chapter word count: 371
noir heart: thirty-two
"Oh, you didn't know?" she frowns, but the curl of her lips has a razor-sharp edge of amusement. "Well, why would you…"
Uttering a quiet hm, she turns and gracefully makes her way to a drawn-out chair by a circular wood kitchen table, crosses one leg over the other while lacing her fingers together and regards him carefully. "As part of the marriage to my late husband, there was an agreement in place whereby if anything were to happen to him, be it natural causes, accidental or…intentional, I would receive nothing from the estate." she states somewhat matter-of-factly, too much so for his liking.
"So, according to the pre-nup his death leaves you penniless." Jack condenses it, sliding his hands into his pockets, as he dwells in thought.
"Well, not quite. I managed to quietly redirect my inheritance upon my parents' deaths into an offshore account – but that was his intention, yes."
The room falls silent as he realises something; that's the money angle out of the window. She already had money, and even if she didn't – murdering Kozmotis would financially hurt her. Of the usual trifecta of reasons to kill – Love/Money/Revenge, he reluctantly knocks it down to two.
The thing that really freaks him out is that Elsa seems to know what he's thinking.
"And then," she adds almost coyly, "the mere existence of the pre-nuptial clause does imply a lack of trust. Maybe even love."
He frowns to himself as he gazes at the light green carpet – annoyingly, he wholeheartedly agrees with her, so that's two parts of the trifecta potentially ruled out. He tries to remember that there's still the revenge angle, but there's a stabbing ache in his heart that has been present ever since he ended the call – there was no pre-nup clause in his marriage to Rapunzel. In theory, one could infer that it was a union of love, and yet here he is, alone.
"Do you believe in love, Jack?" she asks curiously.
His response is automatic; it coalesces in his pained heart and travels to his mouth before he is even aware of it.
"Used to."
TYPING THIS ON A PHONE IS HARD.
I can't really reply as I usually would, but thank you all for reading! Unfortunately there is only one more ready made update after this and then it's back to writing - which is a challenge in and of itself currently.
Therefore: in lieu of my customary replies, and in the style of Eirene Harmonia - special thanks to fantasy oh yea, k j mcdaniel, jpbake, stefalove, hornedgoddess, oninoko and e-teens for reviewing!