“What?”
He walked away quickly.
Loatteni.
I didn’t need to know who he was.
I already knew Ethan had started moving.
At 9:43 PM, the main doors to the hall opened.
The music continued.
Then he stopped.
One conversation after another goes by.
Ethan started.
He was wearing a black suit.
No Bar.
His gaze searched the room.
Then book me.
For a moment he said nothing.
He came towards me.
«Clara.»
His voice was calm.
“I am sorry.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t have to.”
“Are you hurt?”
«Only in pride.»
He just smiled.
“Then we can settle our pride.”
He takes my hand.
It was at that moment that Sophie approached.
“Who is?”
Ethan the negotiation.
Poison me.
Right.
“Sophie, this is Ethan.”
She waits.
“Ethan… thing?”
Life
«Ethan Hart.»
Sophie’s face changed.
«Hart?»
“Yes.”
She looks at me.
“Clara, why does he have your last name?”
Before I could answer, Ethan said:
“Because she’s my wife.”
Silence.
An absolute silence.
Sophie’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Ethan squeezed my hand.
“Clara is my wife.”
A woman near the table dropped her glass.
Someone whispered:
“Is she married?”
Graham returned to the room just then.
He stopped.
He looked at Ethan.
Then me.
“What the hell does that mean?”
Ethan Lohn.
“It means your daughter has been married for three years.”
Graham remained still.
“Three years?”
“Exactly.”
“You married my daughter without telling me?”
Ethan took a step forward.
“NO.”
“What?”
“She married me without telling you.”
Graham stared at me.
“Why?”
I answered.
“Because I knew you would try to control everything.”
My father’s face hardened.
“I am your father.”
“I know.”
“And you should have respected me.”
“Respect does not mean obedience.”
Ethan pulled out a folder.
The pose on the table.
“Graham, I think we should talk.”
My father passes the folder.
“About what?”
«Of the Hamilton Investments company.»
Graham’s face went white.
Sophie became her father.
“Dad?”
Ethan Blood.
«And the transfers made in the last four years.»
Graham didn’t speak.
«Offshore accounts.»
Silence.
«And companies registered to people who have never worked for you.»
My mother came closer.
“Graham, what’s going on?”
He turned to Ethan.
“You have no rights.”
Ethan, excuse me.
“Actually, I have more than you think.”
Graham took a step forward.
“Who do you think you are?”
Ethan chiese:
“The husband of the woman you humiliated in front of four hundred people.”
Then he pointed to the folder.
“And the man who collected the evidence that Clara didn’t have the courage to show for three years.”
My heart stopped.
«Ethan…»
He greeted me.
“It’s over, Clara.”
“What?”
«The secret.»
Graham grabbed the folder.
He opened it.
I browse through some pages.
Then it freezes.
“You can’t.”
Ethan didn’t say anything.
“These documents are false.”
“NO.”
“You don’t know who you’re kidding.”
Ethan leaned toward him.
“I’m the one I shouldn’t be threatening.”
Graham turned pale.
Then we heard the sirens.
Everyone turned to the windows.
Two police cars stopped in front of the building.
Sophie is wearing a sweater.
“Dad…”
Graham is looking at me.
For the first time in my life, I saw fear in his eyes.
«Clara.»
Not risky.
“Was it you?”
I looked at him.
“NO.”
Indicai Ethan.
“It was him.”
Ethan shook my hand.
“NO.”
He looked at Graham.
“It was the truth.”
The officers enter.
An investigator approached Graham.
“Mr. Hart, we need to ask you some questions.”
“Announcement?”
“Yes.”
Graham announces.
Four hundred people.
The same people who had cheered when I fell into the fountain.
Now nobody was laughing.
Nobody applauded.
voluntary
My father was escorted out.
Before leaving, he turned to me.
«Clara.»
I looked at him.
“Remember that you are my daughter.”
Those words should have hurt me.
Instead I just felt a strange peace.
“And you remember that I am a person.”
He doesn’t exist.
The door closes.
Sophie remained in the center of the room.
His marriage was over.
But perhaps his life was just beginning.
He came closer to me.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want to ruin your life.”
She leaves a pain.
