Chapter 6 - The Secretary Finally Blinked.
Khloe's email contained no greeting.
No apology.
No explanation.
Only a photograph and one sentence.
ALEXANDER IS GOING TO SAY THIS WAS ALL MY IDEA.
The photograph showed a handwritten note on hotel stationery.
It listed account numbers, dates, and percentages.
At the bottom was Alexander's signature.
Beside Blue Laurel Holdings, someone had written 25% K.
Beside Mercer Strategic Ventures, 15% MOTHER.
Beside Pacific Meridian Consulting, 60% A.
I enlarged the image.
"He was dividing the money," Martin said.
Dana shook her head.
"Or planning to."
I replied to Khloe.
WHY ARE YOU SENDING ME THIS?
Her answer came immediately.
BECAUSE HE JUST TOLD ME TO TAKE THE BLAME.
Then another message.
HE SAID YOU WOULD BELIEVE I SEDUCED HIM AND FAKED EVERYTHING.
I stared at the screen.
For the first time, I imagined the scene at the resort.
Alexander discovering the cards no longer worked.
The conference room canceled.
The upgrades gone.
His perfect plan collapsing in front of the woman who had helped him build it.
People like Alexander rarely turned inward when something failed.
They searched for someone weaker to sacrifice.
Khloe had apparently just discovered she was not his partner.
She was his exit strategy.
I typed carefully.
ARE YOU LEGALLY MARRIED TO HIM?
YES.
DID YOU KNOW HE WAS MARRYING ME?
A long pause followed.
Then one word appeared.
YES.
My anger came back so quickly I nearly threw the phone.
Dana put a hand on the table.
"Do not negotiate emotionally."
I nodded.
My fingers trembled anyway.
WHY DID YOU HELP HIM?
Khloe took almost a minute to answer.
HE SAID THE CEREMONY WITH YOU WAS ONLY FOR PUBLIC APPEARANCES AND THAT YOU KNEW IT WAS NOT LEGAL.
I laughed once.
"That is pathetic."
Martin looked at me.
"You think she is lying?"
"I think she is choosing the version that makes her least guilty."
Another text arrived.
I KNEW ABOUT THE MONEY AFTER THE ENGAGEMENT.
There it was.
The correction.
A smaller lie replacing a larger one.
I replied.
IF YOU WANT ME TO BELIEVE ANYTHING ELSE, SEND ORIGINAL FILES.
She did not respond.
Instead, my apartment intercom rang.
The doorman sounded uneasy.
"Ms. Moreland, Mrs. Mercer is downstairs."
Judith.
I looked at Dana.
"She is here."
Dana closed her folder.
"Do not let her upstairs alone."
I told Luis to send Judith to the building's private meeting room off the lobby.
Dana came with me.
Judith was waiting beside the fireplace when we entered.
She wore a pearl-gray coat and the expression of a grieving mother.
"Sophia," she breathed.
She reached for me.
I stepped back.
Her hands froze in midair.
"Alexander called me from Hawaii," she said.
"He is devastated."
"Is he?"
"He says you abandoned him at the airport and froze his accounts."
"My accounts."
Judith's face tightened.
"Marriage means sharing."
I almost admired the nerve.
"Which marriage?"
For the first time, she went completely still.
Dana watched her carefully.
I continued.
"Mine or Khloe's?"
Judith recovered too quickly.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Then you won't mind explaining Blue Laurel Holdings."
The color drained from her face.
I took one step closer.
"Or Mercer Strategic Ventures."
She looked toward the door.
"I came here to help save your marriage."
"You came here to find out what I know."
Silence filled the room.
Then Judith's expression changed.
The softness disappeared.
"You should be very careful, Sophia."
Dana straightened.
"Is that a threat?"
Judith ignored her.
"You have no idea what Alexander gave up for you."
I looked directly into her eyes.
"Apparently not his first wife."
Judith's jaw clenched.
Then she said something I had not expected.
"Khloe was never supposed to come back from Maui with him."
Dana and I exchanged a look.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
Judith realized too late that she had said too much.
She grabbed her handbag.
"Ask your husband."
Then she walked out.
My phone vibrated before the door finished closing.
Khloe had finally replied.
I HAVE THE ORIGINAL FILES.
Her second message arrived seconds later.
May you like
BUT IF I GIVE THEM TO YOU, ALEXANDER WILL DESTROY ME.
MY HUSBAND BROUGHT HIS SECRETARY ON OUR HONEYMOON
