The Wife Before Claire
Chapter 02 - The Wife Before Claire
Claire placed Lily gently on the floor.
“Go look at the bracelets, sweetheart.”
Lily skipped toward another display.
Claire turned back to Ethan.
“Start again.”
Ethan explained that six years earlier, Andrew Morgan had purchased the necklace.
He paid cash.
Then he asked the store to hold it indefinitely.
“If a woman named Claire Morgan ever comes here with a little girl,” Andrew had said, “give it to her.”
Claire felt cold.
“How do you remember that?”
“My father owned the store then.”
Ethan looked toward the office.
“He wrote everything down.”
Andrew had also left instructions that the gold card remain beneath the necklace.
Claire read the sentence again.
Rebecca is still alive.
Andrew had told Claire he had never been married before.
She remembered asking him directly during their first year together.
No serious relationships?
Andrew smiled.
Nothing worth talking about.
Claire had believed him.
“Where is Rebecca?”
Ethan shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why did Andrew think you would?”
“My father might have.”
“Can I speak to him?”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“He died last year.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Another dead man.
Another missing answer.
Lily returned.
“Mommy, why are you sad?”
Claire forced a smile.
“I’m okay.”
Lily looked at the necklace.
“Is that yours?”
Claire looked down.
She suddenly hated it.
“No, sweetheart.”
Ethan interrupted.
“Actually, there’s something else.”
He removed the velvet lining from the jewelry box.
Beneath it was a tiny brass key.
Claire stared at it.
A number had been engraved into the metal.
317.
Ethan whispered:
“My father told me that if you ever received this box, you should go to Union Trust Bank.”
Claire held the key.
“What’s there?”
May you like
Ethan looked frightened.
“I think your husband left you whatever he was trying to hide.”
