49 #3
There was no claim in the gesture. No urgency. No attempt to pull her away from the ugly truth of her feeling. Only a place to put her trembling if she chose not to hide it.
She placed her hand in his.
Victor closed his eyes.
Hale's phone buzzed again.
No one spoke.
Dorothy looked at Andrew. "What now?"
Hale checked the message, then frowned. "Raymond Group has issued an internal security statement confirming Miss Werner was asked to leave the premises and directing all inquiries to legal. They are not addressing the pregnancy claim."
"Of course not," Dorothy said.
Another humiliation. Silence. Again. Trevor protected himself through silence, protected Vanessa through silence, let Dorothy's name be dragged into the space between them because answering would be messy.
She tried to let that confirm what she already knew of him.
Instead, it hurt.
She hated that too.
Sebastian felt her fingers tighten and looked at Hale. "What are the media angles?"
Hale's jaw set. "The worst ones are forming quickly. Some imply Miss Werner's pregnancy explains Mr. Raymond's delay in signing the divorce. Others suggest Miss Perry's public appearances with you drove Miss Werner to reveal the truth. A few are already using phrases like complicated love triangle."
"Love triangle," Dorothy repeated softly.
The old language returned, reducing years of neglect, betrayal, grief, and cruelty into something entertaining enough to sell.
She pulled her hand from Sebastian's and stood.
Her legs felt unsteady, but anger helped. Anger, at least, had a spine.
"Prepare a statement," she said.
Victor turned back. "Dorothy."
"Not about the file. Not about the miscarriage. A legal statement. My divorce from Trevor Raymond is proceeding by mutual execution of documents. Any attempt to use unrelated claims to involve me in Mr.
Raymond or Miss Werner's private affairs will be treated as harassment and defamation where applicable."
Hale nodded. "I can draft that."
"Make it colder."
His mouth tightened slightly. "Gladly."
Sebastian rose beside her. "You do not have to respond tonight."
"Yes, I do."
"Why?"
"Because silence has cost me enough."
The answer struck the room with such force that no one argued immediately.
Dorothy looked toward the dark window again, but this time she did not look at her reflection.
She looked through it, into the garden beyond, where the estate lights stood like sentries along the path.
Trevor had stood somewhere out there hours ago and seen her cry in Sebastian's arms.
Perhaps that was fitting. Perhaps he needed to see what staying looked like when he was no longer the person chosen to do it.
Her grief did not vanish.
The humiliation did not vanish either.
But anger gave her enough strength to stand inside both.
Hale's phone buzzed again.
Then Victor's.
Then Sebastian's.
The room seemed to tighten around the simultaneous interruption.
Hale looked first. "There is a new development."
Dorothy's pulse changed. "What?"
He read silently, brows drawing together.
Sebastian checked his own screen and went very still.
Victor's mouth became a hard line as he read his message.
Dorothy looked between them. "Someone speak."
Hale lifted his eyes. "Trevor Raymond is outside Raymond Tower. Reporters gathered after Vanessa's announcement. He appears to be making a statement."
Dorothy did not move.
Sebastian turned his phone so she could see the live feed.
The image shook at first, filmed from behind a barricade near the tower entrance.
Camera flashes cut through the night. Reporters shouted over one another.
Security formed a line near the doors. Then Trevor appeared at the top of the steps, alone, without Marcus at his shoulder, face pale but composed beneath the harsh white lights.
Dorothy's chest tightened despite herself.
A reporter's voice rose above the others. "Mr. Raymond, is Vanessa Werner carrying your child?"
Another shouted, "Does this explain the divorce?"
Another, sharper, "Were you involved with Miss Werner during your marriage to Dorothy Perry?"
Trevor stopped at the microphone someone thrust toward him.
For a moment, he said nothing.
The silence stretched long enough that Dorothy felt every old wound lean toward it, expecting another failure, another refusal to answer, another careful corporate line that left women to bleed around his reputation.
Then Trevor spoke.
"I will not allow Dorothy Perry's name to be used in this matter."
The reporters shouted again, but he continued over them.
"My divorce from Dorothy is proceeding because I failed my marriage, not because of any action by her. Any attempt to imply otherwise is false."
Dorothy's breath caught.
Trevor's face remained still, but the muscles around his mouth had tightened as if every word cost him.
"As for Miss Werner's claim," he said, and the noise around him sharpened, cameras lifting like weapons, "I will address it through counsel. But I will state one fact publicly tonight."
The world seemed to hold its breath with Dorothy.
Trevor looked directly into the cameras.
"I have not slept with Vanessa Werner."