Chapter 3 - The Woman in the Red Dress
Savannah asked to meet Marina without Adam.
Marina almost deleted the message.
Then Leah advised her to hear the request through counsel.
So they met in a glass conference room at Leah's office, with Leah present and Savannah's attorney on speakerphone.
Savannah wore black instead of red. Without makeup, she looked younger and more frightened.
Marina sat across from her.
"You have ten minutes."
Savannah nodded.
"I deserve that."
"No, you deserve less."
"Probably."
Marina had rehearsed anger for months without realizing it. Now that Savannah was in front of her, rage arrived strangely calm.
"Did you know I had surgery?"
"Yes."
"Did you know Nell was eleven days old when Adam extended the trip?"
Savannah swallowed.
"Yes."
"Did you know I had a fever?"
"No."
"You saw my messages."
Savannah looked up.
Marina's voice sharpened.
"You saw them?"
"Not all of them."
"Which ones?"
"Enough."
Leah said quietly, "Answer clearly."
Savannah folded her hands.
"Adam left his phone on the hotel desk sometimes. I saw your name. I saw one message that said you were scared."
Marina's throat tightened.
"What did he do?"
"He turned the phone facedown."
That hurt more than Marina expected.
Savannah continued.
"I asked if he needed to call you."
"And?"
"He said Bernice was there."
Marina looked away.
Savannah's eyes filled.
"I should have left."
"Yes."
"I didn't."
"No."
"I was selfish."
Marina looked back.
"Yes."
Savannah accepted it.
Then she slid a flash drive across the table.
"This is why I asked to meet."
Leah did not touch it.
"What is it?"
"Copies of Halcyon vendor records. I downloaded them before I got locked out."
Marina frowned.
"What does that have to do with me?"
"Your house was used in a guarantee."
"I know."
"Adam didn't authorize it."
Marina's expression stayed unreadable.
Savannah leaned forward.
"I know you have no reason to believe me. But he didn't."
"How do you know?"
"Because I did."
The room went silent.
Marina stared.
Savannah quickly shook her head.
"Not the forgery. I attached his digital signature to the wrong document."
"That is forgery."
"It was supposed to be a vendor renewal. Evan sent me the packet. Adam had already approved the renewal by email. I applied his signature because that's what I did all the time."
Leah's voice became very precise.
"And Marina's signature?"
"I don't know."
Savannah wiped her palms on her skirt.
"When I opened the final packet later, the guarantee pages had been added. Marina's signature was already there."
Marina felt sick.
"So you knew our house was in it."
"Afterward."
"And you said nothing."
"I confronted Evan."
"What did he say?"
"That it was temporary collateral and would be removed after quarter-end."
Leah leaned back.
"Did you believe him?"
"No."
"Then why stay quiet?"
Savannah looked directly at Marina.
"Because he threatened to tell the board I had been sleeping with Adam and approving expenses for him."
Marina laughed once, without humor.
"You were."
"Yes."
"So the threat was true."
"Yes."
Marina stood.
"I'm done."
Savannah stood too.
"Wait."
Marina turned.
Savannah's next sentence came out almost as a whisper.
"Evan knew about your hospital visit before Adam did."
Marina went still.
"How?"
"I heard him tell Adam's mother."
Marina slowly sat again.
"When?"
"The night you went in."
"Where were you?"
"In Key West."
"Why was Evan calling Adam's mother?"
"Because she was on the board."
Marina stared.
Diane Bennett had always described herself as "just a retired teacher." She attended company dinners, donated to causes, and occasionally lectured Marina about supporting Adam's career.
"She is not on the board."
Savannah nodded miserably.
"She is through a family trust. She has been for years."
Leah wrote something.
"Does Adam know?"
"I assumed he did."
Marina did not.
That evening, Adam arrived for his first scheduled visit with Nell fifteen minutes early.
He had watched three newborn-care videos, purchased the correct diapers, and memorized the formula brand.
Marina opened the apartment door.
Adam looked nervous.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Is she awake?"
"For now."
He washed his hands without being asked.
Marina noticed.
She hated that she noticed.
Nell lay in a bassinet beside the sofa. Adam approached as if the floor might collapse.
"Hey," he whispered.
The baby blinked at him.
Adam's face changed.
Marina had seen him negotiate million-dollar contracts without sweat. Now his hands trembled.
"Can I pick her up?"
"Support her neck."
"I know."
"You didn't two weeks ago."
He looked at her.
"I'm learning."
Marina's jaw tightened.
"Good."
He lifted Nell carefully.
For a while, nobody spoke.
Then Nell began to cry.
Adam panicked.
"What did I do?"
"Nothing. Babies cry."
He bounced too quickly.
"Slower."
He slowed.
Nell cried harder.
"Is she hungry?"
"Check the time."
Adam looked at the notebook Marina had placed on the table.
He opened it.
Blue cover.
Same type as the one at the house.
"This is another one?"
"That one was recovery. This is Nell."
He read the last entry.
"She ate at four-ten."
"It's five-thirty."
"So not yet."
Marina nodded.
"Diaper?"
"Maybe."
Adam carried Nell toward the changing station.
He took too long with the snaps, put the clean diaper backward, realized it, and started over.
Marina almost smiled.
He caught it.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You smiled."
"I absolutely did not."
Nell stopped crying.
Adam looked absurdly proud.
"I fixed it."
"You changed a diaper."
"That's what I said."
For one second, they felt like the people they had been before everything broke.
Then Adam's phone buzzed.
He glanced at the screen.
Evan.
Marina's face closed.
"Answer it."
"I can call him later."
"No. Answer."
Adam hesitated, then put the call on speaker.
"Evan?"
His brother's voice came hard and fast.
"Don't talk to Savannah. She's trying to save herself."
Marina's eyes met Adam's.
"Too late," Adam said.
Evan swore.
"What did she tell you?"
"Enough."
"Listen to me. The guarantee was routine."
"You used my house."
"Your house?"
Adam looked at Marina.
Evan continued.
"The Bennett house is marital property."
Marina said, "Not if the deed says otherwise."
Silence.
Evan realized she was there.
"Marina."
"Hello, Evan."
"Don't let Savannah drag you into company politics."
Marina's voice became cold.
"You dragged my home into company politics."
Evan exhaled.
"Adam, call me when you're alone."
The call ended.
Adam stared at his phone.
Marina said, "Your mother knew I was in the hospital."
He looked up.
"What?"
"Savannah heard Evan tell her."
Adam shook his head.
"My mother texted me the next morning."
"What did she say?"
He remembered.
Marina's under observation. Julia's there. Focus on your meeting.
He had replied with a thumbs-up.
The memory made him nauseous.
"I thought she was okay."
Marina's eyes filled.
"You thought what was convenient."
Adam looked down at Nell sleeping against his chest.
May you like
For the first time, he understood that neglect was not always ignorance.
Sometimes it was choosing the version of reality that required the least from you.
