Chapter 7 - How to Play DirtyI moved into the east suite before midnight.
Not dramatically.
No suitcases thrown down stairs.
No broken glass.
I simply carried what I needed across the hall.
Clothes.
Laptop.
Toothbrush.
My mother’s photograph.
The framed sheet music Calder had given me at Christmas.
Saurin did not stop me.
He stood outside the bedroom once.
I knew because I could see his shadow beneath the door.
He remained there for nearly a minute.
Then he left.
The next morning, we ate breakfast together.
That was my first move.
Saurin entered at seven.
He stopped when he saw me already seated with coffee.
“You’re here.”
“I live here.”
His jaw tightened.
Margaret looked between us once.
Very intelligently, she disappeared.
Saurin sat.
“You slept in the east suite.”
“Yes.”
“Did you sleep?”
“No.”
“Neither did I.”
I buttered toast.
“That sounds unfortunate.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You’re angry.”
“Very.”
“You don’t appear angry.”
“I learned from you.”
He leaned back.
“Marin.”
“The gala tonight. What time?”
He stared.
“You’re coming?”
“Of course.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why?”
“Because our contract says I attend required public events until termination.”
His face became cold.
There it was.
The wall returning.
Fine.
I had walls too.
“The car leaves at six-thirty,” he said.
“I’ll be ready.”
The event was at the Museum of Fine Arts.
Celeste would be there.
I knew that because I checked.
I spent the afternoon choosing my dress.
Not because I wanted Saurin’s attention.
At least that was what I told myself.
I chose black.
Simple neckline.
Open back.
No necklace.
Diamond studs borrowed from the Ashford collection.
At six twenty-five, I walked downstairs.
Saurin was waiting in the foyer.
He looked at me.
And stopped.
Good.
Not forgiveness.
Just satisfaction.
“You’re ready.”
“Yes.”
His eyes traveled over the dress.
“Is there a problem?”
“No.”
“You look like there is.”
“You look—”
He stopped.
“What?”
His mouth tightened.
“Beautiful.”
The word hurt.
I smiled.
“Thank you.”
In the car, I sat beside him.
Not touching.
Saurin kept one hand on his knee.
His wedding ring caught the streetlights.
I looked away.
At the museum, cameras surrounded us.
Saurin offered his arm.
I took it.
We smiled.
Perfectly.
The photograph would later appear beneath headlines about Boston’s most private billionaire and his elegant wife.
No one would know that his fingers trembled once when I touched him.
Inside, Celeste was standing near the central staircase.
Of course she was.
She wore red.
Of course she did.
Her ears were visible.
Only one earring.
The matching gold oval hung from her left ear.
The right was bare.
She wanted me to see it.
So I did something she did not expect.
I smiled.
Then I walked directly toward her.
Saurin tightened his arm beneath my hand.
“Marin.”
“Relax.”
“That is not reassuring.”
Celeste saw us approaching.
Her expression shifted.
“Marin.”
“Celeste.”
Her gaze moved to Saurin.
Then back to me.
I lifted my hand.
In my palm rested the missing earring.
I had taken it back from Saurin’s study that afternoon.
Her face went still.
“You left this at my house.”
Saurin went rigid beside me.
People nearby were beginning to notice.
I kept smiling.
Celeste recovered quickly.
“How embarrassing.”
“Yes.”
She reached for it.
I closed my fingers.
“Before I give it back, I wanted to ask something.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“Here?”
“Why not?”
Saurin spoke low.
“Marin.”
I ignored him.
“How long did you plan the performance?”
Celeste’s smile became brittle.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do.”
“I dropped an earring.”
“In my bed.”
A man nearby stopped pretending not to listen.
Celeste’s cheeks colored.
Saurin stepped closer.
“Enough.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
His face froze.
I turned back to Celeste.
“You came into my house. Followed my husband into our bedroom. Kissed him without permission, according to him, and conveniently left jewelry in the sheets.”
Her eyes flashed.
“According to him.”
There.
The intended poison.
I nodded.
“Yes. According to him.”
Celeste smiled faintly.
“You trust him?”
The question entered softly.
Designed to wound.
I answered just as softly.
“I’m deciding.”
For the first time, uncertainty crossed her face.
She had expected rage.
Maybe tears.
Maybe public humiliation.
She had not expected patience.
I opened my palm.
“Take your earring.”
She reached.
I let it fall into her champagne.
The tiny diamond disappeared beneath bubbles.
Gasps moved around us.
Celeste stared.
I smiled.
“Now you know where it is.”
Then I walked away.
Saurin followed me into a side gallery.
“What the hell was that?”
I turned.
“You said look for all the evidence.”
“That does not mean publicly challenge Celeste.”
“Why? Worried about her?”
“No. Worried about you.”
“I survived.”
“You just handed Boston society a month of gossip.”
“Our contract only prohibits scandal damaging to Ashford.”
“This could damage Ashford.”
“Then perhaps don’t let former girlfriends into the marital bedroom.”
His jaw tightened.
“I told you what happened.”
“And I told you I’m deciding whether I believe it.”
“What else do you need?”
“Proof.”
His expression changed.
“What proof?”
“Security footage.”
He became still.
“You have cameras everywhere.”
“Not inside bedrooms.”
“Hallway.”
Silence.
My heart changed rhythm.
“There is hallway footage.”
“Yes.”
“Show me.”
He looked away.
That was the wrong move.
“Saurin.”
“It isn’t complete.”
“Why?”
“There was a system outage.”
I laughed.
Of course.
“When?”
“Between three fourteen and three forty-two.”
“And Celeste arrived?”
“Three nineteen.”
“How wonderfully cinematic.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“What about staff?”
“Margaret was out.”
“Security?”
“They saw her enter. They saw her leave.”
“How long was she here?”
“Nine minutes.”
Nine minutes.
Not thirty seconds.
My stomach tightened.
“You said she was in the room thirty seconds.”
“She was in the house nine minutes.”
“What happened during the other eight and a half?”
“She came into my study first.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was trying to explain the part that mattered.”
“You mean the part least damaging.”
His face went hard.
“That’s unfair.”
“Is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then show me everything.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Why not now?”
“Because the security files are under internal review.”
“By whom?”
“Corporate risk.”
“Because?”
He hesitated.
I stepped closer.
“Saurin.”
“Celeste wasn’t there only because of me.”
“What does that mean?”
“She was carrying documents.”
“What documents?”
“Evidence that Harlon Vance has been manipulating the Ashford trust.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She claims your uncle helped engineer our marriage to influence the trust review and merger vote.”
I felt suddenly cold.
“That was obvious.”
“No. Not like this.”
“What did he do?”
“Possibly more than introduce us.”
My stomach dropped.
“What more?”
Saurin looked at me.
“We’re trying to determine whether your father’s medical financing situation was intentionally accelerated.”
Everything inside me stopped.
“What?”
“I don’t know if it’s true.”
“Say the sentence again.”
“Marin—”
“Say it.”
His voice became quieter.
“There are indications that Vance-affiliated parties may have interfered with financing options available to Calder before you came to Harlon.”
I stared at him.
The museum disappeared.
The music.
The people.
The light.
All gone.
“Harlon caused us to have no options?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said indications.”
“Yes.”
“What indications?”
“Internal emails. Insurance correspondence. A philanthropic treatment fund that declined your application before you formally submitted one.”
My knees weakened.
I caught the edge of a display bench.
Saurin reached toward me.
I pulled away.
“When did you learn this?”
“Yesterday.”
“Before Celeste came?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me.”
“I was verifying it.”
“You keep not telling me things.”
“I don’t want to destroy your relationship with Harlon based on incomplete information.”
“What relationship?”
“He is still your mother’s brother.”
“He abandoned her.”
“And he paid—”
“You paid.”
Saurin stopped.
I stared at him.
“Harlon never paid anything.”
“No.”
“Then what exactly did he risk?”
“His merger.”
I laughed bitterly.
“So he made my father desperate, introduced me to you, and got his merger.”
“We don’t know that.”
“You suspect it.”
“Yes.”
“And Celeste brought evidence.”
“Yes.”
I looked toward the ballroom where she stood somewhere among people who believed jewelry mattered more than truth.
“Why would she help you?”
“She wasn’t helping me.”
“What did she want?”
“A deal.”
“Of course.”
“What deal?”
Saurin’s face darkened.
“She wanted me to end our marriage before the trust deadline.”
I looked at him.
“And?”
“I told her no.”
“Why?”
His eyes held mine.
“Because I don’t want our marriage to end.”
The sentence landed between us.
Six weeks before expiration.
Finally.
I swallowed.
“You could have said that before her earring appeared.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you?”
For once, Saurin had no strategic answer.
“Because I was afraid you didn’t want the same thing.”
I almost laughed at the absurdity.
“You own companies on three continents.”
“Yes.”
“You’ve fired CEOs in elevators.”
“Yes.”
“You once sued a government agency.”
“Yes.”
“But asking your wife whether she wanted to stay married frightened you?”
His mouth tightened.
“Apparently.”
Against my will, something inside me cracked.
Not enough to forgive.
Enough to hurt differently.
I looked toward the gallery entrance.
“I’m going to see Harlon tomorrow.”
“I’ll come.”
“No.”
“Marin.”
“No.”
“If he manipulated your father’s treatment—”
“Then he did it to control me. I need to face him without another man standing beside me looking powerful.”
Saurin’s face tightened.
“You think I make you look weak?”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“I think sometimes you make me forget I’m not.”
That silenced him.
May you like
The next morning, I walked into Vance Holdings for the second time in my life.
This time, no one asked whether I had an appointment.
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