Chapter 3 - The Woman He Was Supposed to Marry
Claire stared at the phone as if it had betrayed her.
“That isn’t what it sounds like.”
Detective Ortiz switched off the recording.
Adrian watched her.
“What does it sound like?”
Claire looked around the room.
Evelyn stood rigid near the window.
Maya remained beside the medication cart.
“I can explain.”
Ortiz said, “Then explain.”
Claire inhaled.
“Adrian and I had been fighting.”
“About what?”
“Business.”
Adrian frowned.
“You worked with me?”
“My father does.”
Charles Whitmore controlled Whitmore Capital, one of Mercer Holdings’ oldest investment partners.
Claire explained that Adrian had recently discovered irregularities in a joint acquisition.
Millions had been routed through consulting companies.
Adrian suspected someone inside one of the firms was hiding money.
“You thought my father was involved,” Claire said.
“Was he?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to remember eventually.”
The words landed badly.
Claire softened.
“I’m sorry.”
Adrian looked away.
Ortiz asked Claire to accompany him for a formal statement.
After she left, Adrian stared at Maya.
“What do you think?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me.”
“I’m your nurse, not your detective.”
“You don’t trust her.”
Maya hesitated.
“I think there’s more to the story.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“Diplomatic again.”
Later that evening, Maya finished her shift.
She reached the employee parking lot and found Evelyn waiting beside a black sedan.
“Maya.”
“I’m tired, Mrs. Mercer.”
“I owe you an apology.”
Maya stopped.
Evelyn struggled with the words.
“I investigated you because fear makes me controlling.”
“That doesn’t excuse it.”
“No.”
Maya respected the answer.
Evelyn continued.
“Adrian has always believed he can solve every problem himself. His father was the same.”
“What happened to his father?”
Evelyn looked away.
“Thomas died of a heart attack.”
Something in her voice felt unfinished.
But Maya was too exhausted to push.
When she reached home, Toby was awake.
“There’s something wrong with Mom.”
Maya immediately entered Lorraine’s bedroom.
Her mother sat on the edge of the bed.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re pale.”
“I stood up too quickly.”
Maya checked her pulse.
“Mom.”
Lorraine sighed.
“I’ve been skipping my blood-pressure medication.”
“Why?”
“It’s expensive.”
Maya closed her eyes.
Their problems were multiplying.
The next morning she called the pharmacy, negotiated a partial refill, and transferred almost everything remaining in her checking account.
Then St. Catherine’s payroll office called.
Maya had exceeded her permitted overtime.
She would not be allowed extra shifts for two weeks.
She sat in her car and cried for exactly ninety seconds.
Then she wiped her face and went inside.
Adrian noticed immediately.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“That means something happened.”
“Stop analyzing me.”
He watched her quietly.
“You told me once that people who grew up comfortable replace things before they break.”
“I remember.”
“I think you do the same thing with yourself.”
Maya looked at him.
“You wait until you’re breaking before admitting you need anything.”
The words hit too close.
She changed the subject.
“Physical therapy at eleven.”
“Maya.”
“What?”
“You don’t always have to be the person keeping everyone alive.”
Her throat tightened.
She left before he could see.
That afternoon, Adrian remembered another fragment.
A parking garage.
Claire crying.
A man shouting.
A document with the Mercer logo.
Then one sentence.
“I know what your father did.”
Claire returned that evening.
Adrian confronted her.
“What did your father do?”
Claire froze.
“Your memory is coming back?”
“Answer me.”
She sat down.
“My father moved money.”
“How much?”
“Nearly forty million dollars.”
Maya, entering quietly with medication, stopped.
Claire continued.
“He said it was temporary. He said he was protecting the company from a liquidity problem.”
“And I discovered it.”
“Yes.”
“Why did my recording say not to trust you?”
Tears appeared in Claire’s eyes.
“Because I lied to you.”
“About what?”
“I knew about the transfers for months.”
Adrian stared.
“You protected him.”
“He’s my father.”
“And I was supposed to become your husband.”
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
Claire had no answer.
Adrian removed his engagement ring from the bedside drawer.
He had not worn it since waking.
He placed it on the table.
Claire began crying.
“Please.”
“I don’t remember loving you.”
“That doesn’t mean you didn’t.”
“No.”
He looked at the ring.
“But I know I don’t trust you now.”
Claire left without taking it.
Maya remained silent.
Adrian looked at her.
“Was that cruel?”
“No.”
“You answered quickly.”
“You asked for truth.”
He nodded.
“I did.”
Two days later Adrian was discharged.
His memory was still incomplete, but medically he was stable.
Maya helped him prepare.
When she finished, an uncomfortable silence filled the room.
“So this is goodbye,” Adrian said.
“You’re leaving the hospital. That’s generally considered successful.”
“I don’t want you to disappear.”
“I’m your nurse.”
“You were.”
Maya met his eyes.
The distinction frightened her.
“I need time,” he said. “To understand who I was.”
“You do.”
“But when I know…”
He stopped.
“When you know what?”
“I want to find you.”
Maya looked away.
“Recover first.”
He smiled.
“Is that a yes?”
“It’s not a no.”
For Adrian Mercer, apparently that was enough.
He left.
Maya returned to ordinary life.
Medication rounds.
Night shifts.
Toby’s tuition.
Lorraine’s prescriptions.
For twelve days she heard nothing.
Then, on a rainy Thursday evening, a man in a dark suit entered the nurses’ station.
He handed Maya an envelope.
Inside was a cashier’s check.
$25,000.
Maya’s stomach dropped.
There was no note.
Only one line on the envelope.
FOR YOUR FAMILY.
Maya marched straight to the Mercer estate.
Adrian opened the door himself.
She held up the check.
“What is this?”
His expression changed.
“I didn’t send that.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not.”
“Then who did?”
Adrian took the envelope.
His face went pale.
He recognized the handwriting.
“My mother.”
Maya turned to leave.
“Maya, wait.”
“No.”
He followed her.
“She shouldn’t have done this.”
“She thinks I can be bought.”
“I don’t.”
Maya stopped in the rain.
“Then understand something. I held your hand because you were scared. I stayed because you were alone. Not because of your name.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
His answer was immediate.
Rain ran down his face.
Then he said something she did not expect.
“My memory came back yesterday.”
Maya stared.
“All of it?”
“Almost.”
“And?”
Adrian looked toward the house.
“I know why I crashed.”
Her heart began pounding.
“Who did it?”
He shook his head.
“That’s the problem.”
“What problem?”
“The person who wanted me dead wasn’t Claire.”
He looked directly at Maya.
May you like
“It was someone inside my own family.”
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