Chapter 2 - THE ENGAGEMENT THEY NEVER KNEW ABOUT
I had met Alexander Hayes nine months earlier in a coffee shop in Manhattan.
At least, that was what my family would have believed if they had ever asked.
They never did.
That was the strange thing about being invisible.
People could stand three feet away from you and still never see you.
Nine months earlier, I'd been sitting alone at a corner table, working on financial projections for a small consulting client.
I'd been working two jobs since losing my college fund.
During the day, I handled accounting for a small architecture firm.
At night, I did freelance financial analysis.
I was exhausted.
But exhaustion was familiar.
Alexander had been sitting across the room.
I'd noticed him because three men in expensive suits were arguing quietly around him.
One was his attorney.
One was a banker.
The third was a man I recognized from financial television.
Alexander looked bored.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
"No."
Everyone at the table stopped.
"I said no. If the acquisition requires firing two hundred employees, we're not doing it."
The banker protested.
Alexander ended the call.
I don't know why I spoke.
Maybe because I was tired.
"You just turned down thirty million dollars."
He looked at me.
"Did I?"
"You did."
"And you think that was stupid?"
"I think it was expensive."
He smiled.
That was the first time I'd seen Alexander Hayes smile.
We talked for two hours.
Then three.
He never asked what my father did.
Never asked where I lived.
Never asked why I was working so much.
He simply listened.
Eventually, he told me about his mother dying when he was sixteen.
I told him about losing my college education because of a family mistake that wasn't mine.
That was the beginning.
By the time we became engaged, Alexander knew almost everything about me.
Except one thing.
I hadn't told him about the fifty thousand dollars.
I was ashamed.
That night at Thanksgiving, however, I finally did.
We were sitting in the guest room after everyone else had gone downstairs.
Alexander held my hand.
"Tell me everything."
So I did.
I told him about Logan.
About the missing money.
About the accusations.
About my college fund.
About my mother telling me I'd ruined the family.
Alexander listened without interrupting.
When I finished, he asked one question.
"Did your father ever investigate?"
"No."
"Did anyone?"
"No."
His expression changed.
"Then someone wanted you blamed."
"I know."
"No," he said. "You suspect it. There's a difference."
The next morning, Alexander's chief legal adviser, Marcus Reed, arrived at my apartment.
He carried a folder.
"I've reviewed the old Whitmore records," Marcus said.
My stomach tightened.
"And?"
He opened the folder.
"The fifty thousand dollars did not disappear."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"It was transferred."
"Where?"
"To an account belonging to a company called Sterling Advisory."
I frowned.
"I've never heard of it."
Marcus looked at Alexander.
Alexander nodded.
Marcus continued.
"Sterling Advisory was dissolved twelve years ago. But its account was controlled by Logan Whitmore."
My heart stopped.
"So Logan stole the money."
"Yes."
"Why didn't anyone find this?"
"Because the transfer was disguised as a vendor payment."
Alexander leaned forward.
"And there's more."
Marcus opened another document.
"The original transaction was authorized using your father's digital signature."
I stared at the page.
"My father knew?"
"That's what we're trying to determine."
I couldn't breathe.
For eighteen years, I'd believed my family had rejected me because they thought I was guilty.
Now I realized something much worse.
They might have known I was innocent.
Alexander reached for my hand.
"Emma."
I looked at him.
"I'm going to ask you something."
"What?"
"Do you want revenge?"
I thought about my mother's voice.
Useful.
I thought about my father refusing to look me in the eyes.
I thought about Logan laughing while I worked two jobs.
"No."
Alexander raised an eyebrow.
"I want the truth."
He smiled.
"Good."
Because Alexander Hayes wasn't interested in destroying my family.
May you like
He was interested in letting them destroy themselves.
And three days later, we found the first crack.
