Chapter 5: His Offer Goes on the Record

Adrian catches my wrist in the back hall before I reach the kitchen door.

His fingers close above the bruising from the river.

He knows exactly where the skin is tender.

"You need to remember the vows, Lena," he says.

"They still give me the right to speak to you privately."

The back hall smells of boot polish and the wet wool of his coat.

Through the side window, Camille's car idles at the curb with its lights on.

I look at his fingers first.

Then at his face.

"You can speak," I say.

"You cannot keep me here."

He releases me at once.

The gesture is polished.

The apology is absent.

"I'm trying to prevent this from becoming uglier than it already is."

"You brought a pregnant woman to my memorial. We passed ugly several exits ago."

His mouth tightens.

He checks the front hall behind me, then the window.

"Camille has the access card," he says.

"She is upset. I need you to understand what she may do with it."

"What does the full recording show?"

"Private conversations taken out of context."

"Your context was a memorial service."

He steps closer.

His cologne is the same one he wore when we signed the company lease.

Cedar, citrus, and expensive restraint.

"You don't have to destroy me to protect yourself."

"I have not destroyed anything. I entered a courtroom and stated my name."

"You know what happens next. Reporters will make this into a spectacle. The investigation will drag through the company."

"Employees will panic. Investors will react."

"You filed for voting control before the flowers at my service had wilted."

His eyes move over my face.

He is looking for the woman who would soften a sentence before delivering it.

That woman spent eight years translating his ambition into something kinder.

She is unavailable.

"Adrian," I say, "what are you asking me to do?"

He pauses.

His right hand shifts toward the silver watch on his left wrist, then stops before touching it.

"Keep the marriage private. Let the court close the emergency matter without public accusations."

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