Chapter 5 - THE PARKING LOT BEHIND THE WAREHOUSE
Adrian sat down.
For nearly a minute, neither of us spoke.
Then he finally told me part of the truth.
They had met behind the company warehouse in Garner.
Daniel brought dissolution papers.
Adrian refused to sign.
They argued.
“Did it get physical?”
“No.”
“Did you touch him?”
“No.”
“Did he leave angry?”
“Yes.”
“Was he wearing his ring?”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
That mattered.
His swollen-finger story disappeared instantly.
“So when did you take it?”
“I didn’t take it.”
“You said Daniel gave it to you.”
“He did later.”
My stomach tightened.
“Later?”
Adrian looked trapped now.
“What does later mean?”
He stood.
“I followed him.”
I felt everything inside me go cold.
“Why?”
“He was angry.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I thought he’d call clients.”
“So you followed him?”
“Yes.”
“How far?”
“Several miles.”
“Did he know?”
“Yes.”
Daniel apparently pulled into a closed garden-center parking lot.
Adrian followed.
They argued again.
Daniel accused him of falsifying supplier costs.
Adrian accused Daniel of trying to destroy the company.
Then Daniel drove away.
Again.
I stared.
“And you followed him again?”
“No.”
“Then how did you get the ring?”
Adrian said nothing.
I felt my pulse in my throat.
“Adrian.”
He finally looked at me.
“I came across the crash.”
The words landed slowly.
“What?”
“Daniel went off the road maybe five minutes ahead of me.”
“You said you didn’t follow him.”
“I turned the same direction.”
“Stop.”
I raised my voice.
“For five years you told me you were home.”
“I panicked.”
“You found my husband’s crash?”
“Yes.”
“Before emergency services?”
“Yes.”
I gripped the edge of the table.
“What did you do?”
“I went down to the truck.”
“Was he alive?”
Adrian looked away.
The room became silent.
“Was Daniel alive?”
“Yes.”
I stopped breathing.
The study.
The ring.
Conrad’s words.
Dad was still breathing when he took the ring.
“What happened?”
“He was trapped.”
“Did you call 911?”
Adrian hesitated.
That hesitation shattered something permanent.
“When?”
“Laura—”
“When did you call?”
“I didn’t.”
I stared.
“You found my husband alive in a wrecked truck and didn’t call 911?”
“A car came by.”
“That isn’t what I asked!”
Adrian flinched.
I had never screamed at him like that.
“The driver stopped eventually.”
“Eventually?”
“I was in shock.”
“How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Minutes?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know.”
I could barely stand.
Then I asked the question I was terrified to hear answered.
“Why did you take his wedding ring?”
Adrian’s voice dropped.
“Daniel grabbed my sleeve.”
I covered my mouth.
“He was conscious?”
“Barely.”
“What did he say?”
Adrian looked at me.
“He said Conrad’s name.”
My knees weakened.
“He kept trying to say something about you and Conrad.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t understand him.”
“Then why the ring?”
Adrian rubbed his forehead.
“He pulled it off.”
“No.”
“He did.”
“And gave it to you?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Adrian’s silence gave me the answer before his words did.
Daniel didn’t give Adrian the ring as a gift.
He gave it because he thought Adrian would bring it home.
May you like
To us.
And Adrian had spent five years rewriting that moment into ownership.
