Chapter 10 - THE MARRIAGE THEY DESIGNED
I sat inside an investigator’s vehicle and read the first pages of my file.
The Caldwells had begun monitoring me when I joined Hartman Structural Engineering.
At the time, the firm was reviewing several Caldwell projects.
My father’s old objections had made the family cautious.
They wanted to know whether I possessed copies of his records.
They tracked my work assignments.
They monitored my professional contacts.
They noted when I purchased the Mission Bay apartment.
Two years later, Adrian approached me at a charity event.
I had believed the meeting was accidental.
It was not.
His mother had placed him there.
A handwritten note appeared in the file.
CLAIRE BENNETT MAY POSSESS THOMAS BENNETT’S ARCHIVE.
ESTABLISH PERSONAL ACCESS.
My hands began to shake.
Adrian had courted me for eighteen months.
He had brought coffee to my office.
He had remembered my father’s birthday.
He had listened as I described the grief of losing him.
Then he had proposed on the balcony of my apartment.
Every moment had been part of an assignment.
Maya sat beside me.
“You do not have to read all of this tonight.”
“Yes, I do.”
The file included Adrian’s reports to Eleanor.
CLAIRE DOES NOT DISCUSS HER FATHER’S WORK.
NO ARCHIVE LOCATED.
APARTMENT SEARCH INCOMPLETE.
RECOMMEND CONTINUING RELATIONSHIP.
The final report was dated three weeks before our wedding.
MARRIAGE WILL PROVIDE FULL LEGAL AND RESIDENTIAL ACCESS.
I closed the folder.
Something inside me became quiet.
I had expected grief.
Instead, I felt clarity.
The man I loved had never existed.
Adrian had been a role created for access to my father’s secrets.
Sergeant Ruiz approached the vehicle.
“We found additional recordings.”
“Does Adrian admit why he married me?”
“Yes.”
“I want to hear them.”
Ruiz hesitated.
“They may be difficult.”
“I spent four years married to a lie.”
“I can survive hearing the truth.”
The recording had been made during a conversation between Adrian and Eleanor.
Adrian sounded younger.
“I don’t think Claire has the files.”
Eleanor replied impatiently.
“Then remain married until we are certain.”
“What if she discovers why I approached her?”
“She won’t.”
“She trusts you.”
“And if the marriage becomes inconvenient, make certain she leaves with nothing.”
Adrian laughed.
“She owns the apartment.”
“Not for long.”
The recording ended.
Maya reached for my hand.
I pulled away gently.
Not because I rejected her comfort.
Because I needed to feel the strength of my own fingers.
My phone rang.
Adrian was calling from another number.
I answered.
“Did you know from the beginning?” I asked.
Silence.
Then he whispered.
“Yes.”
The truth hurt less than I expected.
Perhaps because there was nothing left inside me for him to break.
“Did you ever love me?”
“I tried.”
“That is not an answer.”
“I don’t know.”
“Then I will answer for you.”
“You loved what you could take from me.”
He began to speak.
I ended the call.
May you like
Then I gave Maya one instruction.
“File for divorce.”
