Chapter 3 - THE NOTE IN THE RING BOX|
I stared at the ring in Alexander's palm.
It was the same silver band I had dropped into the trash at his grandfather's birthday celebration. The tiny engraving inside still carried his initials, A.M., beside mine.
For a moment, I was back in that ballroom, watching him remove his own ring because another woman had returned.
“How did you get that?” I asked.
“The staff found it.”
“And you kept it?”
“I didn't know what else to do with it.”
I almost smiled.
“You knew exactly what to do with yours. You put it in your jacket.”
His fingers closed around the band.
“Claire, I made a mistake.”
“One mistake lasts five years?”
He looked as if he wanted to answer, but I continued before he could.
“You didn't hide our marriage because you were protecting me. You hid it because you wanted the freedom to behave like an unmarried man. And when Sophia returned, you didn't even have the courage to tell her the truth.”
“That isn't what happened.”
“Then explain it.”
He glanced down the hallway.
“Not here.”
“You keep saying that. Not here. Not in front of your family. Not at the banquet. Not where people can see. When exactly am I allowed to be your wife?”
His expression tightened.
“Come with me. We can discuss this privately.”
“I am not going anywhere with you.”
“Claire—”
“Give me the ring.”
He hesitated, then placed it in my hand.
I slipped it into my coat pocket without looking at it again.
A nurse called my name from the reception desk. I walked toward her, but Alexander followed.
“I'm not leaving until you tell me whether the baby is mine.”
I turned.
“You don't get to demand an answer after six months of silence.”
“I have been looking for you.”
“Then you were very bad at it.”
His face went pale.
Before he could reply, my phone vibrated. It was a message from my attorney, Evelyn Brooks.
Claire, please call me. Someone has requested access to your marriage records.
I looked at Alexander.
“Did you send someone to investigate me?”
“I asked my attorney to find you.”
“Without asking whether I wanted to be found.”
“I needed to know you were safe.”
“You needed to know whether I was still yours.”
He didn't deny it.
Sophia appeared at the far end of the hallway. She was holding a leather handbag and speaking into her phone. When she noticed us, she ended the call.
“Alexander, the car is waiting.”
He ignored her.
I looked at her, then back at him.
“You should go. Your first love is waiting.”
“Don't call her that.”
“Why? Isn't that what everyone has called her for years?”
Sophia approached, her heels clicking against the polished floor.
“Claire, I think there's been a misunderstanding.”
I laughed softly.
“I'm sure there has.”
She glanced at the ring in my hand.
“Alexander kept that because it meant something to him.”
“Then he should have worn it.”
Her smile faded.
Alexander took a step toward me.
“I want a paternity test.”
The words fell between us like a stone.
I looked at him carefully.
“You'll get one if the law requires it. But you will not use this baby to force me back into your house.”
“I would never do that.”
“You've spent five years deciding what I was allowed to do. Don't pretend you're suddenly a different man.”
I left them in the hallway.
Outside, the morning air was cold. I sat in my car and called Evelyn.
She answered immediately.
“Claire, listen carefully. Someone has filed a request to unseal your marriage certificate.”
My grip tightened around the steering wheel.
“Who?”
“An attorney representing Sophia Reynolds.”
I looked through the hospital window.
Alexander was still standing beside her.
May you like
And suddenly I understood that the woman who had returned to Chicago wasn't satisfied with taking my place in a ballroom.
She wanted to erase the proof that I had ever occupied it.
