Chapter 7 - THE HUSBAND WHO CAME TO APOLOGIZE
Adrienne Duca appeared outside Clare's attorney's office at 6:43 p.m.
He was alone.
No security guards.
No expensive entourage.
No commanding presence designed to intimidate everyone around him.
Just a tired man holding a small velvet box.
Clare saw him through the glass doors.
For a moment, her heart betrayed her.
Then she remembered the foyer.
The armed guards.
The jewelry scattered across the marble table.
The way he'd ordered Marco to search her belongings.
She stepped outside.
"Adrienne."
He turned.
His expression changed when he saw her.
"Clare."
She kept several feet between them.
"What do you want?"
He swallowed.
"To apologize."
"You already texted."
"I know."
He looked down at the box in his hands.
"I wanted to return this."
Clare stared.
Her wedding ring.
He opened the box.
The three-carat diamond glittered beneath the streetlights.
For three years, she'd worn that ring every day.
Now it looked like something that belonged to another woman.
"I don't want it," she said.
Adrienne's face tightened.
"Clare—"
"You can't hand me a ring and pretend what happened didn't happen."
"I know."
"Do you?"
His eyes filled with pain.
"I accused you of something you didn't do. I allowed security to search your belongings. I let Victoria turn my own home into a courtroom where you were presumed guilty."
Clare felt tears rising.
She hated that.
She'd promised herself she wouldn't cry in front of him.
Adrienne continued.
"I was wrong."
She looked away.
"You were."
"I should have listened."
"Yes."
"I should have believed you."
Her voice cracked.
"Yes."
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Adrienne said something she hadn't expected.
"I'm not asking you to come home."
Clare looked at him.
"What?"
"I'm asking whether you'll let me help expose what Victoria did."
She studied his face.
"And what happens afterward?"
He lowered his eyes.
"That's your decision."
Clare swallowed.
For the first time in their marriage, he wasn't trying to control the outcome.
She nodded slowly.
"You can cooperate with my attorney."
Adrienne looked relieved.
"Thank you."
"But don't mistake that for forgiveness."
"I won't."
He closed the ring box.
Then stepped aside.
Clare turned toward the building.
"Adrienne?"
He looked up.
"Yes?"
"Why did you hesitate?"
His face changed.
She didn't need to explain.
They both knew which moment she meant.
The two seconds in the foyer.
The two seconds that destroyed everything.
Adrienne swallowed.
"Because I was afraid of being betrayed."
Clare nodded.
"And you decided it was easier to betray me first."
He closed his eyes.
She walked away.
Inside the office, Rebecca was waiting.
"Are you okay?"
Clare sat down.
"No."
Rebecca nodded.
"Understandable."
Then she placed a document on the table.
"We found something important."
Clare looked up.
"What?"
"Harold Pierce didn't merely deny your appointment."
She turned the page.
"He signed a statement claiming you authorized the transfer of your father's shares."
Clare stared.
"That's impossible."
Rebecca nodded.
"The signature appears forged."
Then she showed Clare the document.
The transfer would take effect on her thirtieth birthday.
May you like
And its beneficiary was not Victoria Duca.
It was Adrienne Duca.
