Chapter 14 - THE LAST SECRET IN SAMUEL'S NOTEBOOK
Samuel Ward had been trying to protect Rhett.
Long before Rhett ever knew Isa existed.
The notebook explained everything.
Victor Valin had planned to remove Gideon from the organization.
Gideon discovered it.
To survive, he intended to frame Victor’s son for the missing money and several crimes committed through shell companies.
Rhett had been twenty-three.
Samuel found the forged documents.
He secretly removed Rhett’s name from several accounts before his death.
“That’s why Gideon needed the original ledger,” Rhett said.
“To rebuild the case against you,” Isa replied.
“And why he placed you inside my house.”
“If I stole your private records, he could use them to finish what he started.”
Rhett stared at Samuel’s handwriting.
A dead man had protected him.
His daughter had finished the job.
“I owe your father more than I knew.”
Isa smiled sadly.
“So do I.”
The evidence spread quickly.
Gideon Shaw was charged with conspiracy, financial crimes, obstruction, and multiple offenses tied to Samuel’s death.
Andrew Mercer agreed to testify.
Mason refused.
It didn’t matter.
Isa’s apartment photographs, medical records, recordings, and the warehouse surveillance were enough.
For the first time, Mason could not rewrite what happened.
Weeks passed.
Isa recovered slowly.
Her ribs healed.
Her shoulder improved.
The nightmares took longer.
Rhett never entered her room without knocking.
Never asked where she was going.
Never told her what she should feel.
Sometimes the most romantic thing a person could offer was not rescue.
It was choice.
One morning, Isa walked into the kitchen at 6:40.
Rhett’s coffee was already sitting there.
Black.
No sugar.
She stared.
“Did you make your own coffee?”
“I’m learning.”
“That explains the smell.”
He gave her a look.
She laughed.
Then placed an envelope on the table.
Rhett’s expression changed.
“What is that?”
“My resignation.”
He looked at her.
“You’re leaving?”
“I’m not disappearing.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Isa sat opposite him.
“I can’t figure out what comes next if I’m still working for you.”
He understood immediately.
Boss.
Employee.
Protection.
Debt.
Too many things tangled together.
Rhett nodded.
“When?”
“Today.”
His jaw tightened, but he said, “All right.”
No argument.
No punishment.
No locked door.
Isa’s chest hurt for an entirely different reason.
She stood.
“So that’s it?”
“What do you want me to say?”
She smiled.
“Maybe something less emotionally constipated.”
Rhett almost choked on his terrible coffee.
Then he stood.
“There is something.”
He opened a drawer.
Inside was a small velvet box.
Isa froze.
Rhett immediately raised a hand.
“It isn’t what you think.”
He opened it.
Inside was not a ring.
It was a key.
A brand-new key.
“To what?”
“An apartment.”
Isa stared at him.
“Yours?”
“No.”
He gave her an address.
A secure building three blocks away.
“The lease is in your name. Six months paid.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Rhett—”
“No obligation. No surveillance. No access for me.”
He placed the key on the table.
“You said you needed somewhere safe enough to decide what comes next.”
Isa swallowed.
Then she noticed an envelope beneath it.
On the front Rhett had written:
ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW.
She opened it.
Inside was a letter dated three months earlier.
Before the attack.
Before Rhett knew about Mason.
Addressed to his attorney.
The subject:
EMPLOYMENT TRANSITION FOR ISA VOSS.
Isa looked up.
“What is this?”
Rhett seemed unusually uncomfortable.
“I was going to offer you another position.”
“Why?”
His gaze met hers.
“Because I was already looking for a reason to stop being your employer.”
Isa’s heartbeat changed.
“Why?”
May you like
This time Rhett didn’t hide.
“Because I had already started falling in love with you.”
