CLAIRE

"Does it matter?" I replied.

He looked up at me, his jaw clenched. "This is a private business document," he said. "You had no right to access it."

"Private?" I repeated, disbelief sharpening my voice. "That document is about me, about my marriage, about you selling me like I was property."

"Don't be dramatic," my father said dismissively, refolding the paper. "It was a business arrangement, nothing more."

"A business arrangement," I said slowly. "Is that what you call it?"

He walked past me into the living room, picking up his whiskey again.

"Your marriage to Ethan benefited everyone," he said. "You got security, status, a comfortable life, I...