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He Survived an Avalanche, Then Proposed With His Mistress's Ring
Novelix
Completed
Everyone said my boyfriend risked his life climbing a mountain to propose to me. Then an avalanche struck, and I opened his laptop to help rescuers find him. His proposal was for his assistant—the woman whose tuition my foundation had paid. He planned to leave me once our business deal was signed. When he returned alive and proposed before an audience, I played the video proving whose ring he was offering. But his affair was only the beginning: the man praised for saving my company had secretly arranged the accident that nearly destroyed it. Now I had evidence, not wedding plans.
Chapters (2)
第1章
Everyone says my boyfriend risked his life climbing a mountain to propose to me.
Then an avalanche hits.
I unlock his laptop to help the rescue team and find the proposal he wrote for his assistant.
The woman whose college tuition my foundation paid.
An hour earlier, I'm standing outside the lodge, trying Adrian's number again.
The call won't connect.
Nina Ellis stands beside me, holding a radio against her chest.
“He knows what he's doing,” she says.
Adrian has climbed for years. That was his answer this morning when I asked him to postpone.
“You don't have to prove anything to me.”
He kissed me.
“Just wait until you see what I have planned.”
Now a rescue coordinator needs the route files Adrian left on his laptop.
“The guide says they split up before the slide. We need to establish where he was heading.”
Nina looks at me.
“His computer's in your room.”
I run upstairs.
My hands shake so badly I mistype the password.
Our anniversary.
He's used it for years. I've teased him about it while booking flights on this same machine.
The second attempt works.
A folder sits open on the desktop.
SUMMIT PROPOSAL.
I click it.
There are route files, camera notes, and a video labeled PRACTICE.
I open the document beside it, looking for a schedule.
Nina,
Seven years with the wrong woman taught me what I actually want.
You.
I stop reading.
Then I start again.
Claire thinks this trip is for her.
By the time we come down, the Bennett deal will be signed. I won't need to keep pretending.
I don't cry.
I open the video.
Adrian sits on the edge of our bed in the lodge. He's wearing the sweater I packed for him.
“Nina,” he says, smiling at the camera. “I wanted to ask you somewhere nobody could come between us.”
He stops, laughs, and looks away.
“Too much?”
Her voice answers from behind the camera.
“I like it.”
Someone knocks on the door.
“Ms. Bennett? Have you found the files?”
I pause the video.
“Yes.”
The coordinator comes in. I point him toward the route folder.
He copies the files onto his drive while I stand beside the desk.
“Is this the latest version?”
“I don't know. Take all of them.”
He thanks me and leaves.
I sit down.
Seven years.
I introduced Adrian to lenders. Brought him into projects. Spent nights reviewing proposals when his company was struggling.
Everyone called us a team.
I open his messages.
The conversation with Nina is already synced.
She sent him a photograph yesterday.
Her hand. A pink diamond ring.
I still can't believe this is mine.
His answer:
After tomorrow, you won't have to hide it.
I photograph the screen, then copy the proposal, video, and messages onto my own drive.
Nina appears in the doorway.
“Did you get in?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you still sitting here?”
“The rescue team has the files.”
“They need the right files, Claire. If you gave them something old—”
“Ask them what else they need.”
She steps toward the laptop.
I close it.
Her eyes flick to my hand.
“You're acting strange.”
“My boyfriend is missing.”
“Then act like you care.”
Something rings inside her coat.
She freezes.
“Answer it.”
“It's probably nothing.”
The ringing continues.
She pulls out the satellite phone they rented at the lodge.
“Hello?”
A man's voice comes through, loud enough for me to hear.
“Nina? It's Ben. Tell the rescue team he took the eastern approach. The filming spot you sent him.”
I stand.
Nina backs toward the door.
“You knew he changed the route.”
“Claire, I—”
I hold out my hand.
“Give me the phone.”
第2章
Nina doesn't move.
The guide is still speaking.
“He left before I could catch up. I've already given them my position, but they need the coordinates from your message.”
I take the phone from her.
“This is Claire Bennett. I'm getting the rescue coordinator.”
I find him downstairs and hand it over.
Nina follows us.
“It was supposed to be a surprise.”
The coordinator turns to her.
“Show me the message.”
She unlocks her phone.
I watch him copy the location and relay it to the teams.
Nobody needs my anger right now.
They need accurate information.
Once they have it, I go upstairs and call Maya.
“Have Rachel meet me when I get back. There's something she needs to see.”
“Is Adrian—”
“They haven't found him.”
“What happened?”
I look at the closed laptop.
“I'll explain.”
I stay until the coordinator confirms they have everything I can provide. I give him my number and arrange to remain reachable.
The next morning, I leave.
Back home, Rachel reviews the files.
“Keep the originals,” she says. “Don't edit anything.”
“I haven't.”
“We'll also review the pending agreements with Vale. Nothing gets canceled blindly.”
I nod.
Our companies aren't our relationship. There are employees and other partners involved.
But Adrian doesn't get another signature from me without scrutiny.
On the third day, Evelyn Vale asks me to come to her house.
Lucas Grant is already there.
He gets up when I enter.
“How could you leave?”
“The rescue team has my number.”
“He went up there for you.”
I put my bag beside the chair.
“I told him not to go.”
“Everybody knows what he was planning.”
“Do they?”
Evelyn stands by the fireplace, gripping a tissue.
“This isn't the time for your attitude, Claire.”
Nina sits beside her.
She's wearing one of Adrian's sweaters.
I recognize that, too.
“It's all been overwhelming,” Nina says. “I'm sure Claire didn't mean to make things harder.”
Lucas turns on me.
“You wouldn't even stay.”
“I gave the team his route files. Nina gave them the revised coordinates.”
Nina's head lifts.
“Of course I did.”
“After the guide called you.”
Evelyn presses the tissue to her mouth.
“Enough. He's still out there.”
Nina reaches into her bag.
“He left something with me before he went up.”
She sets a small box on the table.
I know what's inside before she opens it.
The pink diamond.
“He wanted the proposal to be perfect,” she says. “He asked me to keep this safe.”
Lucas looks at the ring, then at me.
“And you're here talking about coordinates.”
I remember Nina's photograph.
I still can't believe this is mine.
She slides the box closer.
“Maybe you should hold on to it.”
“No.”
Evelyn stares.
“Claire.”
“Keep it, Nina.”
Her fingers close around the box.
I turn to her.
“The foundation will contact you about the end of your discretionary support and the housing arrangement.”
Her mouth opens.
“What?”
“Your tuition grant ended when you graduated. The additional support doesn't continue indefinitely.”
“You can't just throw me out.”
“You'll receive written notice under the agreement. I'm not discussing it here.”
Lucas steps forward.
“You're punishing her while Adrian's missing?”
“I'm ending an arrangement I voluntarily continued.”
Nina looks at Evelyn.
“I don't understand why she's doing this.”
I pick up my bag.
“You don't?”
Lucas's phone rings before she answers.
He looks at the screen and takes the call.
We all go quiet.
“Yes?”
He listens.
Then his face changes.
“His jacket?”
Evelyn grips the back of the sofa.
Lucas turns away from her.
“What do you mean, there's blood on it?”
