Chapter 14 - The Night I Chose Myself|
The more evidence we uncovered, the more Vincent tried to help.
He offered to move me to a private apartment with its own security entrance. He offered to pay for a specialist who worked with high-risk pregnancies. He offered to assign a driver who would take me to every appointment.
Each offer came wrapped in concern.
Each one made me feel as if the walls were closing in.
When he called on Friday evening, I let it ring until Madison glanced at me.
“Are you going to answer?”
“I don't know.”
“Then answer and find out what he wants. You can still say no.”
I picked up.
“Claire,” Vincent said, “I found a place where you and the baby could stay. It's secure, and the staff are independent of the family.”
“No.”
“You haven't heard the details.”
“I don't need the details. I already have a place to live.”
“Madison's apartment isn't suitable long-term.”
“Then I'll find somewhere else.”
“Why does everything have to be a fight?”
I closed my eyes.
“Because every time I say no, you behave as though I haven't understood the benefits of your offer. You don't hear my answer. You hear a problem you need to solve.”
“I am trying to protect you.”
“And I am trying to become a person who doesn't need your permission to feel safe.”
He fell silent.
I continued before I could lose my courage.
“I need you to understand that I'm not leaving because I want you to chase me. I'm leaving because I want a life where I can make decisions without wondering how you'll react.”
“Is there nothing I can do?”
“You can stop trying to fix the consequences and start taking responsibility for the choices that caused them.”
He breathed slowly.
“What does that look like?”
“It looks like respecting the divorce process. It looks like letting our lawyers arrange everything. It looks like investigating Adrian without expecting me to return home because you did something right. And if you want to be a father, it means learning that our child isn't a bridge back to me.”
I heard him swallow.
“All right.”
I didn't trust the answer yet.
But I heard it.
The following week, I found a modest two-bedroom apartment near Daniel's office. It had a narrow balcony, a small kitchen, and a second bedroom with enough space for a crib. The windows faced a courtyard where a maple tree was beginning to turn gold.
I could afford the deposit with my savings and the income from my new job, though I would need to budget carefully.
I signed the lease.
Madison helped me move the boxes. Daniel gave me a used drafting table from the office, and Evelyn found a reliable locksmith who changed the locks before I arrived.
The first night, I ate takeout on the floor because I hadn't unpacked the table.
I cried a little.
Then I laughed.
The apartment was quiet. No guards waited outside. No one checked my schedule. No one asked where I had been or why I had taken so long.
For the first time, the silence felt like mine.
The next morning, a delivery arrived.
I opened the box carefully, expecting another message from Vincent.
Inside was the diamond bracelet he had given Sophia.
There was no note.
I stared at it for a long time, then called Evelyn.
“Did Vincent send this?”
“I don't know. I'll ask his attorney.”
“I don't want it.”
“You don't have to keep it.”
I placed the bracelet back in the box and arranged for Evelyn's office to return it without a personal message.
That afternoon, Vincent's attorney confirmed that he had not sent it.
The bracelet had been delivered anonymously.
Someone wanted me to believe Vincent was still playing games—or wanted to provoke me into contacting him.
I photographed the package and sent the details to Evelyn.
That evening, a message arrived from Sophia.
I know you have every reason to hate me. But the bracelet wasn't sent by Vincent. And I think I know who sent it.
I stared at the screen.
I had no desire to become Sophia's confidante. She had helped create the humiliation that pushed me out of my marriage.
But the message was followed by another.
Adrian asked me to deliver it. He said you would call Vincent, and then he could prove you were still using your marriage to influence him.
My blood ran cold.
Sophia had been part of Vincent's betrayal.
Now she was claiming that someone had used her to manufacture another one.
I typed a single question.
Why should I believe you?
May you like
Her reply came immediately.
Because I recorded the conversation.
