He Chose Her, So I Faked My Death novel · Chapter 3 of 32

Chapter 3: Dead Woman Signs Nothing

In a coast safehouse, Imogen watches Preston blame the dead assistant on live television and learns his lawyer is in a hurry to have her declared dead.

The Radcliffe coast house smelled like salt and cold stone.

Jasper drove me there in the dark and did not say a word for two hours.

I slept in a clean white bedroom with the curtains shut and woke to the sound of a television.

Jasper stood in the kitchen with a mug of coffee, watching a news anchor in front of a map of the coast.

"Overnight, a car belonging to Imogen Ames was found in the water near Carmel," the anchor said. "Police have not recovered a body."

"Ames," I said. "That's the first time anyone's said it on television."

"Eat this first." He slid a plate of dry toast across the counter. "Then watch."

The screen cut to the steps of the Ames Jewels building.

Preston stood at a podium with his tie loose and his eyes red.

Lydia stood a half step behind him in a red dress.

It was my red dress, the one he had chosen for me, and she had it taken in at the waist.

"Our assistant, Imogen, was unwell," Preston told the cameras. "She had been under great strain and made false claims last night, and I fear she took her own life."

He paused and wiped his eye with his thumb.

"I must also tell you what I have just learned. The Halcyon diamond purchases that have been under rumor were signed by Imogen. She hid them from me. I am heartbroken, and I will cooperate with every inquiry."

Lydia put her hand on his arm and bowed her head.

I put down the toast.

"He is blaming me," I said. "He is blaming a dead woman."

"That was the plan," Jasper said. "Your name is on the papers. Dead people don't argue."

"He told me I was his only wife."

"Eat."

"I'm going to be sick."

I was, in the downstairs bathroom, for a long time.

When I came out Jasper was leaning in the doorway with a glass of water and a damp cloth.

He did not say it was okay.

He just held the glass out until I took it.

"You've done this before," I said.

"Morning sickness? My sister had it with her first. Ginger tea and salt crackers."

He said it plainly, as a fact about the past, and went to find the crackers.

I sat on the kitchen floor with my back against the cabinet and ate them one by one.

"Rules," Jasper said, sitting down across from me.

"Of course there are rules."

"One. You do what I say until the baby is safe. Your brother pays me for that, and I'm good at it."

"I don't take orders."

"You took the needle last night without a sound." He shrugged. "Two. Nothing happens between us while you're someone's wife."

I stared at him.

"I'm about to be a widow."

"Not yet you're not. You have a husband, a baby, and a man who stood on a cliff and called a lawyer."

"I wasn't asking."

"I know. I'm saying it so we both know where the line is."

He said it without any heat at all, and still I felt my face go warm.

I looked at the crackers.

"Three," he said. "You stay inside until I say otherwise."

"No."

"Imogen."

"I did not fake my death to sit in a white room and eat crackers." I stood up. "I drew every line of that collection. I want it back. I want her name off it, and his name off me."

"Good," Jasper said.

I blinked.

"I only said rule three to see what you'd do." The corner of his mouth moved. "Your brother said you'd say no. He bet me a month's pay."

"You made a bet about me?"

"Nathan bet. I took the other side." He picked up his coffee. "I'm a month richer. Sit down."

I laughed.

It came out cracked and surprised, and then I was crying and laughing at the same time with my back against the cabinet.

Jasper waited until it stopped.

Then he turned the television up.

The anchor was back on screen with a paper in her hand.

"We have just received word that the law firm for Ames Jewels filed a petition this morning to have Imogen Ames declared legally dead."

I stopped breathing.

"It's been twelve hours," I said. "There is no body. They can't do that."

"Courts hate it." Jasper's face had gone still. "Normally a family waits months."

"Then why is he in a hurry?"

On the screen, Preston's lawyer stood outside a courthouse with a folder under his arm.

He was smiling.

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