Chương 7
Of course it was.
A guest had recorded Teresa tearing the dress.
Another angle showed Rafael putting the bracelet on the tray.
The audio was imperfect but clear enough.
Before they gave you her name, they cut you out of my body.
The clip was spreading because it looked fictional.
People argued in comments about whether it was staged.
Someone identified Adrian.
Someone identified Teresa within an hour.
A local entertainment account posted her address.
Adrian stared at the screen.
Then he called Owen.
The security supervisor answered immediately.
“I need someone at the Alvarez residence.”
“Are they being threatened?”
“Their address is online.”
“I’ll contact the appropriate team.”
“Tonight.”
“Yes.”
Adrian ended the call.
He sat alone for another minute.
Then Claire came into the room wearing gray sweatpants and one of his college T-shirts.
Her hair was damp from the shower.
She looked nothing like a bride.
He had never loved her more.
She sat across from him.
“I saw.”
“The video?”
She nodded.
“Your mom’s people are already trying to get some versions removed.”
Adrian looked up.
“How do you know?”
“Your mother texted me.”
He held out his hand.
Claire gave him her phone.
Evelyn’s message was concise.
Do not respond publicly. We are addressing the malicious material.
Adrian read it twice.
“Malicious.”
Claire tucked one leg beneath herself.
“Did Mercer call you back?”
“He knew.”
She went very still.
“He knew they contacted him?”
“He investigated. He told her the claim was credible enough to keep investigating.”
“And she hid it.”
“Yes.”
Claire stared toward the windows.
After a while she said, “I’m going to ask you something selfish.”
“Okay.”
“Are we still married tomorrow?”
Adrian looked at her.
She immediately shook her head.
“That came out wrong.”
“No.”
“I mean—”
“I know what you mean.”
She rubbed both hands over her face.
“I don’t want to become a side character in whatever this is.”
“You won’t.”
“You can’t promise that.”
He looked down.
She was right.
“My parents already asked whether we should consider an annulment.”
Adrian’s head snapped up.
Claire gave a tired laugh.
“I told them we’ve been married less than an evening and they should maybe wait until breakfast before dismantling it.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Stop.”
“For what?”
“For apologizing like you did this.”
He looked at his phone.
“My family did.”
“Maybe.”
He flinched.
Claire leaned forward.
“Adrian, I need you to hear that word. Maybe. You don’t know yet.”
“My mother lied.”
“Yes.”
“That’s not a maybe.”
“No.”
“She knew there was a credible claim.”
“Yes.”
“She looked at the exit when the bracelet came out.”
“Yes.”
He rubbed his thumb against the edge of his wedding band.
He had worn it for forty minutes before his identity became a question.
Claire watched the motion.
“You’re still you.”
“Don’t.”
“I’m not giving you a speech.”
“It sounds like one.”
“Fine.” She stood. “You are possibly a completely different person and I regret marrying you.”
He looked up.
She waited.
After several seconds, he laughed.
A real laugh this time.
One breath.
Then another.
Claire’s eyes filled.
“Better?”
“No.”
“Me neither.”
She sat beside him.
They did not talk for a while.
At two in the morning, Rafael opened the apartment door and found a private security guard in the hallway.
He nearly shut the door in the man’s face.
The guard explained Adrian had arranged protection because the address had been posted online.
Teresa stood behind Rafael in a bathrobe.
“He did that?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Rafael looked annoyed.
Teresa knew why.
Help created obligations.
They had spent a lifetime avoiding obligations to people with more money than they did.
“Tell him thank you,” Teresa said.
Rafael glanced back.
She ignored him.
The guard remained in the hallway.
Inside, Teresa went to the kitchen and put water on for tea.
Rafael sat at the table.
“You’re not going to sleep.”
“Neither are you.”
“I might.”
“You still snore when you’re awake.”
He gave her a look.
She opened the cabinet.
Her hands were steadier now.
The apartment was small and familiar. Yellow dish towels. A refrigerator covered with photographs of nieces, nephews, children of friends, people they had loved without pretending those children replaced anyone.
On the top shelf of a hall closet sat the pale yellow baby blanket Teresa had never thrown away.
She did not take it out.
Not that night.
At eight the next morning, Adrian asked Evelyn to come to the hotel.
She refused.
So he went to her.
Claire came with him.
Evelyn lived in a limestone house that had belonged to Thomas’s family for three generations. Adrian had grown up there among formal rooms nobody used and a kitchen where staff changed more often than the copper pans hanging over the island.
Evelyn was in the breakfast room.
Coffee untouched.
No makeup.
Adrian had seen her without makeup hundreds of times.
He had never seen her look old.
She did now.
“Where is everything from 1992?” he asked.
No greeting.
Evelyn looked at Claire.
“This is a family matter.”
Claire said, “I’m his wife.”
The word wife hung strangely in the room.
Evelyn looked back at Adrian.
“What are you asking for?”
“Adoption records. Legal bills. Medical records. Letters. Anything.”
“I told you the adoption records were incomplete.”
“Then show me the incomplete ones.”
“I don’t have them here.”
“Where?”
“Storage.”
“Which storage?”
“I don’t know.”
“You know where every receipt from Dad’s companies is kept.”
“That is business documentation.”
“And my birth is what? Personal clutter?”
Evelyn stood.
“Do not perform outrage for me. You embarrassed this family last night by allowing those people to remain after they assaulted your wedding.”
Claire’s face changed.
Adrian stared.
“They assaulted my wedding?”
“Yes.”
“They said you bought me.”
“They humiliated you publicly.”
“You’re talking about the method because you don’t want to talk about the accusation.”
May you like
“I will discuss facts.”
“Good. Did you pay St. Matthew’s Medical Center or anyone connected to it in October 1992?”
