Chapter 3 - THE WIFE WHO REFUSED TO COME HOME
Clare Bennett Duca had never felt so free.
Or so frightened.
The rain had soaked through her coat by the time she reached the corner of Madison Avenue.
Her shoes were ruined.
Her hair clung to her cheeks.
And her husband's wedding ring was no longer on her finger.
For three years, she'd lived inside a mansion filled with everything money could buy.
But that night, she'd discovered how little any of it mattered when the man she loved couldn't trust her.
She stopped beneath a pharmacy awning and called her older brother.
"Ethan?"
"Clare?"
His voice changed immediately.
"What's wrong?"
She closed her eyes.
"Can I stay with you?"
"Of course. Where are you?"
She told him.
"Stay somewhere public. I'm coming."
Clare ended the call.
Then she noticed the black sedan across the street.
Its headlights were off.
She'd seen it earlier near the mansion gates.
Her stomach tightened.
She stepped into the brightly lit pharmacy.
The sedan remained outside.
Clare approached the cashier.
"Excuse me. Could I wait here for my brother?"
The woman smiled.
"Of course."
Clare stood near the counter, trying to control her breathing.
Her phone vibrated.
Adrienne.
Again.
She stared at the screen.
For a moment, she almost answered.
Then she remembered the two seconds he'd hesitated when she asked whether he believed her.
She declined the call.
Another message appeared.
Clare, Victoria planted the diamonds. I have proof.
Her heart skipped.
She read it twice.
Then another message arrived.
I'm sorry. I should have believed you.
Clare closed her eyes.
She wanted those words to make everything better.
They didn't.
Because he'd needed evidence to believe her innocence.
And she'd needed only her husband's faith.
A stranger entered the pharmacy.
Tall.
Dark coat.
Baseball cap pulled low.
He looked toward Clare.
Then toward the street.
Her instincts screamed.
She stepped closer to the cashier.
The man walked down an aisle without buying anything.
Then disappeared through a side exit.
Seconds later, the black sedan drove away.
Clare's phone rang.
Ethan.
"I'm outside."
She hurried toward the entrance.
Her brother stood beside his old silver SUV.
He looked furious when he saw her soaked clothes.
"What happened?"
Clare climbed inside.
"I left Adrienne."
Ethan froze.
"What?"
"He accused me of stealing."
Her brother stared.
"That idiot."
For the first time all night, Clare almost smiled.
Ethan handed her a blanket.
"You're coming home with me."
She nodded.
As they drove away, Clare looked through the rear window.
The black sedan appeared again.
Following them.
"Ethan."
He glanced at the mirror.
"I see it."
Clare's heart pounded.
"Do you think it's Adrienne's security?"
"Maybe."
But Ethan didn't sound convinced.
He turned toward the nearest police precinct instead of his apartment.
The sedan immediately changed direction.
And disappeared.
Clare looked down at her phone.
A new message appeared.
Unknown number.
Your husband isn't the only one who betrayed you.
Then another.
Ask Ethan what happened to your father's company.
Clare slowly turned toward her brother.
"Ethan?"
He glanced at her.
"What?"
She held up the phone.
"Why is someone telling me to ask you about Dad's company?"
May you like
Ethan's face drained of color.
And in that instant, Clare understood the betrayal might have begun long before she married Adrienne Duca.
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