Victoria: Adrian, listen to me, she is a nobody! You've lost your mind!
Adrian: A nobody? Is that what you told the police when you filed the fake missing person report?
Victoria: What are you talking about? We searched for her! The car went over the bridge into the river!
Adrian ignored his bride. He gently wiped the gray dust and tear streaks from Clara's cheek with his linen napkin.
Clara: Adrian? Is that... is that really you?
Adrian: Yes, honey. It's me. You're safe now. No one is ever going to hurt you again.
Clara: They told me you died in the hospital. A woman in a black suit came to the clinic and said you died after the crash.
Adrian: What clinic? Who brought you there?
Clara: A private nursing home out in West Texas. They kept my purse. They took my phone and told me my husband's family paid them to keep me away.
Adrian felt his stomach drop. His blood rushed hot into his ears.
Victoria: She's hallucinating, Adrian! She hit her head on the table! Call the paramedics and get her out of my sight!
Marcus: Son, you need to calm down. Think about the company merger. Think about the stock price tomorrow morning.
Adrian's father stood up slowly from the head of the table, his wine glass still perched between his manicured fingers.
Adrian: You knew about this, Dad? Did you know she was alive?
Marcus: We all moved on. The family business required stability. Victoria's father provided the bridge loan that saved our firm.
Adrian: Clara gave you five years of her life! She built our logistics division from an empty warehouse while you were playing golf!
Clara: Adrian, please, my head hurts. There are too many people staring.
Adrian: Look at this necklace, everyone. Look at it closely!
Adrian snapped the cheap cotton thread hanging from Clara's neck and held up the platinum band. A tiny blue sapphire glinted in the chandelier glow.
Adrian: 'Together forever, A and C.' Engraved inside the band. Victoria, do you want to read it aloud?
Victoria: Anyone can buy a duplicate ring! You're letting some grifter ruin our special day!
Adrian: This wasn't a duplicate. This ring was locked in the safe at our downtown loft the night she disappeared.
Clara: She took it from my finger. In the ambulance, someone slipped it off. Then three months later, an orderly left it in my meal tray with a note saying you were gone.
Adrian: Who paid that orderly, Victoria?
Victoria's jaw tightened, her painted lips twitching as she backed away toward the grand double doors.
Victoria: I don't have to listen to this nonsense in my own house!
Adrian: This isn't your house! This estate belongs to my family trust, and right now, every single dollar in that trust is co-owned by Clara Vance!
The dining room began to buzz with hushed whispers as city councilmen and corporate executives pulled out their phones.
Victoria: You signed a prenup with me last Friday, Adrian!
Adrian: A prenup with a bigamist isn't worth the paper it's printed on, you fraud!
Clara leaned heavily against Adrian's chest, her breathing shallow and raspy.
Clara: Adrian... our boy. Leo. Where is Leo?
Adrian's face went completely pale. His grip on her shoulders tightened.
Adrian: Leo is upstairs in the nursery. Why did you ask that? They told me Leo was with your sister in Florida.
Clara: Victoria took him. She told the adoption agency I abandoned him at the shelter three months ago.
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