Chapter 3 - The Woman Living Downstairs
Claire did not return home with Ethan.
Her obstetrician discharged her the next afternoon with strict instructions to rest, watch for contractions, and return immediately if anything changed.
Claire went to her older cousin Rachel’s house in Calabasas.
Ethan objected.
Claire didn't debate him.
For seven years, she had been the one who softened arguments until everyone could live with the result.
She had nearly gone over a railing.
Softening things could wait.
That evening, Claire asked Rachel to retrieve clothing from the villa.
Rachel returned with two suitcases and an uncomfortable expression.
“There’s something you should know.”
Claire waited.
“Monica wasn't hired through the agency.”
Claire frowned.
Ethan had told her she was.
Rachel had found the original employment paperwork in the home-office cabinet while looking for Claire’s insurance folder.
Ethan had personally recommended Monica eighteen months earlier.
She had previously worked events for one of Ethan’s developments.
Claire remembered Monica arriving polished, efficient, almost excessively formal.
Black uniform.
Hair tied back.
Never crossing invisible household boundaries.
Now those boundaries looked staged.
Claire called the household payroll service.
There had been six discretionary bonuses approved exclusively by Ethan.
Together, they totaled almost thirty thousand dollars.
Claire sat on Rachel’s guest bed.
This was no impulsive affair after a bad night.
Whatever had existed between Ethan and Monica had roots.
Her phone rang.
Ethan.
Claire let it go to voicemail.
Then another number called.
Monica.
Claire nearly rejected it.
Instead she answered.
Monica spoke first.
May you like
“Ask him what he told me would happen after you signed on Tuesday.”
Then she disconnected.
