CLAIRE
I stared at my phone long after the call ended, Patricia’s last words still ringing in my head, a deal that involved you. My fingers tightened around the phone without me realizing it, my father made a deal. With Ethan’s father, before I even got married.
That didn’t make sense… or maybe it did. A cold feeling crept into my chest, slow and heavy, like something I didn’t want to name yet.
I pushed myself off the couch and started pacing, my bare feet brushing against the rug as I moved back and forth.
“No,” I muttered under my breath, shaking my head. “No, he wouldn’t…”
But the words sounded weak, even to me, because deep down, I already knew something was wrong.
My father had always been distant, always more focused on business than anything else. Even when I was younger, it h
