Chapter 3
Gregory came to the Marconi estate that evening.
Salvatore refused to let him inside until Clara personally approved it.
They met in a glass-walled sitting room with Rebecca present.
No bodyguards inside.
No raised voices.
Gregory looked exhausted.
He had changed suits, but not expressions.
Clara placed the jeweler’s receipt on the table.
“Your mother bought it.”
Gregory closed his eyes.
That was answer enough.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“For who?”
Gregory looked at Rebecca.
She said nothing.
Clara leaned forward.
“Gregory.”
His voice was quiet.
“There is no affair.”
“Then give me a name.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because it involves Vale Holdings.”
Clara sat back.
That was not what she expected.
Vale Holdings was the family’s legitimate real-estate company. Gregory had become CEO after his father died six years earlier.
Clara owned twenty-two percent.
Not because she married Gregory.
Because three years earlier, when Vale Holdings was close to defaulting on two commercial properties, Clara invested twelve million dollars of her separate trust into the company.
Salvatore had argued against it.
Clara had done it anyway.
Gregory had called it the moment he knew she believed in him.
Now the ring somehow involved the same company.
“What does an engagement ring have to do with Vale Holdings?”
Gregory rubbed his forehead.
“My mother was trying to solve a financing problem.”
Clara stared at him.
“By buying jewelry?”
“It’s complicated.”
Rebecca finally spoke.
“Complicated usually means someone has paperwork.”
Gregory’s eyes moved toward her.
She continued.
“Bring it.”
Gregory stood.
“I can’t do that.”
Clara felt something inside her settle.
Not break.
Settle.
“You keep saying can’t when you mean won’t.”
Gregory looked at her.
“That isn’t fair.”
“What happened last night wasn’t fair.”
He flinched.
Clara continued.
“Your mother put her hands on me. You let her tell a room full of people that my value as your wife depends on whether I give birth to a son.”
“I didn’t agree with her.”
“You didn’t stop her.”
Gregory had no answer.
Then Rebecca asked something that seemed unrelated.
“When did you last discuss Clara’s Vale Holdings shares?”
Gregory looked at her too quickly.
Clara noticed.
“So this is about my shares.”
“No.”
Rebecca waited.
Gregory corrected himself.
“Not exactly.”
Clara stood.
The baby shifted beneath her ribs.
She rested one hand against her stomach.
“Leave.”
“Clara.”
“Tomorrow my lawyer requests the full Vale books under my shareholder rights.”
Gregory’s face changed again.
This time Clara recognized the fear.
May you like
It was not fear of losing his wife.
It was fear of what she might find.
