Chapter 6 - The Man Behind My HusbandPeter Walsh looked older than I remembered.
He had stitches across his forehead and his right arm was wrapped in bandages.
Detective Ramirez initially refused to let me visit him.
Peter insisted.
So I entered his hospital room with Diane beside me.
Peter’s eyes filled when he saw my stomach.
“Claire.”
“Hello, Peter.”
“I’m sorry.”
That was becoming the most common sentence in my life.
“What are you sorry for?”
“Not telling you.”
I pulled a chair closer.
“Then tell me now.”
He looked toward Ramirez.
She nodded.
Peter began.
“Vantage Pacific approached Ryan before he met you.”
My heart sank even though I already suspected it.
“What did they want?”
“Information at first. Your mother controlled several parcels that Vantage wanted.”
“And Ryan?”
“His development company was struggling.”
That part surprised me.
When we met, Ryan presented himself as already successful.
“He was broke?”
“Close.”
“How much did they pay him?”
“Enough to keep his business alive.”
“For spying on my mother?”
“Essentially.”
I swallowed hard.
“And me?”
Peter closed his eyes.
“Marcus discovered you were the beneficiary.”
“So Ryan met me deliberately.”
“Yes.”
Diane’s hand tightened around her pen.
“Was he instructed to marry Claire?”
“I never saw that in writing.”
“But?”
Peter looked miserable.
“Ryan joked about it.”
My chest hurt.
“What did he say?”
“Something like, ‘If I marry the princess, I don’t need to storm the castle.’”
I stood.
I couldn’t sit anymore.
The room blurred.
Diane touched my arm.
“I’m fine.”
I hated that phrase.
I wasn’t fine.
But I wanted the truth more than comfort.
“Did Ryan ever love me?”
Peter looked genuinely pained.
“I think he did.”
That answer almost made things worse.
“What does that mean?”
“At first, Claire, I think you were an opportunity.”
My throat closed.
“But after the wedding, something changed.”
“How romantic.”
“I’m not defending him.”
“Good.”
“He began resisting Marcus.”
“When?”
“About three years ago.”
I blinked.
Years before the forged sale.
“He resisted him and then still tried to steal the vineyard?”
“Ryan was trapped.”
“So was I.”
“I know.”
Peter took a breath.
“Marcus had evidence of everything Ryan had done originally. Payments. Emails. Surveillance. If it became public, Ryan would lose his company and likely face charges.”
“So Marcus blackmailed him.”
“Yes.”
“That still doesn’t explain Vanessa.”
Peter looked away.
“No.”
“At least we agree.”
“Ryan began drinking more about a year ago. Making stupid decisions. Vanessa was one.”
I almost corrected him.
Vanessa was a person, not a decision.
A selfish one, yes.
But I no longer wanted to participate in Ryan’s habit of reducing women to explanations for his behavior.
“What about the forged signature?”
“Marcus pushed for the sale.”
“And Ryan complied.”
“Yes.”
“What about my life insurance?”
Peter’s expression changed.
“That I didn’t know.”
“The cut brake line?”
“Jesus.”
“So you don’t know.”
“No.”
Ramirez leaned forward.
“Tell us why you left Ryan’s company.”
Peter swallowed.
“Marcus ordered Ryan to move two million through our accounts. I refused.”
“What was it for?”
“I never learned exactly.”
“Then why refuse?”
“The recipient was a security contractor with a bad reputation.”
Ramirez wrote down the name.
“Which contractor?”
“Stratford Risk Solutions.”
Samuel later recognized it.
So did Diane.
Stratford was owned by a former Vantage executive.
The same company had provided drivers for one of Ryan’s corporate retreats.
The same retreat where I had suffered a frightening food reaction despite repeatedly telling staff about my shellfish allergy.
At the time, Ryan blamed catering.
I spent six hours in an emergency room.
Suddenly every “accident” had shadows.
Police obtained warrants.
Vantage Pacific began refusing comment.
Marcus Hale vanished from his Napa residence.
Ryan’s attorney released a statement denying that Ryan ever intended harm to me.
Then Ryan did something his lawyer definitely had not approved.
He appeared at Bennett Ridge.
Security stopped him at the gate.
I watched from the office window as he stood beside his car arguing.
“Send him away,” Emma said.
I should have.
Instead, I went outside.
Not alone.
Samuel and two security officers remained nearby.
Ryan looked exhausted.
He hadn’t shaved.
His expensive clothes hung loosely.
For a second, I saw the man I once loved.
Then I remembered the email.
She doesn’t know what she owns.
“What do you want?”
“To explain.”
“You’ve had six years.”
“I never meant for this to happen.”
“Which part?”
He winced.
“Claire.”
“Was meeting me a job?”
Ryan closed his eyes.
That was enough.
“Answer.”
“Yes.”
I felt nothing.
Maybe I had already exhausted grief.
“What were you paid?”
“Seventy-five thousand initially.”
“How much was marrying me worth?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“Then tell me what it was like.”
“I was supposed to get close to your mother. Learn what she planned to do with the land.”
“So you got close to me.”
“At first.”
“At first.”
“I fell in love with you.”
“Please don’t.”
“It’s true.”
“You lied before you knew my favorite color.”
“I know.”
“You lied before our first kiss.”
“Yes.”
“You lied when you proposed.”
His eyes filled.
“I loved you when I proposed.”
“But you knew about Bennett Ridge.”
“Yes.”
“You knew I was the beneficiary.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“Your mother made it impossible to access.”
That sentence revealed more than he intended.
My voice became quiet.
“So you tried.”
He looked horrified.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“You knew it was inaccessible because you tried to understand how to access it.”
“Marcus kept pushing.”
“Stop saying Marcus like he possessed your body.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t know him.”
“I know enough.”
“He destroys people.”
“And you helped him.”
“I was trying to protect us.”
I laughed.
“You increased my life insurance.”
“Because of the baby.”
“To twelve million?”
He looked away.
“Marcus arranged that.”
“Of course he did.”
“I didn’t know about the brakes.”
Something in his voice sounded genuine.
I watched him carefully.
“Did you know about an accident?”
“No.”
“Vanessa heard you and Marcus.”
Ryan froze.
“What did she tell you?”
“Enough.”
Panic crossed his face.
“Claire, listen to me carefully. Marcus is dangerous.”
“So are you.”
“No.”
“You forged my signature.”
“I know.”
“You helped a company target my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You lied through our entire marriage.”
“Yes.”
His voice cracked.
“But I never agreed to hurt you.”
“Should that comfort me?”
“No.”
“At least one honest answer.”
I turned away.
Then Ryan said, “He knows about the trust activation.”
I stopped.
“What?”
“Marcus knows you control Bennett Ridge now.”
“So?”
“So he can’t get it through me.”
I faced him.
“And?”
Ryan’s eyes moved toward my stomach.
“He has another plan.”
Fear climbed my spine.
“What plan?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you here?”
“To warn you.”
“That’s convenient.”
“I overheard him talking about a backup beneficiary.”
Diane stepped closer.
“There is no backup beneficiary.”
Ryan looked at her.
“There is according to Marcus.”
Diane shook her head.
“Claire’s daughter becomes contingent beneficiary only after birth.”
Ryan stared at me.
And suddenly all of us understood.
My unborn daughter.
If I died after she was born, the vineyard would eventually pass to her.
As her father, Ryan might control parts of her estate while she was a minor.
But Ryan was already exposed.
Unless...
Diane’s face went pale.
“Who becomes guardian if both parents are disqualified?”
Nobody answered.
Then Ryan whispered, “My mother.”
My mother-in-law, Evelyn Mercer.
The woman who had spent years telling me Bennett family traditions were “provincial.”
May you like
The woman who had suddenly become extraordinarily interested in my due date.
And according to Ryan’s next sentence, the woman who had introduced him to Marcus Hale in the first place.
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