Chapter 10 - The Woman Who Had Worn the Ring Before Cassidy
Dominic held the brass key without speaking.
Cassidy watched him.
“You knew that key existed.”
“No.”
“But you recognize the initials.”
“Yes.”
Emily sat frozen on the floor.
“Am I in trouble?”
Both adults turned instantly.
“No,” Cassidy said.
Dominic crouched.
“No.”
“I broke the picture.”
“The frame can be replaced.”
“Was that your mom?”
“Yes.”
Emily looked at the cracked glass.
“I'm sorry.”
Dominic's voice softened.
“She would've cared more whether you cut your hand.”
Emily checked her fingers.
“I didn't.”
“Then we're fine.”
Cassidy watched him carefully.
The sentence sounded simple.
But Dominic had just chosen a living child over a dead woman's photograph.
That mattered.
Nora helped Emily back to bed.
Dominic carried the frame downstairs.
They placed it on the library table.
The key lay beside it.
Cassidy sat across from him.
“So what now?”
“I take it to Franklin.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Dominic looked up.
“No?”
“You've had anonymous photographs, leaked recordings, a stolen contract and somebody photographing Emily.”
“Yes.”
“And your solution is walking into the exact building everyone wants access to at midnight?”
“I own it.”
“That does not make bullets respect property law.”
Dominic stared.
Cassidy realized what she had said.
“I'm not saying someone is going to shoot you.”
“Good.”
“I'm saying stop acting like being rich makes you invincible.”
“I don't.”
“You do.”
“No.”
“You travel with security.”
“Because I'm not invincible.”
“That is annoyingly logical.”
Dominic almost smiled.
He called Mara.
Thirty minutes later the plan changed.
They would wait until morning.
An independent auditor and two attorneys would accompany Dominic.
The archive would be opened under camera documentation.
No private retrieval.
No missing evidence accusations.
Cassidy approved.
Dominic noticed.
“You realize you are not actually my lawyer.”
“No. Your lawyer is too polite.”
“Mara isn't polite.”
“Compared to me?”
“Fair.”
The next morning, however, the archive opening was blocked.
Richard's attorneys obtained a temporary order preserving the location until the trust hearing.
The key could not be used.
Not yet.
Dominic was furious.
Cassidy found him in the kitchen after receiving the news.
He stood over untouched coffee.
“Welcome to my life,” she said.
“What?”
“Waiting for courts.”
He looked at her.
“You're enjoying this.”
“A little.”
“I hate waiting.”
“People without money do it constantly.”
“I know.”
“No, you intellectually know.”
He leaned against the counter.
“Is there a difference?”
“A huge one.”
Cassidy opened the refrigerator.
“When I needed a specialist for my mother, we waited eleven weeks.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“When I needed childcare assistance, the list was six months.”
She took out milk.
“When my landlord gave notice, the city housing office told me emergency placement interviews were booked for twenty-three days.”
She poured milk into Emily's cereal bowl.
“So yes. Waiting is different when you can't call somebody.”
Dominic said nothing.
Cassidy looked at him.
“You want to help people?”
“Yes.”
“Then remember this feeling.”
He nodded slowly.
That afternoon, Cassidy started work.
Lakeshore placed her at the Marshall Park Hotel.
The lobby was elegant but busy.
For eight hours Cassidy answered phones, checked guests in and learned software.
Nobody cared who she had married until lunch.
Then a coworker named Dani whispered, “Can I ask something insane?”
Cassidy sighed.
“Probably.”
“Is Dominic Vale really your husband?”
“Yes.”
Dani stared.
“Why are you working here?”
“Because married women still need jobs.”
“You married a billionaire.”
“Apparently billionaires still have annoying personalities.”
Dani laughed so loudly a manager looked over.
For the first time Cassidy felt normal.
She liked that.
At five fifteen she picked Emily up.
At six they returned to Dominic's house.
He was waiting.
That was new.
“So?” he asked.
“So what?”
“Your job.”
“You care?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He frowned.
“Because I'm married to you.”
“Contractually.”
“Does that prohibit asking about work?”
“No.”
“It was good.”
He nodded.
“That sounded disappointing.”
“It was boring.”
“Boring is good.”
“I agree.”
Emily ran past them.
“Dominic!”
“Yes?”
“I got ninety-eight on spelling.”
“Why not one hundred?”
Cassidy stared at him.
Emily stared too.
Then Dominic's expression shifted.
“That was a joke.”
“You're bad at jokes,” Emily said.
“I know.”
At dinner Emily asked about Evelyn.
“What was your mom like?”
Dominic stopped eating.
Cassidy prepared to redirect.
Instead he answered.
“Stubborn.”
“Like Cassidy?”
“Worse.”
Cassidy kicked him beneath the table.
He ignored it.
“She collected old postcards. She hated roses. She liked blueberry pancakes.”
Emily smiled.
“I like blueberry pancakes.”
“She played piano when she was angry.”
“Why?”
“Because she said yelling gave other people too much power.”
Cassidy liked Evelyn more every day.
Emily pointed at Cassidy's ring.
“Did she wear that every day?”
“Yes.”
“Even when she was mad?”
“Yes.”
“Was she mad at your dad?”
Dominic became still.
“Sometimes.”
“Did they love each other?”
Cassidy nearly choked.
Emily had apparently declared war on emotionally evasive adults.
Dominic thought before answering.
“I think they loved each other badly.”
Emily frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means love doesn't automatically make people kind.”
The table went quiet.
Cassidy watched him.
That was not a sentence learned from a business school.
After Emily went upstairs, Dominic found Cassidy in the hallway.
“Was that inappropriate?”
“What?”
“What I told her.”
“No.”
“It was complicated.”
“She can handle complicated.”
“So can you.”
Cassidy looked up.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You keep asking for the truth even when it's unpleasant.”
“That's because people keep giving me unpleasant truths.”
Dominic stepped closer.
“Do you want one now?”
Cassidy's breathing changed.
“What?”
“I've started waiting for you to come home.”
Her chest tightened.
Dominic continued.
“I don't like that.”
Cassidy almost laughed.
“That's the worst romantic line I've ever heard.”
“I wasn't trying to be romantic.”
“Good.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
They stood close enough that Cassidy could smell coffee on him.
Neither moved.
Then Dominic's phone rang.
Of course.
He closed his eyes briefly.
Cassidy stepped back.
“Answer it.”
He did.
Mara's voice came through.
“The trust hearing moved up.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
Dominic's face hardened.
“Why?”
“Richard claims emergency corporate harm.”
“And the archive?”
“Still sealed.”
Mara paused.
“There's more.”
“What?”
“He has a witness.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“Who?”
“Someone who says Cassidy admitted the marriage was fake before the ceremony.”
Cassidy's blood went cold.
“Who?”
Mara answered.
“Jerry Moreland.”
May you like
And just like that, the one person Cassidy had trusted before Dominic entered her life had become the person scheduled to testify against them.
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