Chapter 4 - THE DOCTOR WHO WASN'T THERE TO HELP
“Dr. Cross examined me two weeks ago.”
Elise stared at the handwritten instruction.
Meredith looked up sharply.
“What kind of examination?”
“A routine consultation. Victor was concerned because I had been exhausted.”
“Did you tell him you were pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“Did you sign any releases?”
Elise searched her memory.
“Medical intake forms. A consent for bloodwork. I didn't think anything of it.”
Meredith exchanged a glance with Rebecca.
Rebecca spoke first.
“Elise, I want you to contact your regular obstetrician and obtain your medical records directly. We should compare them with anything Cross may have reported.”
Elise nodded.
She remembered the consultation.
Cross had been polite.
He had asked about sleep.
Stress.
Her relationship with Roman.
Whether Elise sometimes felt overwhelmed by responsibilities.
At the time, the questions had seemed reasonable.
Now they sounded like preparations for a different conversation.
“Why would Victor risk something so obvious?” she asked.
Meredith folded the petition.
“Because he may believe Roman will protect the family rather than contradict him.”
Elise looked at her husband's name.
“He might be right.”
By noon, they had confirmed something worse.
Dr. Cross had supplied a preliminary memorandum to Calder Holdings describing Elise as experiencing heightened emotional volatility, impaired judgment under stress, and difficulty managing complex responsibilities.
He had not diagnosed her with a psychiatric condition.
But the language was carefully chosen.
It could be quoted out of context.
And it had been written before the gala.
Elise placed the memorandum beside her father's letter.
“They were going to hurt me in public, then use my reaction as proof I couldn't make decisions.”
Rebecca nodded.
“That is one possibility supported by the sequence.”
“Roman knew?”
“We don't know.”
Elise hated those three words.
They protected her from rushing toward the wrong answer.
But they also kept hope alive when she desperately wanted certainty.
That afternoon, Roman discovered she was gone.
He stood in their bedroom, looking at the empty space where her suitcase had been.
Her wedding ring remained on the kitchen table.
Beside it sat the cold cup of tea.
He picked up the ring.
For a long time, he didn't move.
Then he called Daniel Price.
“Where is my wife?”
Daniel stood quietly across the room.
“I don't know, sir.”
“Her car's gone.”
“Yes.”
“Did she leave alone?”
“Yes.”
Roman turned.
“You watched her drive away?”
“She asked for the keys.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Daniel's expression didn't change.
“Because Mrs. Calder told me she needed privacy.”
“Your job is to protect my family.”
“She is your family.”
Roman said nothing.
Daniel continued.
“I've worked here seventeen years, Mr. Calder. Your wife has never asked me for a single favor that put anyone at risk.”
Roman looked down at the ring.
Then he asked, “Did she seem frightened?”
“No.”
“Angry?”
“No, sir.”
“How did she seem?”
Daniel considered.
“Finished.”
The word stayed with Roman long after Daniel left.
At three o'clock, Victor Calder arrived at the house.
He wore a navy suit and carried a cane he rarely needed.
Sienna followed him.
Roman was standing in the study.
He looked at her.
“Get out.”
Sienna stopped.
“Roman, we need to discuss the press response.”
“Not with you.”
Victor closed the door.
“Control yourself.”
Roman turned toward his father.
“You approved what happened last night.”
Victor placed his cane beside a chair.
“I approved a strategy. You executed it poorly.”
“You allowed my wife to be humiliated.”
“Your wife was becoming a complication.”
Roman's face changed.
“Be careful.”
Victor studied him.
“Have you forgotten how much responsibility you carry?”
“No.”
“Then stop behaving like a schoolboy whose girlfriend has left him.”
Roman crossed the room.
“She's my wife.”
“And a Harrow.”
The words landed heavily.
Roman looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Victor opened a leather folder.
Inside was a copy of the proposed petition.
Roman recognized his name.
Then he read the allegations.
His expression darkened.
“What is this?”
“A contingency.”
“Who authorized it?”
“I did.”
“You put my name on a petition against Elise?”
“It hasn't been filed.”
Roman stared at him.
“That isn't what I asked.”
Victor's mouth tightened.
“We need to protect the company.”
“From my wife?”
“From the trust she controls.”
Roman looked at the documents.
He had known the Harrow Trust restricted certain transactions.
He had argued with his father about it.
But Victor had repeatedly assured him that the restructuring could be completed without harming Elise's interests.
Now Roman understood that the public kiss had served a second purpose.
It had not simply redirected the press.
It had created a crisis Victor could use.
Roman turned toward Sienna.
“Did you know about this?”
She looked at Victor.
That was enough.
Roman spoke quietly.
“Answer me.”
“Yes.”
Something in his face went still.
Sienna stepped forward.
“Roman, your father told me Elise had already agreed to an amicable separation.”
Roman shook his head.
“No.”
“He said you were staying married publicly until the restructuring was finished.”
“No.”
Sienna swallowed.
“He said the pregnancy changed the timeline.”
Roman froze.
“What pregnancy?”
Victor's eyes narrowed.
Sienna stared at Roman.
“You don't know?”
Roman's voice dropped.
“Know what?”
Sienna glanced toward Victor again.
Then she whispered, “That Elise's pregnancy was mentioned in the planning memorandum.”
Roman looked at his father.
Elise had told him about the baby privately.
He had promised her he wouldn't tell anyone.
He had kept that promise.
Or believed he had.
“How did you find out?” he demanded.
Victor said nothing.
Roman moved closer.
“How did you know my wife was pregnant?”
Victor reached for his cane.
“We have more important matters.”
Roman caught the folder before his father could close it.
Inside was a memorandum headed:
Harrow Beneficiary Transition Strategy.
Below it was a paragraph describing Elise's pregnancy as an opportunity to establish a new custodial arrangement.
Roman read it twice.
Then he turned to Sienna.
“You said my father told you the marriage was ending.”
“Yes.”
“Before or after you kissed me?”
Her face crumpled.
“Before.”
“Why did you believe him?”
Sienna looked toward the floor.
“Because he showed me a letter with Elise's signature.”
Roman stared.
“A letter?”
Sienna nodded.
“He said she had agreed to step away from the marriage and the company.”
Roman held out his hand.
“Show me.”
She hesitated.
Then removed a folded page from her handbag.
Roman recognized the cream stationery immediately.
It belonged to Elise.
At the bottom was a signature that looked exactly like hers.
But the date caught his attention.
November 14.
The day Elise had been admitted to the hospital for severe dehydration.
Roman remembered sitting beside her bed.
Holding her hand.
Promising everything would be fine.
He looked up.
“Elise couldn't have signed this.”
Victor's expression changed.
Roman turned the page over.
A faint impression from the original writing remained in the paper.
He tilted it toward the light.
Five words appeared.
Authorization requires confirmation of loss.
Roman looked at his father.
“What loss?”
Victor closed his eyes.
May you like
And Roman finally understood that the plan against his wife had not begun at the gala.
It had begun before the pregnancy.
