Chapter 8 - SAVANNAH HAD LIED TO ADAM TOO
Savannah came to Elise’s house voluntarily.
No theatrics.
No mascara running.
No shouting.
She sat at the dining table and looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
I said:
“That sentence can wait.”
She nodded.
Fair.
Adam stayed across the room.
I wanted distance between them.
Then Savannah explained Victor.
Two years earlier, he helped her find startup contacts.
She did not know the details of his termination.
He presented himself as consultant.
When Sable North began, he offered introductions.
Then he told her Adam’s employer was looking for new vendors.
Savannah already knew Adam socially through industry events.
Then the retreat recording happened.
She recorded the conversation because she heard confidential information and panicked.
Victor told her to keep it.
Not blackmail.
“Insurance.”
Later he encouraged her to approach Bernice for funding.
Why?
Legitimacy.
A Bennett investment would make Sable North look connected to Adam before Adam himself invested.
Then Savannah and Adam began talking.
Then the affair.
“Did Victor tell you to sleep with my husband?”
“No.”
I believed her.
That would have made everything too convenient.
The affair was their decision.
Savannah continued:
“Victor loved it once he found out.”
He pushed her to let Adam invest.
Encouraged the vendor pitch.
Asked questions about his marriage.
Savannah thought Victor was simply trying to understand whether Adam would remain committed to the company.
Instead, he was collecting a corruption narrative.
Then I asked:
“Did you know I was sick?”
She looked down.
“Not at first.”
“When?”
“Day ten.”
My stomach tightened.
“Adam told you?”
“No.”
“Bernice called him while I was there.”
Adam closed his eyes.
There it was.
Savannah had heard his mother say I had a fever.
“And you stayed with him.”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
Good.
Then she looked at Adam.
“I told you to go home.”
He did not answer.
“Did she?” I asked.
Adam whispered:
“Yes.”
That changed nothing for me.
But it changed something in Savannah’s story.
She had not physically stopped him.
He chose.
Then Savannah said:
“I ended things yesterday.”
Adam looked up.
“You what?”
He genuinely did not know.
“I sent the message after you boarded.”
His phone had been off.
She had told him they were done.
Why?
Not guilt alone.
Rachel showed her the suspicious transfers.
Savannah realized Victor had been using Sable North.
Then she realized Adam had never disclosed his ownership to his employer.
She understood the company might collapse.
“I should’ve ended it months ago.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
Then she turned to me.
“There’s something Adam doesn’t know.”
He stiffened.
Savannah had received a proposed apartment agreement.
She believed Adam arranged it.
But the leasing agent had been referred by Victor.
The security deposit came from our joint card.
That part was Adam.
But the second month’s rent had been prepaid by:
Northfield Strategy Group.
Victor had been financing the apartment too.
He wanted physical evidence that Adam and Savannah were building a household together.
A perfect narrative for motive.
Affair.
Vendor favoritism.
Secret investment.
Apartment.
Then Savannah handed Bernice a flash drive.
Victor’s emails.
Everything.
But the final email was the worst.
Once the baby is born, Bennett will be too distracted to see the audit coming.
May you like
Victor had timed his plan around Nell’s birth.
And Adam’s selfishness had made the trap almost effortless.
Related Stories
