Chapter 4 - The Suitcase by the Door
Wade followed Maren upstairs while Lorraine remained in the dining room.
“Maren, slow down.”
Maren entered their bedroom and pulled a suitcase from the closet.
“What are you doing?”
“Exactly what your mother told me to do.”
“She was angry.”
“She prepared a contract with a lawyer. That was not anger. It was a plan.”
Wade closed the bedroom door.
“Just give everyone time to calm down.”
“Elsie’s suitcase is already in the hallway.”
Wade froze.
Maren opened the door and pointed.
A small purple suitcase stood beside the staircase. Elsie’s jacket had been folded on top of it. Her school backpack rested against the wall.
Wade stared at the items.
“I didn’t know she did that.”
“You never know until after the damage is done.”
“I will talk to her.”
“You have been talking to her for six years.”
“This is my mother.”
“And Elsie is your daughter.”
The words landed between them.
Wade had adopted Elsie two years after marrying Maren. He had cried in the courthouse when the judge approved it. He had promised to love and protect her forever.
Yet when Lorraine treated Elsie like baggage from Maren’s previous life, Wade rarely challenged her directly.
He always claimed he was keeping the peace.
Maren understood now that peace without protection was simply permission.
Elsie stood in the doorway, clutching the rabbit.
“Is Dad coming with us?”
Wade opened his mouth.
Maren waited.
He glanced toward the staircase, where Lorraine’s voice could be heard speaking sharply to someone on the phone.
“I need to handle this first,” he said.
Elsie lowered her eyes.
Maren finished packing.
She took clothing, medications, Elsie’s school materials, family photographs, and the small wooden box containing letters from her father. She left the jewelry Wade had given her on the dresser.
When she carried the suitcase downstairs, Lorraine was waiting near the front door with the rental contract.
“I assume you have reconsidered,” Lorraine said.
“No.”
“Then you should understand that returning will require my permission.”
Maren almost smiled.
“You truly believe that?”
Lorraine opened the front door.
Bright sunlight poured across the marble floor.
A black SUV waited in the circular drive. Maren’s assistant, Tessa, had sent it after receiving a brief text.
Wade came downstairs behind them.
“Maren, where will you go?”
She took Elsie’s hand.
Wade followed them outside.
“That little apartment near your office?” he called. “You can’t raise Elsie there.”
Maren stopped beside the SUV.
For years, Wade had assumed Maren’s downtown residence was a modest apartment used for late work nights.
He had never visited it.
She removed a gold card from her handbag.
“To the penthouse I already own.”
Wade stared at the card.
The Alden Tower emblem caught the sunlight.
His confidence vanished.
“You own Alden Tower?”
Lorraine moved closer.
“What game are you playing?”
May you like
Maren looked at both of them.
“The game is over.”
