The bar was warm and noisy, the music just loud enough to drown out her thoughts. She sipped faster than she should have, Riley watching her with growing concern.
At one point, Clara put her glass down abruptly and covered her face with both hands. "They make it sound so final," she said, her voice thick. "Like he's… gone."
Riley reached over, rubbing her shoulder. "You don't know that."
Clara dropped her hands, eyes bright with tears. "I gave him away because I thought I was protecting him. And what if… what if I was wrong?"
A group of men approached their table, pulling up chairs without asking. One in particular caught her attention with dark eyes and a devastating smile. He leaned in, close enough for her to smell his cologne.
"I'm married," she said before he could speak.
"Regretfully?" he teased.
"Yes," she admitted, then gave a humorless laugh that cracked halfway through...though there was no real humor in it. Ethan wasn't the kind of man who would forgive even harmless flirting, let alone more.
Riley quickly steered the conversation elsewhere, but Clara kept blinking hard, fighting the tears until her vision blurred anyway.
That night, Clara drank until the night blurred.
***
At the Ashford estate, Ethan had been anxiously waiting for the phone call. Finally his phone rang.
"Sir," his security detail said quietly, "Mrs. Ashford is at a bar with her friend. She's… very drunk. Some men are hovering. She seems uninterested, but I can't be sure. Another scandal might be brewing."
Ethan's jaw tightened. He already knew where she had been earlier. CPS. And now this.
"Put Riley on the phone."
There was a shuffle, then a startled voice. "Hello?"
"Riley, it's Ethan. Bring my wife home. I'm trying to avoid another scandal."
When they reached the estate, Ethan was already waiting at the front of the mansion. Without a word, he immediately lifted Clara into his arms before Axiel could see her like this, carrying her upstairs.
She stirred as he set her down on the bed, eyes teary. "Why… why weren't you there Ethan?" she whispered.
Ethan froze. "When?"
"When I needed you the most. Things would be so different now if you had been there." Her voice broke, a tear sliding down her cheek.
He didn't answer. He couldn't, not without telling her everything. Instead, he held her in his arms for a bit, and as she drifted off, he pulled the blanket over her and walked away, closing the door softly behind him.