Chapter 22
“You lost me anyway.”
“Yes.”
The silence that followed was not empty. It held every ordinary injury—the cold pasta, the locked car, the borrowed slippers, the years of explaining why she mattered.
Adrian reached into his coat and removed a folder.
“I brought the divorce agreement.”
Claire did not take it.
“Why?”
“Because I signed it this morning.”
He placed it on the table.
“I also instructed my attorney to remove you from every obligation connected to my companies. The accounts and property that belong to you will be transferred without dispute.”
Claire looked at the folder but did not move toward it.
“And Sophia?”
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
“Sophia has agreed to resign from the foundation and move to Seattle. Her sister has offered her a position there.”
“Did you arrange that?”
“No. I offered to help, but she refused financial support.”
Claire thought of Sophia’s messages, her fear, and the note hidden in the recipe book.
“Where is she now?”
“At the station.”
“Did she know you were coming here?”
“No.”
“Why did she sign the agreement?”
Adrian looked toward the floor.
“She wanted to stop me from keeping you uninformed. She asked me to tell you the truth before the wedding. I promised I would.”
Claire’s throat tightened.
“Why didn’t she tell me herself?”
“Because she was afraid you would believe she had helped me deceive you for her own benefit.”
“She did help.”
“Yes.”
His honesty surprised Claire.
“She also believed that if she exposed me, she would lose the only family she had known,” he continued. “It was selfish. It was cowardly. But it was not simple.”
Claire understood that more than she wanted to.
“Did you love her?”
Adrian answered carefully.
“Not in the way she wanted. But I was attached to being needed by her. I mistook that attachment for loyalty.”
“And with me?”
“With you, I wanted to be known. Then I became afraid of what you would know.”
Claire looked at the house around them.
“You could have trusted me.”
“I should have.”
“Not should have. You had to.”
He nodded.
Daniel cleared his throat gently. “Claire, the legal documents are straightforward. You do not need to decide anything today.”
She was grateful for the interruption.
There had been a time when Adrian’s presence filled every room so completely that Claire forgot she had choices. Now the house felt different. The choices were visible everywhere.