Chapter 1 - The SUV Ryan Was Never Supposed to See
Claire was already on the floor when Charles entered the wedding hall.
Her champagne-colored dress was twisted beneath her knees, one shoulder pressed against the polished hardwood as she tried to protect herself from the leather strap in Ryan’s hand. Diane stood several feet away in her floral dress, watching with the cold expression of a woman witnessing something she believed was justified.
Ryan brought the strap down again.
The crack echoed through the bright mansion.
Claire flinched. A raw red welt showed where the leather had struck her shoulder, but she stayed conscious, shrinking away from him as he stood over her.
“Stay down,” Ryan said. “I decide your worth.”
Claire had heard versions of that sentence for months. Today was simply the first time he had stopped disguising the meaning.
Ryan leaned closer. “Cry louder. No one here is going to choose you over me.”
The front door opened.
Charles Mercer stepped inside.
Claire saw her father before Ryan did.
For almost two years, she and Charles had barely spoken without arguing. He had opposed the engagement. Claire had accused him of trying to control her life through money, advice and threats disguised as concern. Charles had finally stopped trying to stop the wedding because Claire told him she would marry Ryan with or without his approval.
Yet there he was.
Ryan raised the strap again.
Charles crossed the room in seconds, caught Ryan’s wrist and tore the strap from his hand.
“You dare raise that thing at her?”
Ryan twisted violently, trying to break free. “Get out of my house.”
“It isn’t your house.”
Diane’s eyes narrowed.
Ryan shoved Charles hard.
Charles recovered, then struck Ryan once across the cheek with an open palm.
Ryan staggered sideways, shocked less by the pain than by the fact that Charles had not backed down.
Diane froze.
Ryan lunged again.
Charles caught him by the shoulders, turned him and drove him down onto the carpet in one controlled motion. The impact knocked the air from Ryan without seriously injuring him.
Charles immediately released him.
Then he went to Claire.
“Can you stand?”
Claire looked at the man she had spent two years convincing herself she no longer needed.
“Yes.”
He helped her carefully to her feet.
Behind them, Ryan pushed himself onto one elbow.
That was when movement outside caught his eye.
A black luxury SUV was rolling slowly toward the mansion entrance.
Ryan stopped.
All the rage disappeared from his face.
His skin went pale.
Claire saw it.
So did Charles.
Diane whispered, “No.”
Ryan stared through the open doorway as the SUV came to a stop.
Claire looked at Charles. “Who is that?”
Her father did not answer immediately.
Ryan did.
Not with words.
With fear.
Then the rear door of the SUV began to open.
The person stepping out was Rebecca Sloan, Ryan’s former wife.
May you like
The woman Ryan had told Claire was dead.
---
