Chapter 4 - The Secret in Richard Vain’s Ledger
Rose stepped forward.
“You knew.”
Richard’s face tightened.
“Put the ledger down.”
Gabriel moved beside Rose.
Richard immediately stopped advancing.
Rose held up the photograph.
“Why did Mom know Gabriel?”
Richard looked away.
“Answer me.”
“Your mother discovered the shipping accounts.”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
Rose stared at her father.
“She died five years ago.”
Richard said nothing.
Rose’s voice dropped.
“You told me she knew nothing about the company.”
“I was protecting you.”
“Stop saying that!”
Her voice cracked across the office.
“You sold me. You lied to me. You used Mom’s death to keep me from asking questions.”
Richard slammed his palm against the desk.
“I did what was necessary!”
Gabriel stepped forward.
Rose raised a hand.
“No.”
Gabriel stopped.
She wanted this confrontation herself.
Rose looked at her father.
“What happened?”
Richard sank into his chair.
“Your mother discovered I was falsifying manifests.”
“For whom?”
“Men who promised to destroy everything if I stopped.”
“So she went to Gabriel?”
Richard nodded.
“She thought he could protect you.”
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“I never met her.”
“She tried. My people intercepted the message.”
Rose looked sick.
“You stopped her?”
Richard stared at the desk.
“She was going to expose everything.”
“And then she died.”
“Her accident was an accident.”
Rose searched his face.
“Do you expect me to believe you?”
Richard whispered, “I didn’t kill your mother.”
Gabriel spoke.
“But you let Rose believe her mother had been uninvolved.”
Richard said nothing.
Gabriel picked up the ledgers.
“This ends tonight.”
Richard laughed nervously.
“You think those books are enough?”
Rose pulled her phone from her pocket.
“No.”
Richard stared.
Rose held it up.
“But your confession helps.”
His face collapsed.
Gabriel looked at her.
“You recorded him?”
“Started before we entered.”
For the first time, Gabriel smiled openly.
Richard pointed at him.
“You did this to her.”
Gabriel’s smile vanished.
“No.”
Rose stepped beside Gabriel.
“You did.”
---
By morning, copies of every record were secured with attorneys and investigators outside Richard’s influence.
Rose sat on the townhouse balcony wrapped in a blanket.
Gabriel brought coffee.
“You’re free.”
Rose looked at him.
“From my father?”
“From the debt. From the agreement. From me.”
He placed a document on the table.
The marriage contract.
Across the front, Gabriel had written:
VOID.
Rose stared at it.
“You’re serious.”
“I told you. No more deals.”
“What happens to my father?”
“That will be decided through the evidence and the legal process.”
“And Vain Shipping?”
“Likely finished.”
Rose nodded slowly.
“Good.”
Gabriel started walking away.
“Gabriel.”
He stopped.
“Why did you let me run?”
He turned.
She waited.
Finally he said, “Because when I saw you climbing down that fire escape, I realized I didn’t know the woman I was supposed to marry.”
“And now?”
Gabriel’s eyes met hers.
May you like
“Now I know enough to understand that nobody gets to own you.”
---
