Chapter 5 - THE NIGHT THE PAST CAME BACK
Winter settled over Boston.
Clara's pregnancy became impossible to hide.
The staff adored her.
Mrs. Gable secretly knitted tiny blue socks.
The cook began making everything Clara craved.
Even the security guards smiled when they saw her.
But Maximilian remained cautious.
He never touched Clara without asking.
He never entered her room without permission.
He never treated her pregnancy as ownership.
Instead, he quietly attended every medical appointment.
At the twenty-four-week scan, the doctor smiled.
“Your baby is doing beautifully.”
Clara looked at the screen.
Maximilian sat beside her.
His expression was stunned.
“That's his heart?”
“Yes.”
He stared at the monitor.
Then Clara noticed his eyes becoming wet.
“Are you crying?”
“No.”
“You are.”
“I have allergies.”
“To an ultrasound?”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
He smiled.
It was the softest expression she'd ever seen on him.
That night, he bought a tiny stuffed bear.
He placed it in the nursery.
Clara found him standing there.
“You decorated this?”
“I had help.”
She looked around.
The room was beautiful.
Soft cream walls.
A wooden crib.
A rocking chair.
Books.
Tiny clothes.
Nothing extravagant.
Just warm.
“You remembered I said I didn't want anything excessive.”
“I listen.”
Clara smiled.
“That might be your most attractive quality.”
Maximilian froze.
She realized what she'd said.
“So…”
She turned red.
“Good night.”
She escaped.
Maximilian stood alone in the nursery smiling.
Then his phone rang.
The smile vanished.
One of his men had been attacked.
Someone had stolen a file.
A file containing information about Clara's family.
Maximilian immediately ordered additional security.
But the danger wasn't outside.
It was already inside the house.
The following evening, Clara found an envelope on her pillow.
Inside was a photograph.
Her mother.
Her father.
And Maximilian's father.
On the back were four words:
ASK HIM WHAT HAPPENED.
Clara confronted Maximilian.
He didn't lie.
“My father believed your father had stolen money.”
“Did he?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because years later, I found the real records.”
“Where?”
“Hidden inside an old property.”
Clara's hands shook.
“What did they show?”
“That someone had been moving money through accounts belonging to your father.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why are you protecting them?”
“I’m not.”
“Then find them.”
Maximilian nodded.
“I will.”
But Clara noticed something.
He was afraid.
Not for himself.
For her.
That night, he told her the one thing he had never told anyone.
“My brother died because of those secrets.”
Clara sat beside him.
“What happened?”
“He discovered the fraud.”
“And?”
“They killed him.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
Maximilian looked away.
“I couldn't save him.”
Clara gently reached for his hand.
He stared at their joined fingers.
Nobody had touched him like that in years.
“You don't have to save everyone,” she whispered.
His fingers tightened around hers.
“I know.”
“No, you don't.”
He looked at her.
“You think loving people means preventing every bad thing from happening.”
She smiled sadly.
“It doesn't.”
“What does it mean?”
“Staying.”
Maximilian looked at her for a long time.
Then he lifted her hand to his lips.
A gentle kiss.
Nothing more.
But Clara felt her heart change.
And upstairs, Vanessa watched them through the window.
May you like
Her jealousy had finally turned into something more dangerous.
Desperation.
