Chapter 3: What the Ticket Meant
Richard held the ticket up between two fingers.
"Explain this."
Diana didn't flinch.
She set her handbag on the counter, smoothed her dress, and looked at him the way she always did when she wanted him to feel unreasonable.
"It's a boarding school program.
In Switzerland.
I was going to tell you this weekend."
"One way," Richard said.
"It's a one-way ticket, Diana."
"Return tickets are booked separately for those programs.
Richard, you're making a scene in front of the child."
Sophie had pressed herself against Richard's leg.
He could feel her shaking.
"Go to your room, sweetheart," he said quietly.
"I'll be up in five minutes."
Sophie looked up at him.
"You promise?"
"I promise."
She ran.
Her small feet disappeared up the staircase.
Richard waited until he couldn't hear her anymore.
"She hasn't eaten since yesterday morning."
Diana sighed.
"She's dramatic.
She refused her lunch.
I'm not going to force-feed a six-year-old."
"She was eating from the dog's bowl, Diana."
"Because she wanted attention.
You know how she gets when she knows you're coming home."
Richard stared at her.
He had been with this woman for four years.
Married for three.
He had watched her charm entire boardrooms, entire families, entire social circles.
He knew exactly what her face looked like when she was performing.
She was performing right now.
"Where is Mrs.
Calloway?" he asked.
Mrs.
Calloway had been Sophie's nanny for two years.
"I let her go last week.
She was overstepping."
"Overstepping how?"
"She was filling Sophie's head with ideas.
Telling her she didn't have to listen to me.
I won't have staff undermining me in my own home."
"This isn't just your home."
Diana's eyes sharpened.
"No.
But Sophie isn't just your daughter either.
She's a problem, Richard.
She has been since the day I moved in.
And now that we have our own child coming—"
"Stop."
The word came out flat.
Final.
Diana stopped.
Richard set the ticket down on the counter very carefully, the way a man sets something down when he doesn't trust his own hands.
"You sent away the nanny," he said.
"You dismissed the housekeeper today.
You booked a one-way ticket for a six-year-old child.
And you let her go hungry for over a day."
"I didn't let her—"
"Don't." His voice didn't rise.
It dropped.
"Don't finish that sentence."
Diana looked at him for a long moment.
Then something shifted in her expression.
The performance softened into something that looked almost like regret.
"Richard.
I know this looks bad.
But you have to understand what it's been like.
You're never here.
I'm managing this house, this pregnancy, her moods, her tantrums—"
"Her tantrums."
"She screams for you every night.
She tells me I'm not her mother.
She throws things.
I'm seven months pregnant and I am alone in this house with a child who hates me."
"She's six."
"She's not easy."
"She's six years old and she was eating dog food off the floor." Richard picked up his phone.
"I'm calling my attorney."
Diana went very still.
"Why?"
"Because I want everything documented before this conversation goes any further."
The color left her face.
"You're not serious."
"Mrs.
Calloway's number.
I want it."
"Richard—"
"Her number, Diana.
Now."
Diana's hand moved to her stomach — a slow, deliberate gesture.
Her eyes filled.
"So that's it?
I tell you I'm struggling and you call your lawyer?
I'm carrying your child.
Your son."
Richard looked at her hand on her stomach.
Then he looked at her face.
"I'll ask you one more time.
Mrs.
Calloway's number."
Diana's tears didn't fall.
They stayed exactly where they were, perfectly balanced, perfectly placed.
She picked up her phone and read out the number without another word.
Richard wrote it down.
Then he walked toward the staircase.
"Where are you going?" Diana asked.
"To keep my promise to my daughter."
He didn't look back.
But at the top of the stairs, just before he reached Sophie's door, his phone buzzed.
A message.
From a number he didn't recognize.
*Mr.
Sterling.
My name is Ellen Calloway.
I've been trying to reach you for six days.
Please call me.
May you like
There are things about your household you need to know.
Things I saw.*
