Chapter 5 5

Ariel grabbed her bag, her knuckles white. She tried to stand, but the adrenaline had made her muscles spasm. Her right leg buckled, and she grabbed the edge of the table to keep from falling.

The movement was clumsy. Loud.

The frosted glass partition was shoved aside.

Fielding stood there.

His face went through a kaleidoscope of expressions: Shock. Recognition. And then, a dark, thunderous anger.

"Ariel?"

The name was an accusation.

"What the hell are you doing here? Are you following me?"

Corinna appeared behind his shoulder, her eyes wide with faux-innocence. Archer loomed behind them, a smirk playing on his lips.

"Well, well," Archer drawled. "Speak of the devil and she limps in."

Ariel straightened her spine. She used the table for support, forcing herself to stand tall.

"I was just passing by," she said. Her voice was thin, but steady.

"Passing by Le Bernardin?" Fielding scoffed. "You don't even like seafood. You were spying."

"Ariel," Corinna stepped forward, reaching for Fielding's arm in a proprietary gesture. "Don't be upset. We were just catching up on old times. We didn't mean to leave you out."

Ariel looked at Corinna's hand on her husband's sleeve. Then she looked at the pink diamond on Corinna's finger.

"Old times?" Ariel asked. "Is that what you call calling me a 'Lame Duck'? Or debating whether I'm a good enough return on investment?"

Fielding stiffened. "You were listening."

"I couldn't help it," Ariel said. "You were quite loud about your... debts."

"It was a joke, Ariel," Fielding snapped, running a hand through his hair. "Archer had too much wine. You're being hypersensitive. As always."

"Hypersensitive?" Ariel let out a dry, incredulous laugh. "You sat there and let them humiliate me. You called our marriage a debt."

"Because it is!" Archer interjected. "Let's be real, sweetheart. Fielding has been carrying you for five years. He buys you clothes you don't wear, pays for a house you haunt like a ghost. You should be grateful."

Ariel turned her head slowly to look at Archer. Her eyes, usually soft and brown, were hard as flint.

"Be quiet," she said. It wasn't a scream. It was a command.

Archer blinked, taken aback.

"This doesn't concern you, Archer," Ariel said. "You're just the audience they perform for."

"Ariel!" Fielding stepped forward, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl. "Apologize to Archer. Now."

Ariel looked at her husband. She really looked at him.

She saw the man who had bought into the myth of her inadequacy because it suited him. If she was the "dropout," the "cripple," then he was the benevolent savior, not the man who drove a Ferrari into a wall.

"He insulted your wife," Ariel said softly. "And you want me to apologize to him?"

"He's my friend. And you are making a scene in a Michelin-star restaurant." Fielding hissed. "Look at Corinna. She's trying to be a peacemaker. Why can't you have a shred of her grace?"

Ariel looked at Corinna, who was biting her lip, looking up at Fielding with tear-filled doe eyes.

"Grace," Ariel repeated. "Is that what you call sleeping with a married man?"

The air in the restaurant seemed to vanish.

Fielding's face turned a mottled red. "That is enough. You are hysterical."

"I'm not hysterical," Ariel said. "I'm lucid. For the first time in years."

She picked up her glass of sparkling water. Fielding flinched, expecting her to throw it.

Instead, Ariel took a slow, deliberate sip. The bubbles burned her throat, waking her up.

"You're right, Fielding," she said, placing the glass down with a soft clink. "You do owe me a life."

Fielding looked at her, wary.

"But you forgot something about debts," Ariel said, meeting his eyes.

"What?"

"Debts accrue interest."

She picked up her plastic folder. She turned away from them.

"Where are you going?" Fielding demanded. "We aren't done."

"I am," Ariel said.

She started to walk away. Her limp was pronounced, her rhythm uneven-step-drag, step-drag. But she didn't stop.

Every eye in the restaurant was on her.

She felt the weight of their judgment, but for the first time, it didn't crush her. It felt like armor.

"Let her go," she heard Corinna whisper. "She's just embarrassed."

"Unbelievable," Fielding muttered. "I'll cut her card off. She'll be back by dinner."

Ariel pushed through the heavy glass doors and stepped out onto the street.

The cold air hit her face, drying the tears she hadn't realized she was shedding.

She didn't look back.