Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE BLUE JEWELRY BOX
“Donald arranged security for my house?”
Evelyn looked at Carl with disbelief.
The attorney nodded.
“He described it as protection.”
“Protection from whom?”
“I asked the same question.”
“And what did Matthew say?”
“He said you would be safer away from New York.”
Evelyn gave a bitter smile.
“Interesting. I'm apparently the only person in this family who needs protection from the consequences of my husband's decisions.”
Carl said nothing.
She stepped closer.
“I'm not going to Connecticut.”
“You don't have to.”
“And Grace isn't going there either.”
Carl finally looked up.
“Then you need to make sure Matthew understands that.”
Evelyn found her husband in his study twenty minutes later.
He was reviewing Christmas dinner arrangements.
“Matthew.”
He glanced up.
“Not now, honey.”
“We need to talk about Connecticut.”
His expression changed.
“Carl told you?”
“Yes.”
Matthew put down his pen.
“Then he should have explained that I'm arranging a beautiful house for you and Grace.”
“A house owned by Donald Barry.”
Matthew hesitated.
“It's a temporary arrangement.”
“Why does Donald need to control where I live?”
“He doesn't.”
“Then why is he arranging the security?”
Matthew stood.
“You're making assumptions.”
Evelyn folded her arms.
“Are you planning to leave me after Grace is born?”
Silence.
Matthew walked toward the window.
“We've both been unhappy for some time.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
That was news to her.
“We have?”
“You've been distant.”
“I've been pregnant, Matthew.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No. I don't.”
He turned around.
“Evelyn, I have responsibilities you don't understand.”
“Then explain them.”
“I can't.”
“Because Donald Barry is buying your waterfront?”
Matthew went perfectly still.
For the first time in eight years, Evelyn saw genuine fear cross her husband's face.
“Who told you that?”
She didn't answer.
Matthew approached her.
“You need to stop asking questions about the business.”
“Why?”
“Because you don't understand how dangerous those questions can become.”
Evelyn rested her hand on her stomach.
“Then tell me something simple.”
“What?”
“When you send me to Connecticut, will Grace be coming with me?”
Matthew looked away.
The silence lasted long enough.
“Matthew?”
“Grace is a Harrison.”
“So am I.”
“She'll need to grow up around her family.”
Evelyn's throat tightened.
“You mean around you.”
“I'm her father.”
“And I'm her mother.”
“Don't turn this into a fight.”
Evelyn took one step backward.
“No, Matthew. You turned our marriage into a transaction. I'm simply refusing to accept the terms.”
She left before he could answer.
That evening, Alexis Barry arrived at the estate with her father to finalize Christmas arrangements.
Evelyn watched from the upstairs landing.
Alexis was thirty-two, blonde, impeccably dressed, and visibly pregnant beneath a cream cashmere coat.
On her wrist glittered a delicate gold bracelet.
Around her neck hung a sapphire pendant.
Evelyn recognized the jewelry immediately.
She had seen the blue box in Matthew's study.
For one painful moment, she imagined all the gifts her husband had once bought her.
The modest silver necklace for their first anniversary.
The flowers when another fertility treatment failed.
The tiny gold baby shoes he had placed beneath her Christmas tree after they learned Grace was coming.
She had mistaken those gestures for proof that love could survive anything.
But jewelry couldn't explain betrayal.
And affection couldn't excuse it.
Evelyn went downstairs.
Alexis stood alone in the conservatory, examining the Christmas decorations.
“That's a beautiful necklace,” Evelyn said.
Alexis turned.
Her smile vanished.
“Mrs. Harrison.”
“Evelyn is fine.”
An uncomfortable silence followed.
Alexis touched the pendant.
“Thank you.”
“Matthew has excellent taste.”
Alexis looked down.
“I suppose you know.”
“I know quite a lot.”
“Then you probably hate me.”
Evelyn considered her.
“I don't know you well enough to hate you.”
Alexis looked surprised.
“But you knew he was married,” Evelyn continued.
“Yes.”
“And you knew I was pregnant?”
Alexis hesitated.
“My father said you and Matthew had already agreed to separate.”
Evelyn felt another piece fall into place.
“Did Matthew tell you that himself?”
“He said your marriage had been unhappy for years.”
“He told me we were choosing nursery curtains together.”
Alexis's cheeks reddened.
“I didn't know that.”
“You didn't ask.”
The words landed quietly.
Alexis looked toward the window.
“That's fair.”
For several moments, neither woman spoke.
Then Alexis touched her stomach.
“I'm having a boy.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Congratulations.”
The kindness seemed to hurt Alexis more than anger would have.
“My father wants this marriage,” Alexis admitted. “He keeps saying it will secure my son's future.”
“And what do you want?”
Alexis looked uncertain.
“I thought I wanted Matthew.”
“Do you still?”
“I don't know.”
That answer was the first honest thing Evelyn had heard about the affair.
Alexis reached into her handbag.
“I found something in my father's office. I thought it was just a business proposal.”
She unfolded a glossy redevelopment brochure.
Across the front was a rendering of enormous private storage facilities replacing the old Harrison docks.
Evelyn recognized Pier Six.
“What's this?”
“My father's plan for the waterfront.”
Evelyn turned a page.
The proposed development would eliminate the existing cargo operations and replace the workers' facilities with automated storage.
More than two hundred jobs would disappear.
“When?” Evelyn asked.
Alexis pointed to a printed schedule.
“The initial transition is planned for January.”
Evelyn stared at the drawing.
The warehouses.
The loading yards.
The places where families had earned their living for generations.
Donald wasn't buying a struggling company to rescue it.
He intended to strip it of its most valuable land.
Alexis lowered her voice.
“Evelyn, my father told Matthew something last week.”
“What?”
“That if the Christmas approval goes through, he won't need the Harrison partners anymore.”
Evelyn looked up.
May you like
Alexis swallowed.
“And he won't need Matthew either.”
