Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN IN THE WHITE DRESS|
Madeline Voss had spent the morning telling herself that the ballroom incident had been Claire's fault.
If Claire had accepted the breakup gracefully, none of this would have happened.
If Claire had stopped calling the Crowe offices, Ethan wouldn't have lost his temper.
If Claire had understood her place, Madeline wouldn't have needed to defend her future.
The explanations worked until Madeline looked at the emerald ring on her finger.
She had chosen it herself after Ethan proposed.
He had told her that it had once been intended for another woman, but that he had changed his mind because Claire never understood what mattered.
Madeline had believed him.
Now she wondered why he had kept the original receipt.
At noon, she went to Ethan's office.
He was pacing beside his desk, shouting at someone on the phone.
“No, you don't move the funds without my approval. I don't care what Richard said.”
He ended the call when he noticed her.
“What are you doing here?”
“Trying to understand why our wedding plans are suddenly on hold.”
“They aren't.”
“Your mother canceled the venue.”
“She said the deposit was too expensive.”
Madeline stared at him.
“The same venue you called a bargain last week?”
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
“I have business problems.”
“Because of Claire?”
“Because Roman Vale decided to make a personal issue into a corporate one.”
Madeline sat down.
“Then apologize to Claire.”
He looked at her as though she had suggested setting fire to the building.
“Absolutely not.”
“Ethan, you hit her in front of three hundred people.”
“She provoked me.”
Madeline felt something inside her shift.
She had watched him dismiss employees, humiliate waiters, and shout at people who couldn't afford to challenge him. She had told herself that his anger was simply the price of being with a powerful man.
Now she realized that one day, his anger could be directed at her.
“You could lose the Vale deal,” she said.
“I'm not losing anything.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
He stepped toward her.
“I'm not afraid.”
“Your hands are shaking.”
Ethan looked down.
His fingers were trembling.
He clenched them into fists.
Madeline stood.
“I want to see the financial documents.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't understand them.”
The words landed harder than she expected.
She had spent months imagining herself as the woman who would finally be respected by the Crowe family. She had chosen white for the gala because she wanted everyone to see that she was the future bride.
Instead, she had watched Ethan strike his former fiancée and then attempt to silence the room.
For the first time, Madeline wondered whether becoming his wife would mean spending her life explaining away his behavior.
She removed the ring.
Ethan stared at her.
“What are you doing?”
“Thinking.”
“Put it back on.”
“No.”
His voice sharpened.
“Madeline.”
She placed the ring on the desk.
“I need time.”
“You're not leaving me because of Claire.”
“I'm leaving this office because you just told me that I was too stupid to understand the truth.”
She walked out.
In the elevator, she called her attorney.
She had signed several documents during the past month, including a prenuptial agreement and a form relating to a company called Northstar Advisory.
Ethan had told her the company existed to manage event-related expenses.
She had never read the entire agreement.
Now she wanted a copy of every page.
That evening, Madeline met Rebecca Sloan at a neutral location.
Claire was not present.
Madeline placed a folder on the table.
“I don't expect you to trust me.”
“That's sensible,” Rebecca replied.
Madeline accepted the remark.
“But I think Ethan used my name, too.”
Rebecca opened the folder.
The first document showed Madeline listed as an authorized representative of Northstar Advisory.
The second was a payment instruction.
The third was a letter confirming that Northstar had received funds connected to the Crowe redevelopment project.
Madeline's signature appeared on all three.
She stared at the pages.
“I signed the first one. I never saw the others.”
Rebecca closed the folder.
“Then you need your own lawyer immediately.”
Madeline looked toward the window.
“Will Claire believe me?”
“That isn't something I can promise.”
Madeline nodded.
She had not come to be forgiven.
She had come because she was finally afraid of the man she had chosen.
May you like
And the next morning, she received an anonymous message.
If you want to know why Ethan chose you, ask him what happened to the woman before Claire.
