Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Pink Dress
Saturday morning, I did something Liam did not expect.
I left Hailey with Rachel for two hours and went shopping.
Not because I needed revenge clothes.
Not because I wanted Liam to regret losing me.
I was finished dressing for his approval.
I wanted to recognize myself.
I found a pale rose satin dress that fit the body I had now rather than punishing it for not being the body I had before pregnancy. It was soft at the waist, elegant without trying too hard, and when I looked into the dressing-room mirror, I saw something I had not seen in months.
Me.
Tired.
Changed.
Still me.
I bought it.
Then I bought peonies.
When I returned home, Liam noticed them immediately.
“Those for Sunday?”
“For me.”
He looked confused.
“You bought yourself flowers?”
“Yes.”
A strange thing happened then.
I realized how absurd it was that this surprised him.
Sunday morning, Liam became unusually attentive.
He made coffee.
He held Hailey for almost twenty minutes.
He even took a photograph of me feeding her and said, “My beautiful girls.”
The performance had begun.
I wondered whether he planned to keep that photograph after leaving us.
At four thirty, we drove to my parents’ home in Greenwich, where the anniversary dinner was being hosted.
My mother had transformed the dining room with candles, crystal, white flowers, and the china she normally considered too expensive to touch.
Both families arrived.
Liam’s mother, Patricia, hugged me.
“My goodness, Claire. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
Then she took Hailey and immediately began showing her off.
Liam’s brother Ethan arrived with his wife.
Rachel and her husband came next.
Dad greeted Liam politely.
Nothing more.
Liam didn’t notice.
He was too busy performing.
He poured wine for everyone.
He kissed my cheek.
He told the story of our first date.
People laughed.
I watched him and wondered whether he had rehearsed any of it.
Dinner began at six.
At 6:18, Liam’s phone buzzed.
He glanced down.
I knew exactly what he saw because the tablet was inside my purse.
Chloe:
Wish I was there.
He typed beneath the table.
Last night of pretending.
I looked directly at him.
He smiled.
“You okay?”
“Perfect.”
Dad almost choked on his wine.
Dessert arrived at seven fifteen.
My mother had ordered a small replica of our wedding cake.
Liam stood.
“I guess I should say something.”
Everyone quieted.
He lifted his glass.
“Five years ago, Claire made me the luckiest man alive.”
My sister looked down.
I kept watching him.
“We’ve had an incredible journey, and now we have Hailey.”
He smiled toward our daughter sleeping in a bassinet beside Patricia.
“I can’t imagine my life without my girls.”
That did it.
Not the affair.
Not Chloe.
Not even the money.
That sentence.
Because he could imagine it.
He had been planning it.
He had scheduled it.
Monday.
I set down my glass.
“Can’t you?”
Liam looked at me.
“What?”
“You said you can’t imagine your life without us.”
He smiled uncertainly.
“That’s right.”
I reached into my purse.
Rachel became completely still.
Dad leaned back.
I placed the tablet on the table.
Liam’s face lost color.
“I think your imagination is better than you’re admitting.”
Silence.
Patricia looked between us.
“Claire?”
Liam stared at the tablet.
“What is that?”
“You know what it is.”
His eyes snapped to mine.
“Were you going through my things?”
I almost admired the instinct.
He had been exposed for an affair and possible financial deception, yet his first defense was privacy.
“No. You left your account signed in.”
His jaw tightened.
“Claire, whatever you think you saw—”
“I heard you first.”
That stopped him.
Tuesday afternoon.
The forgotten call.
I watched realization move across his face.
“You heard?”
“Everything.”
My mother covered her mouth.
Patricia whispered, “Liam?”
He pushed his chair back.
“This is not the place.”
“You chose the place.”
“What does that mean?”
“You planned to sit through this dinner, smile at everyone, accept congratulations, then leave me tomorrow after your promotion announcement.”
Ethan stared at his brother.
“Is that true?”
“No.”
The tablet chimed.
Perfect timing.
Everyone looked at it.
Chloe had sent:
One more sleep. I love you.
Nobody spoke.
Liam closed his eyes.
Patricia looked physically ill.
“Who is Chloe?”
I answered.
“The woman your son plans to marry.”
“Claire—”
“And Charles Bennett’s daughter.”
Dad finally spoke.
That name changed Liam’s expression.
He looked at him.
“Daniel, this has nothing to do with—”
“My company?”
Dad’s voice was quiet.
Liam froze.
Dad continued.
“Because you told Gregory Halston I had committed Whitmore Capital projects to his firm if you became managing partner.”
Liam stared at him.
“I said there was interest.”
“You said I was in.”
“I can explain.”
“Please.”
Liam’s confidence cracked.
He looked around the table and finally understood there was nowhere safe to direct his story.
Then I showed him the scheduled transfer.
His face changed again.
“That was temporary.”
“Sixty thousand dollars?”
“I was moving money for an investment.”
“An investment Chloe knew about?”
His mother stood.
“Liam, tell me she’s wrong.”
He looked at her.
That silence was answer enough.
Patricia stepped backward.
“I raised you better than this.”
Liam suddenly looked at me with anger.
“You planned this.”
“No. You did.”
“You wanted to humiliate me.”
“I wanted everyone you intended to lie to tomorrow to hear the truth tonight.”
His phone began ringing.
He looked down.
Chloe.
I smiled.
“You should answer.”
He declined the call.
It rang again.
Then Dad’s phone rang.
Gregory Halston.
Dad looked at me.
I nodded.
He answered.
“Gregory.”
Everyone watched.
Dad listened for several seconds.
Then his eyebrows drew together.
“When?”
Another pause.
“You’re certain?”
Liam stood.
“What?”
Dad ignored him.
“Send it to me.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” Rachel asked.
Dad looked directly at Liam.
“The managing-partner announcement has been postponed.”
Liam went white.
“Why?”
Dad’s phone buzzed with an email.
He opened it.
Then he looked at me.
Whatever he saw surprised even him.
“Because,” Dad said slowly, “someone sent Gregory evidence that Liam has been sharing confidential Halston Ridge documents with Charles Bennett.”
I stared at Liam.
For the first time that evening, I was genuinely confused.
I hadn’t sent anything.
Neither had Dad.
And judging by Liam’s expression, he knew exactly who had.
May you like
He whispered one word.
“Chloe.”
