Dominic did not speak for almost a minute.
“What access?”
Marcus opened another document.
I watched Dominic read.
His face drained of color.
“What is it?” I asked.
Dominic closed the laptop.
“Nothing.”
Marcus laughed nervously.
“That’s not going to work anymore.”
Dominic gave him a look that could have frozen boiling water.
Marcus stopped laughing.
I held out my hand.
“Laptop.”
“Claire.”
“Dominic.”
Neither of us moved.
Finally, he turned it back toward me.
The document was a trust agreement created by Dominic’s father, Anthony Vale.
Vale Consolidated Holdings.
Voting shares.
Control provisions.
Medical incapacity clause.
I read twice before understanding.
“If you’re declared incapable of managing the company, control transfers to trustees.”
“Elliot and Roland,” Dominic said.
“But you weren’t declared mentally incapable.”
“They tried.”
I looked at him.
“When?”
“While I was in rehabilitation.”
I felt sick.
Elliot had arranged psychiatric evaluations after the crash, supposedly to help Dominic cope with trauma.
“Your own attorney?”
“He told me it was standard.”
Marcus nodded.
“Roland needed two doctors to certify cognitive incapacity. One refused.”
“And the other?”
“Was paid.”
Dominic looked toward the window.
“Dr. Levin.”
Marcus nodded.
I remembered the name.
Dominic had once told me he hated psychiatrists because one had asked him whether losing his legs made him feel “less masculine.”
Now I understood why that question carried so much anger.
“They failed,” I said.
“Because Gabriel intervened,” Dominic replied.
I blinked.
“Gabriel?”
“He found the paperwork and called another attorney.”
That removed the last shadow over Gabriel.
“Then Roland changed strategies,” Marcus said. “He decided if he couldn’t take the company legally, he’d weaken Dominic until the board removed him voluntarily.”
“The gala,” I whispered.
Dominic looked at me.
“Humiliate him publicly,” Marcus continued. “Make investors question him. Make partners see a man they think can’t defend himself.”
I remembered Roland leaning over Dominic’s wheelchair.
Half a man.
It hadn’t merely been cruelty.
It had been strategy.
Dominic suddenly rolled away from the table.
“Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Talk to Elliot.”
Marcus stood.
“That’s exactly what Roland wants.”
Dominic stopped.
“You think I’m going to sit here?”
“I think if you confront Elliot, Roland knows we have the evidence.”
Dominic turned.
“He tried to murder me.”
“And now you can destroy him legally.”
Dominic laughed bitterly.
“You think men like Roland fear courtrooms?”
“No,” I said. “They fear losing the thing they think makes them untouchable.”
Both men looked at me.
“Reputation,” I continued. “Money. Access. Powerful friends. He built his life on people believing he always wins.”
Dominic studied me.
“What are you suggesting?”
“Let him believe he’s still winning.”
For the first time, the plan became ours.
We returned home without Marcus. He stayed under guard.
Elliot arrived the following morning.
I watched from the upstairs landing as he greeted Dominic warmly.
“Terrible business at the gala,” Elliot said.
Dominic shrugged.
“Roland has always had a mouth.”
“You should respond.”
“How?”
“Publicly. Aggressively.”
There it was.
Elliot wanted Dominic angry.
Violent.
Unstable.
Dominic glanced toward me.
I descended the stairs wearing sunglasses and carrying a suitcase.
Elliot looked surprised.
“Claire?”
I stopped beside Dominic.
“Tell him.”
Dominic’s expression hardened.
“My wife is leaving.”
Elliot blinked.
“What happened?”
“She discovered the truth about why I married her.”
I removed my ring.
Even though it was an act, my hand shook.
I placed it on the table.
“I’m done.”
Dominic looked at the ring.
Something real passed between us.
Pain.
Maybe more.
“Claire.”
“Don’t.”
I walked out.
By lunchtime, photographs of me leaving Dominic Vale’s mansion were online.
By evening, gossip sites reported that our marriage was collapsing.
By morning, Roland Pike called me.
I stared at his name.
Dominic sat across the room.
“Answer,” he said.
I did.
“Hello?”
“Claire.”
Roland’s voice was warm.
“I heard.”
“Heard what?”
“That you finally came to your senses.”
I forced myself to sound angry.
“You don’t know anything about my marriage.”
“I know Dominic.”
“Apparently I didn’t.”
Roland paused.
“Have dinner with me.”
Dominic’s eyes darkened.
I almost enjoyed that.
“Why?”
“Because there are things you deserve to know.”
“Tonight?”
“Seven.”
He named a restaurant.
After the call, Dominic said, “No.”
I stared at him.
“You told me to answer.”
“I didn’t tell you to have dinner with him.”
“That’s the whole point.”
“He’s dangerous.”
“So are you.”
“That’s different.”
“Because you’re my husband?”
His expression changed.
“Contract husband.”
The words landed badly.
I nodded.
“Right.”
I walked away.
He caught the wheel rims and followed.
“Claire.”
“What?”
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s accurate.”
“No.”
I turned.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
“What are we, Dominic?”
His face became guarded.
That was answer enough.
I smiled sadly.
“Exactly.”
At seven, I met Roland.
The restaurant was private and expensive.
Roland stood when I approached.
“You look beautiful.”
“You look pleased with yourself.”
He smiled.
“I appreciate honesty.”
“I’ve had enough lies.”
We sat.
I wore a small recording device beneath my dress.
Dominic’s security team occupied two tables nearby.
Roland ordered wine.
“I warned Dominic this would happen,” he said.
“What?”
“You leaving.”
“Why do you care?”
“Because Dominic mistakes possession for love.”
My pulse jumped.
“Love?”
Roland smiled.
“He didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“That he changed the contract.”
I stared at him.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ask him.”
“Changed what?”
“The eighteen-month clause.”
My mouth went dry.
Roland leaned closer.
“Three months ago, Dominic instructed Elliot to prepare a new agreement.”
“What agreement?”
“One that released you from every obligation while paying you the full amount.”
I forgot the recording device.
Forgot the plan.
“Why?”
Roland’s smile sharpened.
“Because the great Dominic Vale fell in love with his rented wife.”
I said nothing.
“And that,” Roland continued, “made you useful.”
Cold moved through me.
“How?”
“Because men are easiest to destroy when they finally have something they’re afraid to lose.”
I forced myself to breathe.
“Did you cause his crash?”
Roland’s eyes narrowed.
Too direct.
I had made a mistake.
Then he smiled.
“Dominic has filled your head with stories.”
“He says you tried to kill him.”
“If I had tried to kill Dominic, Claire, he’d be dead.”
The answer wasn’t a confession.
But his arrogance was opening doors.
“So what happened?”
Roland lifted his glass.
“Sometimes accidents create opportunities.”
“And Elliot?”
His smile disappeared.
“What about Elliot?”
I pushed.
“He drafted Dominic’s trust.”
Roland set down the glass.
“Who have you been talking to?”
I realized too late that I had gone too far.
Roland’s hand closed around my wrist.
Hard.
“Who?”
A chair scraped behind me.
Dominic.
He had ignored the plan.
He wheeled directly toward us.
Roland laughed.
“Here comes the husband.”
Dominic stopped beside the table.
“Take your hand off my wife.”
Roland squeezed harder.
“What are you going to do about it?”
The entire restaurant seemed to go quiet.
Dominic looked at Roland’s hand.
Then at his face.
“Ask once.”
Roland released me.
Dominic held out his hand.
“Claire.”
I took it.
Roland watched.
“Still playing hero from the chair?”
Dominic turned back.
For a second, I thought everything was going to collapse.
Then Dominic smiled.
“No.”
His fingers tightened around mine.
“I’m learning I don’t have to stand to be taller than you.”
Roland’s face changed.
We left.
In the car, I rounded on Dominic.
“You ruined the plan.”
“He grabbed you.”
“I had security.”
“He grabbed you.”
“You’re impossible.”
“So I’ve been told.”
I stared at him.
“Did you change the contract?”
Silence.
“Dominic.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I hadn’t decided how.”
“Roland says you did it because you…”
I couldn’t finish.
Dominic looked out the window.
“Because I what?”
“You know.”
“Say it.”
“Because you love me.”
His eyes met mine.
The car suddenly felt too small.
“I do.”
Two words.
No speech.
No drama.
Just truth.
My throat tightened.
“Since when?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s a terrible answer.”
“I’ve never done this before.”
Despite myself, I laughed.
Then his phone rang.
Gabriel.
Dominic answered.
His expression changed instantly.
“What?”
A pause.
“When?”
Another pause.
Then Dominic looked at me.
“Marcus is gone.”
My blood ran cold.
“Gone where?”
Gabriel’s voice was loud enough that I heard the answer.
“He didn’t leave voluntarily.”