Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Refused to Look Away
Ronan left for Singapore 2 days later.
Before he left, he called Tessa into the library.
She expected a discussion about Cormack.
Instead, Ronan placed a set of instructions on the desk.
“My grandfather takes his medicine exactly as written. Nobody changes the schedule without a direct order from his cardiologist.”
Tessa nodded.
“Also,” he said, “if anyone tries to pressure you into signing anything, you call me.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Anyone?”
“Anyone.”
Even Camille?
Ronan's eyes rested on her for half a second.
“Especially anyone.”
Tessa said nothing.
Ronan leaned back.
“You notice things.”
“I’m a nurse.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
She folded her hands.
“You have a strange way of interviewing people.”
“I’m not interviewing you.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Trying to understand whether I can trust you.”
Tessa almost smiled.
“You barely know me.”
“I know enough to know that you don’t lie comfortably.”
That surprised her.
Ronan stood.
“So don't start.”
He left.
Tessa remained in the library for another minute.
She had no idea why the conversation bothered her.
Perhaps because Ronan had looked tired.
Not physically tired.
Something deeper.
As if he had already accepted disappointment before it happened.
During the next weeks, the mansion became a place of small tensions.
Camille began coming home later.
Preston came more frequently.
Officially, they were discussing legal matters regarding the Gallagher family's expansion into legitimate shipping.
Unofficially, they were planning how to separate Camille from Ronan without losing access to his fortune.
They believed Ronan was too distracted by business to interfere.
They also believed Cormack was too weak to matter.
They were wrong.
Cormack watched everything.
His body was recovering.
His mind had not slowed.
He knew Preston long before anyone else did.
Preston had joined the family firm at 25.
He was charming.
Brilliant.
Patient.
He had learned the Gallagher system from the inside.
He knew which accounts were clean.
Which contracts were dirty.
Which politicians accepted favors.
Which warehouse records mattered.
And he had discovered a weakness in the family.
Everybody trusted paperwork more than people.
That was how Preston survived.
It was also how he intended to win.
One night, Tessa was changing Cormack’s medication tray when the old man spoke.
“Do you believe my grandson trusts his wife?”
Tessa looked up.
“I don’t know.”
“Do you believe she deserves his trust?”
“That’s not my question to answer.”
Cormack smiled faintly.
“You are very careful.”
“My patients stay alive when I’m careful.”
“Then stay careful.”
Cormack glanced toward the door.
“Someone in this house wants me dead.”
Tessa froze.
She lowered her voice.
“You should tell Mr. Gallagher.”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When I know who.”
Tessa's fingers tightened around the tray.
Cormack watched her.
“Do not become a hero, Miss Marlo.”
“I’m not trying to.”
“Good.”
He took her hand.
“Because heroes die in families like mine. Witnesses survive.”
The next morning, Ronan called.
It was 3:20 a.m. in Chicago.
He was in Singapore.
Tessa answered immediately.
“Mr. Gallagher?”
“Why are you awake?”
“I work nights.”
“Right.”
There was silence.
Then Ronan asked, “How is he?”
“Stable.”
“And you?”
Tessa blinked.
Nobody had asked.
“I’m fine.”
“You sound exhausted.”
“So do you.”
Ronan almost laughed.
Almost.
“You always answer questions with questions?”
“Only when I can get away with it.”
Ronan smiled in the dark hotel room.
For the first time in years, speaking to someone felt easy.
They talked for 12 minutes.
Nothing important.
Weather.
Cormack.
Chicago traffic.
Piper's university.
When the call ended, Ronan stared at his phone.
He had spent 6 years believing marriage was the last place to look for comfort.
Now he was calling a nurse at 3 in the morning because hearing her voice made the silence in a foreign country less empty.
He hated the feeling.
Because he knew exactly what it meant.
Trust.
And trust was dangerous.
Back in Chicago, Tessa saw Preston leaving Cormack’s room.
He smiled at her.
“Everything all right?”
“Yes.”
“You're very dedicated.”
“So is everyone here.”
His smile remained.
His eyes did not.
That night, Tessa found a small brown envelope beneath Cormack’s pillow.
It contained a photocopy of an old newspaper article.
A nurse named Elise Marlo had worked at Gallagher House 27 years earlier.
Tessa stared at the photograph.
The woman looked familiar.
Too familiar.
She turned the page.
There was a handwritten note on the back.
“Ask Tessa who her mother was.”
Her stomach dropped.
Her mother had never worked for the Gallaghers.
At least that was what Tessa had been told.
She called Piper.
“Did Mom ever work at a private house?”
Piper laughed.
“No. Why?”
“Nothing.”
Tessa hung up.
Then she looked again at the photograph.
Her mother was standing in the background.
Alive.
Young.
Wearing the same watch Tessa now wore.
Tessa sat down.
Her mother had lied.
Or someone had lied about her.
The following evening, Cormack asked Tessa to bring him a glass of water.
When she returned, he was staring at the old newspaper.
“You found it.”
“Yes.”
“Did you recognize her?”
“That’s my mother.”
Cormack closed his eyes.
For the first time, Tessa saw something like grief on his face.
“Your mother saved my life once.”
Tessa's breath stopped.
“What?”
“Twenty-seven years ago.”
Cormack told her about a night she had never heard of.
A fire.
A stolen ledger.
A missing child.
A young nurse who had discovered that members of the household were stealing money from the family and planning to kill Cormack.
Her mother had hidden evidence.
She had tried to report it.
Before she could, the fire started.
Cormack had believed she died because of him.
Tessa struggled to breathe.
“My parents died in a house fire when I was 19.”
Cormack looked at her.
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because I paid for your funeral.”
Silence filled the room.
Tessa stood motionless.
Cormack reached for the bedside drawer.
He removed another item.
A sealed envelope.
“For Ronan.”
“Why didn't you give it to him?”
“Because he wasn't ready.”
“For what?”
Cormack’s eyes hardened.
“The truth about your family.”
“My family?”
“The family you think raised you.”
Tessa stared.
Before she could ask another question, the door opened.
Camille entered.
“What are you two discussing?”
Cormack slid the envelope beneath the blanket.
Tessa stood.
“His medication schedule.”
Camille looked at Cormack.
Then at Tessa.
Then at the drawer.
Her smile tightened.
“Of course.”
That night, Camille entered Preston's office.
She locked the door.
“The nurse knows something.”
Preston stopped reading.
“What?”
“She found something in Grandfather’s room.”
“Did she see it?”
“I don't know.”
Preston stared at her.
“We don't have time for uncertainty.”
Camille whispered, “Ronan has been calling her.”
That changed everything.
Preston stood.
“Then she has to go.”
“How?”
“Make it look like she made a mistake.”
Camille shook her head.
“She is careful.”
“Nobody is careful enough.”
The next morning, Tessa received a termination notice.
It accused her of administering the wrong medication.
The dosage error was supposedly severe enough to justify immediate dismissal.
Tessa knew the record was false.
The medication had been changed digitally.
She demanded an audit.
Camille arrived before the administrator.
“So disappointing,” Camille said softly.
Tessa looked at her.
“Who changed the medication order?”
Camille smiled.
“People make mistakes, Tessa.”
“I didn't.”
“You don't have to shout.”
“I’m not shouting.”
“You should learn when to stop.”
Tessa's eyes narrowed.
“Is that a threat?”
Camille stepped closer.
“No.”
She lowered her voice.
“It’s advice.”
Tessa did not move.
“I don't take advice from people who are afraid of questions.”
For the first time, Camille's composure cracked.
Only slightly.
But Tessa saw it.
And now Tessa understood something.
May you like
Camille was afraid.
The question was why.
