Chapter 3
Evening fell, and warm yellow light spread from the living room into the dining room at the Harper estate. The long table was set with a full spread, and every dish on it was one Claire loved.
Edward sat across from her and put a piece of grilled salmon on her plate.
"How's your appetite today?" Edward asked.
Claire glanced at the fish on her plate, and it was soft and delicate without a single bone left in it.
He did the same thing in her previous life.
He was so meticulous, anyone watching would have to admit, "Mr. Harper really spoils his wife."
"Pretty good," Claire replied, taking a bite and chewing carefully.
Edward set down his fork and studied her, his gaze cool and assessing.
It was not scrutiny, and it was observation.
He was making sure she was behaving as usual, with nothing out of the ordinary.
Claire knew that look all too well.
In her last life she was clueless, because she thought he was only looking at her with love in his eyes.
Now, she saw it for what it really was.
It was the look of a liar, making sure his web of lies hadn't unraveled.
"Where did you go for your walk today?" Edward asked, sounding casual.
"Just the neighborhood garden," Claire replied, taking a sip of soup. "I ran into the woman next door. Her cat just had four kittens, and she asked if I wanted one."
She lied, but it rolled off her tongue like the truth.
Edward smiled, his handsome features relaxing into a gentle warmth.
"If you want a kitten, that's fine. But you shouldn't be around cat hair while you're pregnant. Let's wait until after the baby arrives," Edward said softly.
After the baby arrived, he had said.
But in her last life, once the baby was born, she was ruined and tossed aside as though she did not matter.
"Okay," Claire said, then quietly went back to her meal, not bothering to say anything else.
The silence held for a while before Edward broke it. "Next Wednesday I'm heading out on a business trip, down south for a project. I'll be gone about a week."
Claire's fork froze mid-motion.
Next Wednesday was the day.
His so-called "business trip" was the perfect cover for faking his own death.
Or, more accurately, the day he pretended to die.
"Where exactly?" Claire asked.
"Highridge. There's a new plot in the development zone over there," Edward replied.
Highridge. The winding mountain road. The sharp turns. The cliff.
Everything matched. Every detail fit. It was all exactly as she remembered.
"Take care on the road," Claire said.
Her tone was soft, just like any wife who had no idea what was really going on.
Edward reached out and held her hand, his thumb gently rubbing the back of it in slow circles.
"Don't worry. I can't wait to come back and feel the baby kicking," Edward said, his voice soft and reassuring.
His hand was warm, and his grip was firm and gentle and exactly right.
Claire didn't pull away.
She even returned the gesture, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
Still, her fingertips were cold.
And so was her heart.
He could not wait to come back.
The thought was almost funny.
He would come back.
Twelve years later he would come back holding another woman's hand.
But this time, when he finally came back, there would be no place left for him here.
After dinner, Edward headed to his study to take care of some business.
Claire went back to the bedroom and locked the door behind her.
She dug out a brown paper envelope from the very back of her closet.
Back when she was paralyzed in that wheelchair, every month, Harper Holdings' paperwork would be delivered straight to her for review.
But the most important thing in those files wasn't the financial reports or the contracts.
It was a nominee shareholding agreement.
Edward was supposed to own 34% of the shares, but they were officially registered under Deborah's name.
And according to Deborah's will, if Edward died, his son would get all those shares, and Claire, as the legal guardian, would manage them until he came of age.
That was why they needed this baby.
It wasn't about continuing the bloodline.
The baby was a pawn and a means to an end for them.
Once the baby was born and Edward "died," Claire would be the one managing the shares as the legal guardian.
Twelve years later, Edward would return from the dead, and as the biological father, reclaim everything in a heartbeat.
And Claire would be paralyzed and unable to work, a discarded wife pushed to the edge of the family, so powerless that she could not put up a fight.
What a perfect plan.
Claire put the envelope back where she'd found it and opened her phone's notes app.
She started making a list.
[First: Get Simon Reed to urgently dig up Isabelle White's communication records and bank statements from the past three years.]
[Second: Get the original copy of Mrs. Harper's will. In her last life she only saw a photocopy, and the original was locked in the Harper estate's safe. The code was Mr. Harper's birthday.]
[Third: Set up an appointment with Dr. Grant at Riverside General Hospital, OB/GYN. He was my attending physician after I was paralyzed last time, and he once told me that if I'd gone for a C-section, the spinal injury could've been avoided.]
[Fourth: Get my name into Harper Holdings' corporate registration.]
That one was the hardest.
But it was not impossible.
Because in her last life she had seen a document, and Article 17 of the Harper Holdings bylaws said that a spouse officially on the payroll could hold up to five percent of the incentive shares.
All she needed was to get herself hired at Harper Holdings before Edward staged his "death."
It could be a token job as an administrative assistant, and all she needed was her name on the roster.
Once her name was in the company records, it would be like a nail hammered in, and nobody would be able to pull it out.
It could not be pulled back out.
As Claire finished typing the last word, the blue glow of her phone screen cast a cool light across her face.
Then, the baby inside her gave a little kick.
So gentle, it was like a tiny fish blowing bubbles.
She set her phone aside and rested her hand on her belly, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Mom will protect you," Claire murmured softly.
Claire paused, her hand lingering on her stomach.
"And this time, I'll protect myself too," her voice firmer now, full of quiet determination.