The Engagement Ring on the Table
Chapter 03 - The Engagement Ring on the Table
Adrian expected Claire to apologize. Instead, she placed her engagement ring on the library table between them.
He stared at it as though she had insulted him in public.
“You are emotional,” he said. “My mother may die, and you are making this about us.”
“You accused me before the ambulance arrived.”
“I was in shock.”
“You were prepared.”
His expression changed for only a second, but Claire saw it.
She had spent three years believing Adrian’s certainty was strength. He always knew where they would live, when they would marry, and which friends were useful. When she questioned him, he called it indecision. When she disagreed, he called it embarrassment. Eleanor had been the only person willing to tell Claire that control did not become love simply because it wore an expensive suit.
The argument before the fall had not been about the prenuptial agreement. Eleanor had asked Claire to delay the wedding because she had discovered irregular transfers from the company’s patient assistance fund.
“I thought she suspected me,” Claire said.
Adrian poured himself a drink. “My mother suspected everyone.”
“She specifically mentioned Project Northstar.”
The glass stopped halfway to his mouth.
Project Northstar was supposed to build low-cost clinics in rural counties. Whitmore Medical had announced the initiative with great publicity, but construction had stalled while millions disappeared into consulting fees.
Adrian recovered quickly. “You misunderstood her.”
Claire opened Eleanor’s final text message.
COME TO THE BLUE SALON AT NINE. BRING NO ONE. I WAS WRONG ABOUT YOU.
That message had drawn Claire to the staircase. Eleanor never reached the blue salon.
Adrian stepped close enough that Claire smelled the whiskey on his breath.
“You should leave the estate,” he said. “Reporters are already outside. If you stay, you will look desperate.”
“Or innocent.”
His voice lowered. “Innocent people can still lose everything.”
Claire picked up the ring, not to wear it, but to keep him from controlling the symbol of their relationship. As she turned away, she noticed a faint red mark beneath his shirt cuff, shaped like a small rectangle.
The missing memory module was the same size.
Later that morning, the hospital called. Eleanor had briefly opened her eyes. She could not speak, but when a nurse asked whether Claire had caused her fall, Eleanor blinked twice for no.
When the nurse asked whether Adrian had been near her, Eleanor’s heart rate rose sharply.
The nurse promised to document the response.
Twenty minutes later, Adrian arrived at the hospital carrying legal papers that would give him temporary authority over Eleanor’s medical decisions.
May you like
Claire understood the next danger.
If Adrian controlled the company, the estate, and the hospital room, Eleanor might never get the chance to tell anyone what she had seen.
