Chapter 8 - Terms of the Marriage
The discovery changed the marriage before either of them admitted it.
Until then, Claire and Ethan had been two strangers sharing an agreement.
Now someone had threatened her father, burned trial records, and connected Vanessa’s family to Claire’s missing mother.
Ethan moved Thomas into a guarded townhouse.
Claire objected to the guards.
Thomas looked at the men outside and said, “Honey, when a billionaire offers me armed protection, I’m not insulting the billionaire.”
Ethan almost smiled.
That night, Claire found him on the penthouse terrace.
“Why are you helping this much?” she asked.
“You’re my wife.”
“On paper.”
“That paper made my enemies yours. I don’t get to ignore the consequences.”
“That’s not the whole answer.”
Ethan looked over the harbor. “My younger sister died after taking an improperly labeled medication. The manufacturer settled quietly. Nobody admitted fault.”
Claire’s anger softened.
“How old?”
“Nineteen.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
Their eyes held too long.
Claire broke the moment first. “The contract says no romantic obligations.”
“It does.”
“Good.”
“Excellent.”
Neither moved.
Then Ethan’s phone rang.
Northbridge’s board had suspended Claire pending an investigation into alleged data theft.
By morning, a story appeared online claiming Claire had married Ethan to gain corporate intelligence. Anonymous sources described her as an “opportunistic former pharmacy worker.”
Ryan gave a quote about being “concerned for her emotional stability.”
Claire threw the tablet onto the sofa.
“I’m going to ruin him.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Legally?”
“Mostly.”
She demanded a hearing before Northbridge’s board and brought the recording of Vanessa’s threat.
Ryan appeared unexpectedly as Halcyon’s representative.
“Claire has always been obsessive,” he told the board. “She has trouble letting go.”
Claire stood.
“You’re right.”
Ryan smiled.
She connected her laptop to the screen.
“I couldn’t let go of the five patient records you deleted.”
The room went silent.
Claire displayed the audit trail.
Ryan’s face lost color.
Then the board chair leaned forward.
“Ms. Bennett, where did you obtain the encrypted backup?”
Claire frowned. “What backup?”
The chair turned the screen toward her.
A folder had just appeared on her laptop.
May you like
Its title was simple.
AMELIA ASHFORD - FINAL TESTIMONY.
