Chapter 6 - THE PRICE OF BEING ADRIAN MORETTI'S WIFE
The first threat arrived on a Thursday.
A plain white envelope.
No return address.
Inside was a photograph of me walking into the institute.
Across the bottom, someone had written:
SOME WOMEN DON'T GET TO WALK AWAY.
My hands went cold.
I called my attorney.
Then campus security.
Then the police.
I didn't call Adrian.
Not because I believed he was responsible.
Because I refused to make him my only source of protection.
An officer took the photograph.
Asked questions.
Documented the envelope.
Security reviewed the building's access procedures.
That afternoon, Professor Whitcomb came to my office.
“Claire, you can take time off.”
I shook my head.
“I don't want to.”
She sat beside me.
“You don't have to prove anything.”
I stared at the photograph.
“I spent five years letting other people decide what was safe for me.”
She nodded.
“And now?”
I looked at her.
“Now I want to make those decisions myself.”
She smiled sadly.
“Then we'll help you do that.”
The next morning, Noah brought coffee.
He placed it on my desk.
“Eleanor told me someone has been bothering you.”
I looked up.
“She told you?”
“Only that you might need support.”
I sighed.
“I'm fine.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“That's usually what people say when they're not.”
I almost smiled.
He sat across from me.
“Do you want company at lunch?”
I considered him.
Then nodded.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
We ate sandwiches in the institute cafeteria.
Talked about astronomy.
Argued about a statistical model.
Laughed at a terrible science joke.
For forty minutes, I felt normal.
Then my phone rang.
Daniel Carter.
I stared.
He had never called me directly before.
I answered.
“Daniel?”
His voice was tense.
“Claire, I'm sorry to bother you.”
“What happened?”
He hesitated.
“Someone is trying to use your divorce to pressure Adrian.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Sophia Reynolds.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
May you like
But then he said something I hadn't expected.
“And Claire, I think she's been lying about why she needed him in New York.”
