Chương 8
Celia ignored her. “Daniel left.”
Elena unlocked the door but did not open it.
“What?”
“He’s staying with his brother.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you?”
Nora stepped forward. Elena touched her arm.
Celia’s eyes filled. “He says I saw something and chose the wedding.”
Elena’s heart began to beat harder.
“What did you see?”
Celia looked down at the sidewalk.
“When I opened the dressing-room door, you were on the floor.”
“You told the police you didn’t see the assault.”
“I didn’t see him hit you.”
“You saw me on the floor.”
“You said you fell.”
“Adrian told me to say that.”
“You said it.”
Elena gripped the metal door handle.
Celia wiped her cheek angrily. “Do you know what it was like? There were two hundred people downstairs. Dad had spent—God, I don’t even know. Daniel’s parents were already uncomfortable because of the security and the press rules. Maya was waiting. The coordinator kept saying we were behind.”
“You saw me.”
“I saw you sitting on the floor. Adrian was by the vanity. You had blood on your mouth.”
Nora turned away, swearing softly.
Celia continued before Elena could speak. “I thought you had fallen. I wanted to think that.”
“What do you think now?”
Celia looked through the glass at Elena’s bruises.
“I don’t know.”
The answer hurt more than a lie might have.
Celia pulled an envelope from her coat.
“Dad asked me to sign a statement. It says you were drinking and arguing with Adrian before you went upstairs.”
“Were we?”
“You were tense.”
“That isn’t what it says.”
“I haven’t signed it.”
“Yet.”
Celia pressed the envelope against the glass. “He says if I testify, the wedding photographs will be subpoenaed and the hotel staff will be dragged into court. Daniel’s family will be questioned. The foundation could lose donors. Hundreds of people work there.”
“Is that what you came to tell me?”
“I came to ask what you want.”
Elena stared at her.
“I want you to tell the truth.”
“Which truth? That I saw you on the floor? That I didn’t see how you got there? That you told me you fell? That I believed you because I needed to?”
“Yes.”
Celia laughed once, without humor. “You think that helps you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Dad says your lawyers are using the assault to cover what you did at the foundation.”
“My lawyers haven’t released anything.”
“He says you stole records.”
“I copied evidence that they were preparing to blame on me.”
“Evidence of what?”
“I don’t know yet.”
Celia closed her eyes. “That’s the problem. You don’t know. You’re burning everything down because you think something might be wrong.”
“Adrian kicked me while I was on the floor.”
The words seemed to strike the glass between them.
Celia opened her eyes.
“He kicked me,” Elena repeated. “Then he made me stand beside him for photographs.”
Celia’s mouth trembled.
“Did you see him do it?”
“No.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?”
“Decide what you saw without asking your father what it means.”
Celia stood motionless.
A bus passed at the end of the block, spraying water from the gutter. Nora’s radiator knocked inside the apartment.
Celia placed the unsigned statement on the vestibule floor and walked away.
At the hearing, Adrian sat with his attorneys on the opposite side of the courtroom. He wore a charcoal suit and a pale blue tie. The scratches on his forearm had faded.
He looked at Elena only once.
She hated that part of her still recognized the exact tilt of his head that meant he was frightened. She had loved that frightened boy, or believed she had. The man beside his lawyers seemed to contain him somewhere deep inside, protected by money and habit.
Conrad sat behind Adrian. He wore a different watch, silver and thin.
The gold one from the ballroom had not returned to his wrist.
Rachel presented the hospital records, photographs of Elena’s injuries, the police report, Adrian’s voicemails, and the settlement offer. Adrian’s attorneys argued that the offer had been a compassionate attempt to avoid public scandal.
When Adrian testified, he spoke quietly.
“Elena was extremely upset,” he said. “She had taken confidential foundation files and believed she was about to lose her job. She struck me when I tried to calm her.”
“Did you hit her?” Rachel asked.
“No.”
“Did you kick her?”
“No.”
“How did she receive bruises around both eyes?”
“She fell against the vanity.”
“Both eyes?”
“The edge was wide.”
Rachel let the silence sit.
Adrian adjusted his cuff.
He described Elena as increasingly suspicious, secretive, and volatile. He said she had threatened to ruin his family if he did not persuade the foundation to overlook her misconduct.
Elena listened without moving.
The judge asked whether Adrian had transferred money from their joint accounts after she left the hotel.
Adrian said he moved funds to protect them from unauthorized use because Elena had taken company property and was behaving irrationally.
“Did you leave her eighty-four dollars?” the judge asked.
“I didn’t know the remaining balance.”
Conrad lowered his eyes.
Celia testified after lunch.
She looked smaller in the witness chair than Elena had ever seen her.
She confirmed that she found Elena on the floor of the bridal suite with blood on her mouth. Adrian was standing near her. Elena said she had fallen.
“Did she appear intoxicated?” Rachel asked.
“No.”
“Did she appear injured?”
“Yes.”
“Did your brother explain what happened?”
“He said she slipped.”
“Did you believe him?”
Celia looked toward Adrian.
“I chose to.”
One of Adrian’s attorneys objected. The judge told the witness to answer only the question asked.
Rachel rephrased. “At the time, did you believe him?”
“Yes.”
“Do you believe him now?”
Another objection.
May you like
Sustained.
The hotel video had not yet been produced. The photographer’s images were still unavailable. The judge extended the protective order for six months based on the documented injuries, the timing, Adrian’s messages, and his financial actions after Elena left. The judge made clear that the order was not a criminal conviction and did not determine every disputed fact.
