Chapter 15: The Call He Answered
1515 Words
Elise passed Maren on the way.
Her eyes were red, her face stripped of its usual sweetness.
“I said I was sorry.”
Maren met her gaze.
“No. You said you were afraid.”
Elise’s mouth tightened.
Maren turned away.
Outside the main hall, the Beaumont family’s composure fractured.
Their father’s voice carried faintly from the corridor.
“Do you understand what you’ve done?”
Elise sobbed.
“I didn’t know she had the recording.”
“That is not the point.”
“It appears to be exactly the point,” Theo said bitterly.
Mrs. Beaumont snapped, “Stop attacking her.”
“She lied to all of us.”
“She was afraid.”
“And Maren wasn’t?”
No one answered.
Mr. Beaumont’s anger rose.
“Do you have any idea what this will do to the company? Half the people in that ballroom are investors or partners.”
Mrs. Beaumont said, “This is not the time to discuss business.”
“It is precisely the time.”
Their voices faded as they were led farther away.
Inside, the ballroom slowly returned to life.
Conversation resumed in cautious waves.
The humiliation no longer belonged to Maren.
That alone felt like freedom.
Helena took her arm.
“You are sitting beside me.”
It was not phrased as a suggestion.
Maren allowed herself to be guided toward the dinner table.
Lucian followed.
Once seated, she reached for her glass.
Her fingers tightened too hard around the stem.
A plate shifted quietly toward her.
Maren looked down.
Lucian had moved a serving dish within reach.
“You should eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“You have had almost nothing.”
She looked at him.
“You noticed?”
“I notice when someone at my table does not eat.”
Maren took a small portion.
For several moments, neither spoke.
Then Lucian said, “You handled it well.”
“I had evidence.”
“Evidence does not create courage.”
The words settled between them.
Maren lowered her gaze.
“Thank you.”
He did not ask what for.
Perhaps the question was unnecessary.
Later, Helena asked Maren to show her a television series she had mentioned.
Maren unlocked her phone.
Their shared photograph appeared again.
Helena smiled.
“You do look good together.”
Maren glanced at Lucian.
His phone rested on the table beside him.
The same image lit the screen when a notification arrived.
Helena saw it.
Her satisfaction became almost unbearable.
Maren kept her face perfectly composed.
“The plan worked,” she whispered.
Lucian looked at her.
“What plan?”
She blinked.
Then his gaze moved to Helena.
Maren realized he was teasing her.
Barely.
It was still the first time.
Across the room, Dominic watched her laugh.
He had seen the entire confrontation.
The Maren he remembered would have cried.
She would have begged her family to believe her.
Tonight, she had stood before the most powerful families in the city and dismantled Elise without raising her voice.
Dominic could not look away.
Arabella noticed.
“Have you forgotten who you came with?”
He turned toward her.
“I was watching the scene.”
“You were watching Maren.”
“She made sure everyone was watching her.”
Arabella gave a cold laugh.
“Is that what you tell yourself?”
Dominic’s expression darkened.
“She has been acting strangely to get a reaction from me.”
“She exposed the woman who framed her. I doubt that had anything to do with you.”
“You don’t know her.”
“Apparently, neither do you.”
Dominic looked back toward Maren.
Lucian leaned slightly closer as she said something. Maren’s face softened in response.
The sight irritated him.
Arabella followed his gaze.
“She does not belong beside a man like Lucian.”
Dominic answered too quickly.
“Maren isn’t shallow.”
Arabella turned to him.
“What?”
“She didn’t care about money before.”
“Because she thought you had none?”
Dominic’s jaw tightened.
“She loved me when I had nothing.”
“You never had nothing.”
“That is not the point.”
Arabella smiled without warmth.
“You seem very invested in defending her.”
“I’m not.”
“She may fall in love with Lucian.”
“No.”
The force of the word surprised them both.
Arabella studied him.
“Why not? He is wealthy, powerful, disciplined, and far more impressive than most men she will ever meet.”
Dominic’s eyes hardened.
“More impressive than me?”
Arabella paused.
A dangerous pause.
Then she smiled.
“I chose you.”
“That was not my question.”
“You want me to compare you to Lucian Ravenscroft?”
“Yes.”
She looked toward Lucian.
Then back at Dominic.
“I choose you.”
Again, not an answer.
Dominic heard it.
Arabella adjusted her bracelet.
“Lucian would never tolerate me the way you do. He does not look like a man who lowers himself for anyone.”
Her gaze moved to Maren.
“And when the Ravenscroft princess returns from abroad, Maren may discover how temporary her place really is.”
Dominic’s attention sharpened.
“Temporary?”
“Everyone knows a woman grew up close to that family. If Lucian ever wanted someone, it would be her.”
A possibility opened in Dominic’s mind.
Divorce.
Maren leaving Ravenscroft Estate.
Maren returning to the man who had once been the center of her world.
His mood lifted.
Later, near the end of the evening, Dominic led Arabella onto the terrace.
Through the glass doors, he saw Maren crossing the adjoining hall.
He pulled Arabella closer and kissed her.
The gesture was deliberately visible.
Maren looked over.
Dominic deepened the kiss.
He waited for shock.
Pain.
Jealousy.
Maren watched for less than a second.
Then she turned and continued walking.
Dominic went still.
Arabella pulled away.
“That hurt.”
He barely heard her.
Maren had left.
She had not hesitated.
She had not looked back.
Something in his carefully ordered world shifted out of place.
The banquet ended late.
Helena insisted that Lucian and Maren stay at the estate.
“It is after midnight,” she said. “You are not driving back.”
Lucian could have refused.
Maren saw the look Helena gave him and knew refusal would create more suspicion than acceptance.
They were shown to Lucian’s old suite.
Maren entered first.
The room was spacious, elegant, and clearly designed for one person.
She found the dressing area and began unfastening the back of her dress.
The door opened.
Maren turned.
Lucian stepped inside.
For one startled instant, neither moved.
His gaze caught on the exposed line of her shoulder and the loosened dress.
He immediately turned his back.
“This is my room.”
Maren pulled the fabric into place.
“Apparently, I keep making that mistake.”
“I knocked.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“Are you dressed?”
“Yes.”
He turned again.
Maren looked toward the bed.
Then at the sofa.
Then back at him.
“Helena thinks we share a room.”
“She does.”
“So asking for another one would ruin the performance.”
“Yes.”
Maren folded her arms.
“The bed is large.”
“It is.”
“We can sleep on opposite sides.”
Lucian removed his jacket.
“If you are uncomfortable, I will use the sofa.”
Maren glanced at it.
The sofa was elegant and completely unsuitable for a man his height.
“No. I’m not throwing you out of your own bed.”
“I have slept in worse places.”
“That is not the standard we should use.”
Lucian placed his laptop on the desk.
“Then we will keep our distance.”
Maren nodded.
“Good.”
She took a few steps toward the bathroom, then stopped.
“You will not cross the middle.”
“I had no intention of doing so.”
“Excellent.”
“You appear more concerned than I am.”
“I am establishing terms.”
“Another marriage-management strategy?”
Maren looked at him.
There it was again.
That almost invisible trace of humor.
She pointed toward the bed.
“Your side. My side.”
“Understood.”
She disappeared into the bathroom.
Water began running a moment later.
Lucian sat at the desk and opened his laptop.
Maren’s phone rested near the bed.
It started ringing.
He ignored it.
The ringing continued.
Then stopped.
A moment later, it began again.
Lucian looked at the screen.
No name.
Only an unfamiliar number.
He picked up the phone and answered.
“Hello?”
For a second, there was silence.
Then a man’s voice came through the line.
Soft.
Familiar.
“Maren?”
Lucian said nothing.
The bathroom door remained closed.
On the other end, Dominic lowered his voice.
“I miss you.”
- Writer
