Chương 7
“One for us and one for the children?”
“One formal album for the wedding. One smaller book with candid family photographs.”
Daniel understood before Samuel explained.
“The children were not supposed to be in the main album.”
“She said you preferred it.”
“I never discussed albums with you.”
“No.”
“Did that concern you?”
Samuel looked embarrassed. “People have complicated families. I try not to make assumptions.”
“That seems to be going well for everyone.”
Samuel accepted the blow without answering.
On the drive home, Daniel stopped at a gas station because Nora needed coffee and Lily needed a bathroom. A television above the register showed the wedding video with the faces blurred. The cashier glanced at Daniel, then at the screen, then back at Daniel’s tuxedo shoes.
He had forgotten he was still wearing them.
“Rough weekend?” the cashier asked.
Daniel looked at the coffee machine.
“You could say that.”
Nora came out of the restroom carrying Lily, who had refused to touch the automatic hand dryer.
The cashier recognized them then.
His mouth opened.
Daniel put twenty dollars on the counter for two coffees, apple juice, and a bag of crackers. The total was eleven forty-three. He waited for the change because leaving too quickly would have felt like running.
The cashier gave him eight dollars and fifty-seven cents.
“You did the right thing,” he said.
Daniel put the coins in his pocket.
Outside, Nora handed him a coffee.
“You hate gas station coffee.”
“It’s coffee.”
“You once described it as hot rainwater with resentment.”
“I was younger.”
“That was in February.”
Lily asked what resentment meant.
“Bad coffee,” Daniel said.
She nodded as though this was sufficient.
On Monday morning, Daniel walked the children into school. He had expected reporters and found none, only three parents trying not to stare and a custodian replacing a loose ceiling tile near the entrance.
Mason ran toward Ethan, stopped too close, and said, “Did your dad really hit that guy?”
“No,” Ethan replied.
“He kind of did.”
“He moved his hand.”
“My mom said he could get arrested.”
Daniel watched Ethan’s shoulders tighten.
Mason’s mother hurried over. “I am so sorry. Mason, we talked about this.”
“You talked,” Mason said.
She went pale.
Ethan looked at Daniel. “Can I go?”
“Of course.”
He walked away with Mason, who immediately began describing a video game.
Lily’s preschool teacher crouched to greet her.
“I saw you on TV,” another child announced.
Lily hid behind Daniel’s leg.
The teacher redirected the class toward a tray of colored blocks, but the words had already reached her. Daniel knelt.
“You don’t have to stay.”
Lily pressed her cheek against his knee.
“Ethan stayed.”
“You can decide for yourself.”
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to work for a little while.”
“Will you come back?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After lunch.”
She considered the promise with more seriousness than a four-year-old should have needed.
“Before rest time?”
“Before rest time.”
Daniel arrived at his architecture firm forty minutes late. The reception desk had been decorated for his return with silver balloons and a sign that read CONGRATULATIONS, DANIEL & CLAIRE. Someone had turned the sign facedown.
His assistant, Melissa, met him by the elevators.
“I can remove everything,” she said.
“Leave the balloons. They’ll deflate.”
“That could take days.”
“So will everything else.”
His managing partner, Greg Holloway, closed the office door before speaking.
“One client asked whether the wedding was a publicity stunt.”
“It wasn’t.”
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
Greg leaned back. “I’ve known you fifteen years. I watched you wear the same three shirts after Rachel died because you couldn’t make decisions. You are not staging family humiliation for social media.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
Greg continued. “But the Harcourt hotel account is nervous. Claire’s company handles their brand strategy. They don’t want the breakup affecting the renovation.”
“It won’t.”
“You and Claire were the reason we got the introduction.”
“I designed the project.”
“I know.”
The repeated phrase carried no comfort.
“What are you asking me to do?” Daniel said.
“Nothing today. I’m telling you that personal consequences have started arriving at the office.”
“My children’s faces are online.”
“And I’m not comparing a hotel contract to that.”
“You just did.”
Greg’s expression hardened. “Don’t turn me into the villain because your actual villain is complicated.”
Daniel stood.
Greg exhaled. “That was unfair.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel sat again.
For several seconds, neither spoke. Outside the glass wall, Melissa removed the ribbon from one balloon and tied it to another for no apparent reason.
Greg slid a legal pad across the desk. “Take the week.”
“I don’t need a week.”
“You came to work in tuxedo shoes.”
Daniel looked down.
“Take three days,” Greg said.
Daniel accepted two.
That afternoon, Claire released a statement through her company.
Yesterday’s ceremony was interrupted by a painful misunderstanding involving private family arrangements and failures in event coordination. Claire is devastated by the distress experienced by Daniel’s children, whom she loves deeply. She asks for compassion and privacy while the family addresses this matter away from public speculation.
There was no mention of the note.
There was no mention of the back door.
Within an hour, several accounts began posting that Brooke, the fired assistant, had acted without authorization. One quoted an unnamed guest who claimed Ethan had been “emotionally overwhelmed” before the ceremony.
Daniel read the statement at Nora’s dining table while Lily colored beside him.
“Don’t respond angry,” Nora said.
“I’m not angry.”
“You’re holding the phone like you want to push it through the table.”
He set it down.
Ethan came in from the backyard with Nora’s dog. “What did she say?”
“Nothing you need to read.”
“That means it’s bad.”
“It means adults are trying to protect themselves.”
“Are you protecting yourself?”
The question was asked without accusation, which made it worse.
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“By not telling me?”
May you like
Daniel looked at Nora.
She raised both hands. “Do not involve me in whatever trap you built.”
