Chapter 5 - The Fiancée Everyone Thought Was Dead to HimElena Vescari entered the Corso estate at 2:17 on Thursday afternoon.
Fay knew the exact time because she was cleaning the grandfather clock in the foyer when the front doors opened.
Cold air swept inside.
So did a woman who looked as though winter itself had dressed for revenge.
Elena was tall.
Dark-haired.
Perfectly composed.
Her cream-colored coat probably cost more than Fay earned in six months.
Behind her stood a driver carrying three pieces of luggage.
Mrs. Gable appeared from the kitchen.
For the first time since Fay had known her, the estate manager looked genuinely shocked.
“Miss Vescari.”
“Hello, Margaret.”
Elena removed her gloves.
Her eyes found Fay.
They paused on the apron.
Then moved away.
“Is Dominic home?”
Mrs. Gable recovered.
“He is in physical therapy.”
“Good.”
Elena smiled.
“I’d like to surprise him.”
Fay had already learned that rich people used the word surprise to describe events normal people called disasters.
Mrs. Gable stepped forward.
“I think perhaps I should announce you.”
“No need.”
Elena started toward the staircase.
Fay continued polishing the clock.
None of her business.
Absolutely none.
Then she saw the ring.
A large diamond.
Old-fashioned.
Beautiful.
Elena noticed Fay looking.
Her smile changed.
“You must be new.”
“Relatively.”
“Housekeeping?”
“Yes.”
“Then you should know the guest suite on the second floor needs fresh linens.”
Fay looked at Mrs. Gable.
Mrs. Gable looked ready to swallow a knife.
Elena continued upstairs.
Fay waited until she disappeared.
“Who is she?”
Mrs. Gable closed her eyes.
“Trouble.”
“That narrows it down.”
Mrs. Gable looked toward the staircase.
“Elena Vescari was supposed to marry Dominic.”
Fay’s hand stopped.
“Supposed to?”
“They were engaged before the accident.”
Something cold entered Fay’s stomach.
“What happened?”
“She left.”
“When?”
“Three weeks after he came home from the hospital.”
Fay stared upstairs.
“Why?”
Mrs. Gable’s voice became bitter.
“She said she needed time.”
“Apparently time lasted six months.”
Upstairs, a door slammed.
Then Dominic shouted.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
Fay resumed polishing.
Definitely none of her business.
Five minutes later, something shattered.
Still none of her business.
Ten minutes later, Carmine came running through the foyer.
“Where’s Fay?”
Fay looked up.
“Why?”
“The boss wants you.”
“Tell him I’m busy.”
“He specifically said, ‘Get Fay before I commit a felony.’”
Fay put down the cloth.
“That seems work-related.”
She climbed the stairs.
Dominic was in the library.
Elena stood near the fireplace.
A broken whiskey glass glittered near the wall.
Dominic’s face was pale with rage.
Elena looked irritated but otherwise untouched.
“Fay.”
Dominic pointed toward Elena.
“Tell her to leave.”
Fay blinked.
“You have armed security.”
“I’m trying to be civilized.”
Elena turned.
“You’re the maid.”
“Apparently I’ve been promoted to diplomacy.”
Dominic almost smiled.
Elena did not.
“I came because my father told me about Leo.”
“Six months late.”
“I was in Europe.”
“Europe has phones.”
Elena crossed her arms.
“I made a mistake.”
Dominic’s expression went cold.
“You made a choice.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
“I didn’t know how to handle what happened.”
“You think I did?”
Elena’s composure cracked.
“I was twenty-nine years old, Dominic.”
“We were planning a wedding.”
“A family.”
“A life.”
“Then suddenly everything changed.”
Dominic looked down at his legs.
The movement was small.
But Fay saw it.
So did Elena.
“I didn’t leave because you were paralyzed.”
Dominic laughed without humor.
“You left exactly three weeks after I became paralyzed.”
“I left because you became cruel.”
The room went silent.
Dominic froze.
Elena continued.
“You screamed at everyone.”
“You threatened doctors.”
“You broke things.”
“You refused therapy.”
“You told me you wished the crash had killed you.”
Her voice shook.
“I stayed for three weeks while you did everything possible to make me hate you.”
“And eventually I did what you wanted.”
“I left.”
Dominic said nothing.
Fay looked away.
Because Elena was right.
At least partly.
Fay had seen the version of Dominic that remained six months later.
She could imagine what he had been like in those first weeks.
Elena took a breath.
“I should have come back sooner.”
“I didn’t.”
“That is on me.”
“But don’t rewrite what happened.”
“You didn’t simply wake up injured and discover everyone abandoned you.”
“You pushed people until they left.”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“Why are you here?”
“Because I heard you changed.”
Elena looked toward Fay.
“Apparently the rumors were true.”
Fay suddenly wished she were anywhere else.
Dominic noticed.
“You can go.”
“Gladly.”
Fay turned.
“Wait.”
Elena stopped her.
“What exactly are you to him?”
Fay looked at Dominic.
He looked back.
There was that question again.
The question neither of them had answered.
“I work here.”
Elena studied her.
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
“It’s the answer you’re getting.”
Fay left.
She made it halfway downstairs before realizing her hands were shaking.
That annoyed her.
She had no right to be jealous.
Dominic was her employer.
Friend, perhaps.
Something more complicated, definitely.
But not hers.
She spent the next hour attacking the kitchen stove with industrial cleaner.
Carmine eventually entered.
“You’re going to scrub through the steel.”
“I like clean appliances.”
“You’re jealous.”
Fay turned.
Carmine immediately raised both hands.
“I’m going.”
“Good.”
“But for what it’s worth—”
“Carmine.”
“She left him.”
“Carmine.”
“He never talks about her.”
“Get out.”
He disappeared.
Fay resumed scrubbing.
At six, Elena remained.
At seven, she joined Dominic for dinner.
Fay refused to serve them.
Mrs. Gable did it instead.
At eight, Fay put on her coat.
Snow had begun falling.
She reached the front door.
“Fay.”
Dominic’s voice came from behind her.
She turned.
He was alone.
“Leaving?”
“My shift ended twenty minutes ago.”
“I’ll have Carmine drive you.”
“I can take the bus.”
“It’s snowing.”
“I’ve experienced weather before.”
Dominic rolled closer.
“You’re angry.”
“No.”
“You cleaned the stove for an hour.”
“It was dirty.”
“You cleaned it yesterday.”
“Grease is persistent.”
Dominic looked at her.
“Elena is staying in the guest room.”
“Congratulations.”
“Fay.”
“What?”
He lowered his voice.
“I didn’t know she was coming.”
“That has nothing to do with me.”
“I know.”
“Then why are we talking about it?”
Dominic hesitated.
“Because it feels like it has something to do with you.”
That silenced her.
Snow tapped against the tall windows.
Fay tightened her coat.
“She was your fiancée.”
“Yes.”
“You loved her.”
Dominic looked away.
“Yes.”
The word hurt more than it should have.
Fay hated that.
“And now?”
“I don’t know.”
At least he was honest.
Fay nodded.
“Then figure that out too.”
She opened the door.
“Fay.”
She stopped.
“I never asked her to keep wearing the ring.”
Fay looked back.
“Maybe she isn’t wearing it for you.”
Then she walked into the snow.
The next week was miserable.
Elena stayed.
She attended breakfast.
She walked through the estate as if remembering where her future had once been stored.
She spoke to Dominic for hours.
Sometimes they argued.
Sometimes they laughed.
The laughter was worse.
Fay worked.
She arrived at six.
Left at six.
She stopped joining Dominic during physical therapy.
Stopped sitting when he ate lunch.
Stopped calling him Dominic.
“Mr. Corso” returned.
He noticed immediately.
On Friday afternoon, he finally cornered her in the laundry room.
Literally.
Fay was folding sheets when Dominic blocked the doorway with his wheelchair.
“Move.”
“No.”
“You’re preventing an employee from performing her duties.”
“Fire me.”
“That’s my line.”
“Then stop behaving like an idiot.”
Fay folded another sheet.
“I’m working.”
“You’re avoiding me.”
“I see you every day.”
“You haven’t looked at me for a week.”
“I’m looking at you now.”
“Like you want to throw me down the stairs.”
“You have brakes.”
“Fay.”
She slammed the folded sheet onto the table.
“What do you want from me?”
The question came out louder than she intended.
Dominic became silent.
Fay’s chest rose and fell.
“You want me to tell you what to do about Elena?”
“I can’t.”
“You loved her.”
“She left.”
“Now she came back.”
“Maybe you still love her.”
“Maybe you should marry her.”
“Maybe you should tell her to leave.”
“I don’t know.”
“And neither do you.”
Dominic stared at her.
“Why does it matter to you?”
Fay laughed once.
Because there it was.
The question.
The dangerous one.
“It shouldn’t.”
“But it does.”
Fay looked down.
Dominic rolled closer.
“Look at me.”
“No.”
“Fay.”
She finally did.
His voice softened.
“Does it?”
She could lie.
She had spent most of her life learning how to survive.
Lying about pain was part of survival.
I’m fine.
I’m not hungry.
I can handle it.
I don’t need help.
But Dominic had seen through those lies.
So she gave him the truth.
“Yes.”
One word.
Nothing more.
Dominic exhaled.
He moved closer.
Fay remained still.
His hand lifted.
Slowly.
Giving her time to move.
She did not.
His fingers touched her cheek.
Warm.
Careful.
Nothing like the violent man she had met months earlier.
“Fay.”
Then Elena appeared in the doorway behind him.
She saw everything.
Dominic’s hand.
Fay’s face.
The distance between them.
Or lack of it.
Elena became very still.
“I see.”
Fay stepped backward.
Dominic turned.
“Elena.”
“No.”
Elena’s voice was quiet.
“I think I finally understand.”
She looked at Fay.
There was pain in her expression.
But surprisingly, no hatred.
Then she looked at Dominic.
“You didn’t change because I came back.”
“You changed because she stayed.”
Dominic said nothing.
Elena removed the engagement ring.
She crossed the room.
Placed it on a stack of folded towels.
Then smiled sadly.
“I think this belongs to a life neither of us has anymore.”
She left.
Dominic stared at the ring.
Fay looked at him.
“Go after her.”
He turned.
“What?”
“She deserves a proper goodbye.”
Dominic hesitated.
Then nodded.
He rolled after Elena.
Fay remained alone.
She looked at the diamond lying among cheap white towels.
For the first time, she understood something terrifying.
May you like
She was no longer afraid of losing her apartment.
She was afraid of losing Dominic.
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