Chapter 1 - The Bracelet in Claire’s Bag
The diamond bracelet hit the dining table with a hard little jingle.
Claire stared at it beneath the overturned contents of her handbag—lipstick, wallet, sunglasses, receipts, car keys scattered across Evelyn Harper’s polished walnut table.
“That isn’t mine.”
Evelyn didn’t hesitate.
Her open palm cracked across Claire’s cheek.
“Get on your knees and admit you stole it.”
Claire’s head snapped sideways.
For several seconds, she could only feel the heat spreading across her face.
Late lunch at Robert and Evelyn Harper’s mansion in Hinsdale, Illinois, had started awkwardly enough. Evelyn had spent the first hour criticizing Claire’s dress, her work as an interior designer, and the fact that she and Daniel had been married four years without giving Evelyn a grandchild.
Claire was accustomed to the cuts.
She had never expected this.
Robert stepped into the dining room from his study.
For one hopeful second, Claire thought Daniel’s father would end it.
Instead, Robert picked up the bracelet.
He examined the clasp.
Then he walked over and stood beside his wife.
“Apologize to Evelyn,” he said. “Or get the hell out.”
Something inside Claire went colder than humiliation.
Robert wasn’t surprised.
Neither of them was.
Before she could answer, the front door opened hard enough to strike the wall.
“Claire?”
Daniel had returned from a meeting downtown nearly forty minutes earlier than expected.
He reached the dining room and stopped.
His wife’s purse was scattered across the table.
Her cheek was red.
His mother stood inches from her.
His father held the bracelet.
“What happened?”
Evelyn raised her hand toward Claire again.
Daniel caught her wrist before she could make contact.
“Don’t.”
Evelyn jerked free.
“She stole from me.”
Daniel moved Claire behind him.
“Touch my wife again and you’ll deal with me.”
Robert’s mouth tightened.
“Daniel, don’t make this worse.”
Claire squeezed Daniel’s hand.
Hard.
He turned slightly.
She wasn’t looking at his parents anymore.
She was staring toward the staircase.
“Daniel…”
Her voice had changed.
“What?”
Claire swallowed.
“She set this up because your ex is upstairs.”
Daniel stared at her.
“My what?”
“Lauren.”
The name hadn’t been spoken in the Harper family for almost eight years.
Claire’s fingers tightened around his.
“She’s upstairs with a little boy.”
Evelyn’s face lost its color.
Robert looked at the floor.
Claire whispered the rest.
“He keeps calling you Dad.”
No one moved.
Then the soft, uneven sound of a child’s footsteps came from the second floor.
One step.
Another.
Daniel slowly turned toward the staircase.
A small boy appeared at the top.
He looked about seven.
Dark blond hair.
Blue eyes.
And the same narrow dimple Daniel saw in the mirror every morning.
Behind him stood Lauren Hayes.
Daniel’s former fiancée.
Lauren looked down into the dining room.
Then at Daniel.
“I didn’t know Claire would be here,” she said.
May you like
Daniel looked back at his parents.
Neither denied knowing exactly who the boy was.
