Chapter 2 - The Woman in the Burgundy Dress
Adrian ignored the ringing telephone.
That was his second mistake.
His first had been believing Claire was powerless.
“Very dramatic,” Vanessa said.
Claire slowly stood, using the edge of the sofa for support.
Adrian watched her.
“What exactly is your father supposed to do?”
Claire didn't answer.
The office phone stopped ringing.
Then Adrian's cell phone started.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression changed slightly.
Claire noticed.
“Who is it?” Vanessa asked.
“My CFO.”
Adrian declined the call.
Almost immediately, it rang again.
This time his chief financial officer wasn't calling.
The chairman of Vale Meridian's lending consortium was.
Adrian frowned.
He answered.
“What?”
Claire watched the color leave his face.
“What do you mean suspended?”
Vanessa straightened.
Adrian walked toward the windows.
“No. You listen to me. Those credit facilities were approved through December.”
A pause.
“On whose authority?”
Another pause.
Adrian slowly turned toward Claire.
For the first time, there was uncertainty in his eyes.
Claire said nothing.
Adrian lowered the phone.
“What is your father's name?”
Claire almost laughed.
Three years of marriage.
Three anniversaries.
Three Christmases.
Hundreds of dinners.
And only now had he thought to ask.
“You never cared before.”
“Claire.”
His phone rang again.
Then Vanessa's did.
She glanced down.
Her expression tightened.
“Adrian.”
“What?”
“Vale Meridian's stock is moving.”
Adrian snatched her phone.
Claire didn't need to see the screen.
She knew her father.
If he had said five minutes, he meant five minutes.
Adrian stared at the numbers.
“This is impossible.”
Claire moved toward the staircase.
He caught her arm.
She froze.
“Let go.”
“Who is your father?”
Claire looked down at his hand.
Adrian followed her gaze.
Perhaps for the first time that evening, he understood how dangerous touching her again might be.
He released her.
Claire turned.
“My maiden name wasn't Claire Bennett.”
Vanessa frowned.
Adrian stared at her.
“What?”
“Bennett was my mother's maiden name.”
Adrian's face became still.
Claire continued.
“My legal surname before I married you was Beaumont.”
Nothing happened for one second.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“Beaumont?”
Adrian looked at her.
Vanessa's face had gone pale.
Unlike Adrian, she understood the name immediately.
Beaumont Capital.
One of the largest privately controlled investment groups in the country.
A company so quiet that most ordinary people barely knew the family behind it.
But people in finance knew.
Adrian certainly should have.
And suddenly the strange events of the past three years began assembling themselves in his mind.
The bank that unexpectedly approved his expansion loan.
The investors who returned his calls.
The private equity group that withdrew a hostile offer days after Claire quietly asked Adrian whether he was worried.
Adrian had believed those victories belonged to him.
Claire had allowed him to believe it.
“Your father is…”
“Richard Beaumont.”
Adrian stepped backward.
Vanessa stood.
“No.”
Claire looked at her.
Vanessa shook her head.
“Richard Beaumont doesn't have a daughter named Claire.”
“He has a daughter named Clara Elizabeth Beaumont.”
Adrian stared at his wife.
Claire's full legal first name had appeared on their marriage certificate.
He had never asked why she used Claire.
She had told him she preferred it.
He hadn't cared.
He had cared about the woman who admired him.
The woman who stayed out of his business.
The woman he believed needed him.
His phone rang again.
This time Adrian answered immediately.
“Talk.”
The voice on the other end spoke rapidly.
Adrian's shoulders stiffened.
“What do you mean they exercised the clause?”
Claire knew exactly what it meant.
Beaumont Capital held a significant portion of the private debt underwriting Vale Meridian's expansion.
Adrian had never known.
Richard had hidden his involvement behind investment vehicles and intermediary firms.
He had done it because Claire had begged him not to interfere.
Now she had withdrawn that protection.
Adrian ended the call.
“You did this.”
“No,” Claire said.
“I did?”
“You did.”
She glanced at the belt on the sofa.
“You just didn't know what your actions would cost.”
Vanessa moved beside Adrian.
“She's bluffing.”
Claire looked at her.
Vanessa's confidence was returning.
“Think about it,” Vanessa continued. “If she were really Richard Beaumont's daughter, why would she live like this? Why would she let you control everything?”
Claire smiled faintly.
That question was more intelligent than anything Adrian had asked.
“Because I loved him.”
Adrian looked at her.
Claire's voice remained quiet.
“I wanted one thing in my life that wasn't purchased, arranged, negotiated, or influenced by my father's name.”
She looked around the mansion.
“I wanted someone to choose me when he thought I was ordinary.”
Her eyes returned to Adrian.
“And you did.”
For a moment, something almost human crossed Adrian's face.
Then Claire finished.
“But once you thought you owned me, you stopped choosing me.”
Adrian said nothing.
Vanessa's phone buzzed.
Then again.
And again.
She checked the messages.
“Adrian…”
“What now?”
“The board has called an emergency meeting.”
His face hardened.
“When?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Tomorrow morning.”
Claire walked toward the staircase.
“Where are you going?”
“To pack.”
“You're not leaving.”
Claire stopped.
Slowly, she turned around.
The frightened woman who had been kneeling on the floor minutes earlier was disappearing.
“You gave me divorce papers.”
Adrian opened his mouth.
“You told me I was dead weight,” Claire continued. “You told me Vanessa was pregnant. And then you made sure I understood exactly how little my safety meant to you.”
She looked him directly in the eyes.
“So don't confuse losing control with changing your mind.”
She started upstairs.
Behind her, Adrian's phone rang again.
This time, Claire heard the voice on the other end because Adrian had accidentally answered on speaker.
“Mr. Vale, we have a serious problem.”
Adrian grabbed the phone.
“What problem?”
“The Beaumont Group has requested a forensic review of every transaction connected to your expansion financing.”
Vanessa's expression changed.
Not Adrian's.
Vanessa's.
Claire saw it from halfway up the stairs.
Fear.
Real fear.
Interesting.
Claire stopped.
Vanessa quickly looked away.
And in that tiny movement, Claire realized something.
Her father's attack had frightened Adrian.
But the forensic audit had terrified Vanessa.
Which meant Vanessa was hiding something.
Something much bigger than an affair.
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