Chapter 5 - THE HUSBAND I WAS SUPPOSED TO BETRAY
Dr. Warren locked the bedroom door.
Then he turned toward Ethan.
“You can stop pretending.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
The doctor’s knees nearly gave out.
“My God.”
“You knew,” I said.
“I suspected.”
Dr. Warren approached the bed.
“I saw voluntary movement.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because Rebecca reports directly to Jason.”
He opened his medical bag.
“I reviewed Ethan’s latest bloodwork this morning. Someone has been administering powerful sedatives at levels that make no medical sense.”
“For nine months?” Ethan asked.
“Possibly.”
Dr. Warren looked ashamed.
“I should have caught it sooner.”
“Would they keep someone unconscious?”
“They could delay recovery. Suppress responsiveness. Cause confusion and weakness.”
My stomach turned.
“So every time Ethan started waking…”
“They may have pushed him back under.”
Silence filled the room.
Ethan stared toward the windows.
Nine months.
Nine stolen months.
I placed my hand over his.
He looked down at it.
Then at me.
Neither of us said anything.
Dr. Warren continued.
“I’m not signing Jason’s declaration.”
“He has two doctors already,” Vivian said.
“I’ll challenge them.”
“Can you prove the medication was intentional?”
“Not yet.”
Ethan looked at me.
“We have the financial records.”
“Not enough,” I said. “Jason can claim he stole money without causing the accident.”
“Then we make him panic.”
Everyone turned toward Ethan.
His expression had changed.
I was beginning to understand how this man had built an empire before turning thirty.
“What are you thinking?” Vivian asked.
“Jason believes Claire is trapped.”
“I’m standing right here.”
“And very effectively.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Convince him you hate me.”
I stared.
“That shouldn’t be difficult. We’ve known each other twenty-four hours.”
His mouth twitched.
“Convince him you want out.”
“And?”
“See what he offers.”
Vivian objected immediately.
“No.”
“Grandmother.”
“You are not using your wife as bait.”
I looked at her.
“Yesterday I was apparently acceptable as a corporate sacrifice.”
“That was before I liked you.”
I blinked.
Ethan smiled.
“That was definitely a compliment.”
Vivian glared at him.
I thought about Jason.
My father.
The threats.
Then I said, “I’ll do it.”
That evening, I found Jason in the library.
He was pouring bourbon.
“You fired Rebecca,” he said.
“Vivian did.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Apparently marrying Ethan doesn’t give me access to family decisions.”
Jason studied me.
“You sound disappointed.”
“I’m realizing this arrangement isn’t what my father promised.”
He handed me a drink.
I accepted but did not touch it.
“What did Daniel promise?”
“Financial security.”
“You have that.”
“I’m sleeping beside a man who might never wake up while his grandmother treats me like hired furniture.”
Jason smiled.
“You want freedom.”
“I want control over my life.”
He leaned against the bar.
“Then we may be able to help each other.”
There it was.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing difficult.”
He opened a drawer and removed a folder.
Inside was a legal document.
I read the first page.
A petition requesting Ethan’s permanent medical guardianship.
Jason’s name appeared as proposed guardian.
“I don’t understand.”
“As Ethan’s wife, your support matters.”
“You want me to sign.”
“You say you’ve observed no improvement and believe continued aggressive treatment is against his best interests.”
My blood went cold.
“What happens after that?”
“I manage his affairs.”
“And me?”
“You receive ten million dollars.”
I almost laughed.
“You bought my father cheaper.”
Jason’s expression hardened.
“Careful.”
“Why did you arrange the marriage at all?”
He swirled his drink.
“Because the trust clause was inconvenient.”
“You needed Ethan married?”
“I needed him married to someone controllable.”
Everything suddenly made sense.
Without a marriage, Ethan’s birthday triggered one trust provision.
With a wife, a different section applied.
“What does the wife control?”
Jason’s silence told me enough.
I returned to our room after midnight.
Ethan was waiting.
“What did he say?”
“Apparently I’m worth ten million dollars.”
“Underpriced.”
I stared at him.
“Was that supposed to be charming?”
“I’ve been unconscious. I’m rusty.”
I handed him the guardianship petition.
He read it.
“Here.”
I pointed to a paragraph.
“If you remain incapacitated, I inherit voting authority over a portion of your shares.”
“Forty-one percent.”
“And Jason thought he could control me.”
“Yes.”
“So my father didn’t marry me to you to save your company.”
“No.”
“He married me to you so Jason could use me to steal it.”
Ethan’s eyes darkened.
“I’m sorry.”
“You didn’t do it.”
“But my name trapped you.”
I sat beside him.
“My father trapped me.”
“Claire.”
I looked up.
“If we survive this, I’ll annul the marriage immediately.”
The words should have relieved me.
Instead they hurt.
I hated that they hurt.
“Right.”
“You’ll receive enough money to start over.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“I know.”
“That’s why you trust me?”
“Partly.”
“What’s the other part?”
Ethan looked at me for a long moment.
“You talk to me like I’m a person.”
“You are a person.”
“You’d be surprised how rare that feels when you’re rich.”
“Try being sold by your father.”
“Fair point.”
We both laughed quietly.
Then Ethan reached for my hand.
His thumb brushed my knuckles.
“I meant what I said.”
“About the annulment?”
His eyes held mine.
“About liking your voice.”
My heartbeat changed.
For the first time since this nightmare began, I forgot Jason.
Forgot the money.
Forgot the contract.
I saw only Ethan.
A man who had spent nine months trapped inside silence.
And somehow my voice had reached him.
I leaned closer.
He did too.
The kiss was brief.
Gentle.
Almost uncertain.
When we pulled apart, neither of us spoke.
Then Ethan whispered, “That complicates the annulment.”
I smiled.
“Considerably.”
A loud crash sounded downstairs.
Then an alarm screamed through the mansion.
Vivian’s voice echoed from the hall.
“Ethan!”
I ran to the door.
Smoke was rising from the west wing.
Charles appeared at the end of the corridor.
“Fire in the study!”
Ethan’s study.
The room where Vivian had hidden copies of Marcus Hale’s evidence.
We reached the staircase as staff rushed toward the smoke.
Then Vivian grabbed my arm.
Her face had gone pale.
“The evidence.”
“Was it in there?”
“Some of it.”
A servant shouted from below.
“Mrs. Thornton!”
We turned.
A brick had been thrown through one of the library windows.
Wrapped around it was a note.
Charles carefully unfolded the paper.
One sentence had been written across it.
BURN THE EVIDENCE OR THE BRIDE BURNS WITH IT.
Ethan read the message from his wheelchair.
Then slowly raised his head.
For the first time, I saw the man Jason Thornton had been terrified would wake.
And I understood why.
“Charles,” Ethan said quietly.
“Yes, sir?”
“Lock the estate.”
His voice was weak.
May you like
But the authority behind it was not.
“Nobody leaves.”
