From the Whitmore estate, William drove straight to the office for a quick evening meeting, but his mind wasn't on the contracts or board reports. It kept circling back to his grandmother's words. By the time he pulled up to the penthouse around 9 P.M, his heart was beating fast. He'd told himself this wasn't a big deal, that it was just a conversation. They were married after all, eventually they will have to talk. But now, he almost drove back to the office, to his suite.
Still, he went up to the house and slowly opened the door. Martha, his housekeeper, had done exactly as he'd asked. Dinner was set neatly on the table, but was untouched.
At first, he thought she might be in her room, maybe reading or resting after work. He loosened his tie, poured himself a glass of water, and sat in the study, reading business news, while waiting.
An hour passed. Still no sign of her. He checked his watch, then sighed, standing and walking upstairs. The quiet of the penthouse felt heavier than usual.
He stopped outside her door and knocked softly. "Brianna?"Silence.
He waited, knocked again, and then slowly turned the handle.
The room was dark, faintly illuminated by the city lights shinning through the curtains. He looked around, everything was in perfect order, the bed neatly made, no shoes scattered, and no jacket draped over a chair.
And then he saw it.
On the nightstand, her diamond wedding ring flickering.
For a few seconds, he just stared at it,
something in his chest tightening. Why wasn't she wearing it? Didn't she like it?
Or was Evans right?
Had she seen the headlines, him with Kate, and gotten angry?
And for reasons he didn't want to admit, that thought made his heart beat just a little faster. Maybe she cared.
Or maybe Evans was wrong, and he, William was right.
Had she taken it off because she didn't care about their marriage?
Maybe she did care.
He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated with himself.
He turned toward the closet, half expecting chaos, but everything he had carefully selected was untouched. The new clothes he'd bought for her, the things he thought she might like, still hung neatly in place, tags uncut.
She probably didn't have time to try them on, or didn't even know they were there waiting.