Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO ALREADY KNEW HOW THIS ENDED
I met Tessa Wynn three days later.
Not because I wanted to.
Because she came to my house.
At 7:15 Wednesday evening, I opened the front door and found her standing on my porch in a cream blouse and dark jeans, no makeup, no polished conference smile.
She looked younger than thirty-six.
And terrified.
“Meredith.”
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you?”
“Because Ethan won’t answer me.”
I almost laughed.
“That sounds familiar.”
She flinched.
Good.
I should probably say I felt powerful.
I didn’t.
I felt tired.
“What do you want?”
“To explain.”
“I’m not the person you owe an explanation to.”
“Yes, you are.”
Something about the way she said it stopped me from closing the door.
We sat on the porch.
Not inside.
Tessa looked at the maple tree.
Then at me.
“The photograph was stupid.”
“Yes.”
“The caption was a joke.”
“Was his comment?”
She looked down.
“No.”
I waited.
“Were you sleeping with my husband?”
Her eyes lifted.
“No.”
I studied her.
“I kissed him once.”
There it was.
“When?”
“Atlanta. Four months ago.”
“Did he kiss you back?”
“Yes.”
My chest hurt.
Not like I expected.
More like an old bruise pressed too hard.
“What happened after?”
“He stopped it.”
That surprised me.
“He said he loved you.”
I almost smiled at the cruelty of that.
“Then he formed a company with you.”
“Yes.”
“Planned a house.”
“It was never supposed to be our house.”
“Your names were listed as occupants.”
“Because we were telling the lender it would include corporate housing.”
“Did you plan to live there?”
“Part-time.”
“With Ethan?”
“During client travel weeks.”
“That sounds wonderfully appropriate.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“No, Tessa. I don’t think you do.”
She looked at me again.
“I liked him.”
The honesty surprised me.
“I still do.”
“Thank you for that.”
“But I didn’t believe he would leave you.”
I laughed quietly.
“That was generous.”
“He never said he would.”
“So the Facebook jokes were what?”
“Fantasy.”
At least she was honest.
I hated her less for ten seconds.
Then I remembered my lake house.
“Why did you agree to use my property as collateral?”
Her face changed.
“What?”
I stared.
“The Lake Laurel house.”
“I had no idea.”
Now I was the one studying her.
“Ethan told me the credit facility would be secured by his personal investment assets.”
“He lied.”
Tessa looked genuinely shocked.
“Meredith—”
“Why did your father put two hundred thousand dollars into Hale Strategic?”
All the color drained from her face.
So she knew.
“Who told you?”
“My attorney.”
Tessa stood.
“I should go.”
“No.”
I stood too.
“You came to my house to explain. Explain.”
She shook her head.
“That money has nothing to do with Ethan.”
“It went into his company.”
“Because of me.”
“What did your father want?”
She looked toward the street.
“My father hates Northbridge.”
“I know why.”
Her eyes snapped back.
“You know?”
“He was fired for stealing data.”
“He says he was framed.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I used to.”
That changed the conversation.
“What happened?”
Tessa lowered her voice.
“Three months ago, he asked me to get access to old territory files.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Then why did you send pricing models?”
“I didn’t send them to Hale Strategic.”
I stared.
“Northbridge says you did.”
“I forwarded them to my personal email.”
“That’s different?”
“No. It was stupid. But Ethan never asked me to.”
“Why did you do it?”
“I was building forecasts.”
“For your company.”
“Yes.”
“So Northbridge isn’t wrong.”
“No.”
She sank back into the chair.
“I wanted out.”
“Of Northbridge?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought Ethan and I could build something better.”
The words should have angered me.
Instead, I understood them too well.
Wanting something of your own.
That part I understood.
Then Tessa said:
“My father gave us the money because he wanted a percentage later.”
“Did Ethan know who the money came from?”
“No.”
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“Why hide it?”
“Because Ethan knows Dad’s history with Northbridge. He never would have taken it.”
That was the first generous thing she had said about my husband.
I didn’t know what to do with it.
Then she reached into her purse.
“I brought this.”
A flash drive.
“What is it?”
“Copies of emails my father sent me.”
“Why give them to me?”
“Because someone is trying to make Ethan look like he stole Northbridge data.”
I stared at her.
“You expect me to protect him?”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“But whoever is doing this used my email account.”
That changed everything.
“Who had access?”
“My father.”
I looked at the drive.
Tessa continued.
“And there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The night of the conference photo, Ethan was upset.”
“About us?”
“No.”
“He received a text.”
“From whom?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did it say?”
She hesitated.
“I only saw part of it.”
“What part?”
Tessa looked directly at me.
“It said: If Meredith signs, we move immediately.”
I felt cold.
“Move what?”
“I don’t know.”
She handed me the flash drive.
“But the message came from a number Ethan had saved under one name.”
“Whose?”
May you like
Tessa swallowed.
“Your son’s.”
