Chapter 7
Gregory came to see Clara without being invited.
This time Salvatore made him wait outside the estate gates until Clara agreed.
They met in Rebecca’s office.
Gregory looked ten years older than he had at the banquet.
Clara did not offer him a chair.
“You knew we were having a son.”
“Yes.”
“And you let your mother tell me I wasn’t worthy of being your wife because I couldn’t give you one.”
Gregory lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I was supposed to stop her.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Gregory finally looked at her.
“Because everything was already falling apart.”
Clara felt no sympathy.
“Vale Holdings?”
“Yes.”
“How bad?”
“Bad enough.”
“Is the ring connected?”
His silence answered.
Clara stepped closer.
“Whose size is it?”
Gregory’s face tightened.
“I need time.”
“You’ve had thirty-two days.”
“Clara.”
“Name her.”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“You’ve said that before.”
Gregory sat without permission.
“My mother has been trying to arrange something.”
“What?”
“A transaction.”
Clara laughed in disbelief.
“With an engagement ring?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of transaction requires you to pretend you’re marrying someone else?”
Gregory looked at Rebecca.
Then at Clara.
“I can’t explain without exposing people who haven’t done anything wrong.”
Rebecca spoke.
“That line is getting old.”
Gregory stood again.
“Give me forty-eight hours.”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
“One day.”
“No.”
“Clara, please.”
She studied him.
This was the man who had held her during morning sickness.
The man who painted the nursery because she hated the smell of contractors in the house.
The man who cried at the first ultrasound.
That history was exactly why betrayal hurt.
It did not erase what came before.
It contaminated it.
Clara said, “You get until five tomorrow afternoon.”
Gregory nodded quickly.
“But understand something.”
He waited.
“If you use that time to hide money, delete messages, coach your mother, or move documents, I will assume the worst possible explanation is the correct one.”
He left.
Rebecca looked at Clara.
“You know he probably won’t tell you voluntarily.”
“I know.”
“Then why give him the day?”
May you like
Clara watched Gregory disappear through the glass doors.
“Because I want to know what he does when he thinks it’s his last chance.”
