Chapter 5 - Nassau
Gregory slept badly.
I did not sleep at all.
At sunrise, Nassau appeared beyond the balcony in soft gold light.
Gregory had arranged for our suite access cards to remain restricted.
What he did not know was that Elena had quietly issued me a temporary crew access card after dinner.
At 8:12 a.m., while Gregory showered, I walked out.
No suitcase.
No dramatic escape.
Just sunglasses, a purse, and my hidden phone.
Elena waited beside a service stairwell.
“You have ninety minutes.”
“Why are you helping me?”
“Because yesterday your husband submitted a request asking whether the ship had a medical isolation room.”
I stopped.
“For me?”
“He didn’t use your name.”
“He didn’t need to.”
Elena handed me a small portable charger.
“Go.”
I walked off the ship among hundreds of passengers.
Naomi had arranged a secure video call from a quiet café near the port.
Claire appeared on my screen at 8:37.
She looked older than the photograph.
Not weak.
Not broken.
Careful.
“Ashlynn?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You married him.”
“I did.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Tell me everything.”
Claire looked over her shoulder before speaking.
“Gregory never hit me before our engagement.”
My stomach tightened.
“He controlled where I went, who I saw, what I wore.”
“Same.”
“Then after the engagement, he started talking about loyalty.”
I thought about the baseball bat.
“He tried to get you to sign documents.”
“Yes.”
“When you refused?”
Claire swallowed.
“We were at his father’s estate.”
She touched the edge of the table.
“I drank one glass of wine.”
“The next thing I remember, I woke up restrained in a clinic.”
I felt anger rise beneath my ribs.
“Did you report it?”
“I tried.”
“What happened?”
“Gregory had photographs showing me screaming at staff.”
“Were you drugged?”
“I believe so.”
“Medical records?”
“Sealed.”
“Who owned the clinic?”
Claire looked directly at me.
“Howard Hartman.”
Gregory’s father.
My thoughts began organizing themselves.
This was not one dangerous husband.
It was infrastructure.
Money.
Lawyers.
Medical connections.
A family system built to make inconvenient women look unstable.
Claire leaned closer.
“There’s one person who can prove it.”
“Who?”
“Gregory’s mother.”
I remembered his words.
This is how my dad kept my mom in line.
“I thought she died.”
“That’s what Gregory tells people.”
“She didn’t?”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
“Where is she?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how can she help?”
Claire reached offscreen and returned holding a yellowed envelope.
“Because before she disappeared, Margaret Hartman gave this to my mother.”
“What is it?”
“A letter.”
Claire’s voice dropped.
“And according to Margaret, Howard kept records of everything.”
Before she could say more, someone sat down across from me.
I looked up.
Gregory.
He smiled.
May you like
“Having coffee without your husband?”
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