But Marcus’s larger plan was becoming clear.
He’d spent months constructing a trap.
Eleanor needed to appear vulnerable.
I needed to appear responsible.
The plan depended on creating circumstances that would connect us suspiciously.
Yet something had gone wrong.
I’d stopped my car.
Marcus apparently expected me to continue driving past Eleanor.
The staged photograph could then be used to suggest I’d met her secretly.
Instead, I called emergency services, remained at her side, spoke with paramedics, and created independent evidence of exactly where I’d been and what I’d done.
The decision that cost me my job had disrupted the timeline Marcus needed.
By helping Eleanor, I’d unknowingly undermined his scheme.
But Marcus had disappeared.
His telephone was switched off, and his car had been abandoned near the airport.
Claire stood trembling beside the windows.
“I married him.”
Eleanor embraced her.
“You didn’t know.”
