Before she could speak again,she heard Adrian’s voice over the line,the rush of water in the background.He sounded like he’d just stepped out of the shower.
“Vanessa,who are you talking to?”
“Who else?Your clingy ex-wife,”Vanessa sneered.“She’s whining about her card being frozen.Hmph.”
Clara clearly heard Adrian’s impatient reply:“Ignore her.Vanessa,you’re right.Only you understand me.Before I met you,those thirty years meant nothing.You’re the only light in my life.”
Clara hung up silently.Her body felt like ice.
Behind the counter,the woman’s eyes turned even stranger,as if certain she was dealing with a“problem”woman.
Cornered.
Her parents were far abroad—she couldn’t bear to alarm them.
Friends?After marrying Adrian she had all but cut off her old social circle.
Despair rose like a tide,threatening to drown her.
A name surfaced in her mind.
Jonathan Hale.
The Hale and Winter families had been close for generations.Jonathan had been her childhood companion.
If she hadn’t been so determined to marry the self-made Adrian Cole,their families might have joined by marriage.
Even so,Jonathan had remained gracious,never making things difficult.