Chapter 11 - WHEN ADRIAN CAME HOME
Clara arrived at their townhouse after midnight.
Adrian was waiting.
Still in the tuxedo.
Bow tie undone.
Two glasses on the kitchen counter.
Only one had been used.
“You enjoyed that.”
Clara set down her gold clutch.
“No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I didn’t enjoy watching my husband destroy his career.”
“You humiliated me.”
“You grabbed me in a corporate ballroom and tried to keep me out of a company function I chair.”
“Because I knew what you were doing.”
“No. You knew what you had done.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“This is exactly what your family does. You own the room, so everyone pretends you’re right.”
Clara looked at him.
“Then sue.”
He stopped.
“If the board process was improper, challenge it.”
“You know I can’t.”
“Why?”
No answer.
Because the emails existed.
Because the audit existed.
Because Clara’s recusal existed.
Because the board was not a dinner table where he could change reality by speaking louder.
Then Adrian said:
“You were supposed to be my wife tonight.”
“I was.”
“That means supporting me.”
“No.”
Clara’s voice changed.
May you like
“It means not lying for you.”
That was the sentence that ended the marriage emotionally, even before lawyers became involved.
