Cars waiting downstairs.
Assistants between himself and inconvenience.
None of it helped him now.
“Did Claire see all of this?” he asked.
Diana’s voice softened only slightly.
“She saw enough.”
Sebastian closed his eyes.
Natalie exhaled sharply.
“This is exactly why I told you not to react emotionally.
Claire is trying to create leverage.”
Diana turned to her.
“Claire left her own home at seven months pregnant with one duffel bag.
She has not called the press.
She has not contacted Harrow Capital.
She has not threatened either of you.
Explain the leverage.”
Natalie’s lips parted, then closed.
Diana continued.
“She asked for safety, privacy, and time.
That is all.”
Sebastian looked at Natalie now.
Something in his expression had shifted.
Until that moment, he had still been treating the morning Claire disappeared as a crisis to solve.
Find her.
Speak to her.
Control the damage.
Restore order.
Diana’s folder forced him to see something more humiliating.
Claire had not disappeared impulsively.
She had prepared.
She had watched him lie, documented what she could prove, consulted counsel, protected her pregnancy, and then walked out before he knew there was even a confrontation to win.
He had underestimated her so completely that the realization itself seemed to injure him.
“Is Griffin Tate working for her?” Natalie asked.
Diana did not answer.
Natalie gave a humorless laugh.
“Of course he is.
A retired federal investigator? This is absurd.”
Sebastian said quietly, “Stop.”
Natalie turned toward him.
“What?”
“I said stop.”
It was the first time since she entered that Natalie looked uncertain.
Diana removed another sheet but kept it face down.
“Claire gave me permission to tell you one thing,” she said to Sebastian.
“She does not want revenge.
She does not want public humiliation.
She wants a separation, predictable financial arrangements during the pregnancy, and communication through counsel until she decides whether she is ready to speak to you directly.”
Sebastian stared at the tabletop.
“And Audrey?”
“Claire is healthy.
The baby is healthy.”
His shoulders dropped by a fraction.
It was the first relief he had felt in two days.
Then Diana added, “But being the father does not entitle you to use Claire’s pregnancy as a way around her boundaries.”
He nodded once.
Natalie stared at him.
