
She sat in the chair opposite him.
“Rose wasn’t calmly giving you information. She cornered me near the aisle. She told me I was exactly what she’d always suspected.”
Ethan said nothing.
“She said you’d regret marrying me.”
“That doesn’t justify hitting her.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Claire’s eyes filled, but no tears fell.
“Yes.”
He looked away.
She folded her arms.
“My father did things I didn’t know about.”
“I believe you.”
She seemed surprised.
“I didn’t ask him to contact Mark. I didn’t ask him to show anything to a bank.”
“I believe that too.”
“Then why are you looking at me like this?”
“Because the part you did is enough.”
Her jaw trembled.
For once, she didn’t hide it.
“I was scared.”
“You keep saying that as if fear makes the deception smaller.”
“It explains it.”
“Yes.”
The answer stopped her.
Ethan leaned forward, forearms on his knees.
“I understand why you did it, Claire. That’s part of what’s killing me.”
She stared at him.
“You grew up watching your family almost lose everything. Rose never trusted you. You thought if we got married and something happened, my family could close ranks and leave you outside. You didn’t want to ask me because asking meant I could say no.”
Claire’s breathing changed.
He continued.
“So you found a way to make my no harder to give.”
“I wasn’t going to force you.”
“You created paperwork with a false statement saying I’d already had independent legal advice.”
“I didn’t write that clause.”
“You signed under it.”
She looked down.
“Yes.”
“Were you going to put it in front of me tonight?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“After the wedding.”
“Yes.”
“When I was happy.”
Her eyes closed.
“Yes.”
“And if I asked what it was?”
“I would’ve explained.”
“Fully?”
She opened her eyes.
He saw the answer before she spoke.
“I don’t know.”
He nodded.
That honesty hurt more than another lie.
Claire leaned back.
“You think I don’t love you.”
“I think love isn’t the question anymore.”
“What is?”
“Whether I can trust you when you’re afraid.”
She looked at him for a long time.
Then she whispered, “Can you?”
Ethan’s throat tightened.
“No.”
Claire covered her mouth with one hand.
The first tear fell.
She wiped it away immediately.
He looked at the wall.
He did not want to watch her cry.
Not because he was unmoved.
Because he was.
“I can fix this,” she said.
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I’ll withdraw everything. I’ll sign whatever Martin wants. I’ll testify about my father if I have to. I’ll apologize to Rose.”
“You should apologize to Rose whether I marry you or not.”
Claire flinched.
“Is that your answer?”
“I don’t have an answer tonight.”
“You already said no.”
“To the envelope.”
“Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Hide inside precise language.”
He almost smiled.
It was something she had accused him of before.
He would say he wasn’t angry, only disappointed; not avoiding a conversation, only waiting until it was useful; not scared of taking over the company, only unsure it was the best allocation of his time.
She had been right often enough that the criticism still landed.
“I’m not marrying you tonight,” he said.
Claire looked at him.
“Okay.”
The word was barely audible.
“I’m not deciding anything else tonight either.”
She nodded.
Then she laughed softly and without humor.
“We have two hundred people who already decided for us.”
“They don’t get a vote.”
“Your grandmother does.”
“No.”
“She always has.”
Ethan sat back.
“Maybe because I let her.”
Claire’s expression shifted.
“That’s supposed to make me feel better?”
“No. It’s supposed to be true.”
She looked toward the window.
“I hated how she looked at me.”
“I know.”
“You never stopped it.”
“I told her to give you a chance.”
“You said it when I wasn’t there.”
He frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Because when I was there, you changed the subject.”
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Claire gave a tired nod.
“Exactly.”
He hated that she was right.
Not because it excused her.
Because it meant the marriage had been damaged before the fraud, before the slap, perhaps before either of them admitted they were fighting different wars inside the same relationship.
Ethan had thought keeping people from fighting was the same as creating peace.
Rose distrusted Claire. Claire resented Rose. He had managed each privately and asked neither to confront the other honestly because he dreaded conflict.
Into that silence, suspicion had grown.
May you like
Claire stood.
“What happens now?”
