CHAPTER 7: THE WOMAN BEFORE HER

"What did he mean that you took the fall for me?" Rivera asked again.

"You'll never let this go, will you?" Reagan dragged a hand through his hair as if restraining something violent inside him.

He didn't like that she was digging through things he had warned her to drop.

But seeing her with Luke that way awoke something in him that he could barely restrain. How dare he?

“Listen to me carefully. Whatever Luke implied means absolutely nothing."

"More lies. I saw your face. Why do you treat me like a child?" she sighed.

“You think this is some romantic sacrifice and noble gestures?” he snapped.

“I don’t know what to think! One minute I’m a contract wife, the next I’m a liability you want to hide, now, this?”

“You’re not the center of this. Don’t flatter yourself," he said coldly. The words hurt more than she expected.

“Then why won’t you let me leave?” her ego spoke.

“Because you don’t understand the kind of world you married into. If you did, you wouldn’t be standing here arguing with me.”

She folded her arms. "Explain it.”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because knowledge isn’t power. Far from it, knowledge is exposure. You think Luke is on your side. That’s your mistake. He’s protecting his own guilt."

“You're speaking in riddles."

“Let me de-mystify it for you. If you walk away, people will ask questions. And questions lead to names and names lead to graves.”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“No, I’m simplifying,” he said flatly. It was obvious he was trying to scare her into submission and obedience.

"If no one would tell me why I should stop, then I won't," she stubbornly replied.

Reagan stared in her green defiant eyes. He had never fancied a submissive woman, but God, he wished that just this once, she'd listen to him even if she had no reason to.

Just then, Rivera heard a car drive towards the mansion. The house staff moved with unusual urgency and chaos, whispering to each other, running back and forth.

Rivera frowned. Something felt different.

Minutes later, the sharp click of heels echoed through the hallway.

She heard a woman's voice. “I don’t need an announcement. He knows I’m here.”

The voice didn’t belong to a maid. It sounded too sharp and confident.

The woman finally stepped in. For the first time since Rivera met him, Reagan looked truly disoriented and almost vulnerable.

“Clara,” he murmured, his voice low, almost stunned.

She was tall, elegant and dressed in a tailored cream coat that hugged her slender figure and probably cost more than Rivera’s entire college tuition.

Her dark hair was sleek and her makeup flawless. She looked like she belonged in this world of wealth and power.

“So it’s true. You’re back,” she said, her gaze fixed on Reagan. Rivera could detect a note of disappointment in her voice.

“Clara, this isn’t the place.”

“You disappeared for two years. I find out through a gossip column that you’re back in the country and married and you think this isn’t the place?”

Reagan’s gaze flicked briefly towards Rivera before returning to Clara.

“Let’s talk in private.”

Clara followed his glance. She looked at her the way a woman looks at another woman she had lost to.

“So this is her. She's younger than I imagined. And so… plain,” Clara said.

"Give us some space please,” he told Rivera. She nodded and left but stopped at the corner of the staircase to listen.

She could guess what was happening and even though she knew she shouldn’t listen, she had this compelling urge to see how it'd play out.

“You threw me under the bus Ray. After everything.” Clara voice softened once Rivera was out of sight. Her words sounded like a plea.

“I didn't believe the news at first. I waited for you. I defended you when the board said you abandoned the company and when people said that you abandoned me. And you truly came back with a wife?”

“It wasn’t your place to wait,” Reagan replied coolly.

“That’s not fair.”

“Life isn’t.”

“You loved me,” Clara stated. She seemed to be looking for reassurance that she still mattered to him. “We were supposed to run this city together. Seven years, Ray. Do you love her now?”

Reagan didn’t answer.

Clara laughed. “You don’t even deny it. You're just going to erase me.”

“You’re not erased. You’re just not part of this anymore.”

“And she is? You barely know her," Clara cried out.

“You don’t know what I know.”

"I've known you for 7 years and I've never seen you bring another woman home. Why did you marry her? Is she better than me? Prettier? Richer? Does she make you forget me?”

There was another pause then unexpectedly, his tone softened.

“She doesn’t make me forget anything.”

Rivera held her breath as she heard footsteps move.

She pictured it without seeing it. Reagan standing in front of Clara, consoling her.

Rivera’s chest burned.

The same man who had pinned her to himself hours ago now lowers his guard for another woman.