Chapter 4 - THE AFFAIR MARA ALREADY KNEW ABOUT
Mara did not need Kelsey’s confession to know about the affair.
She had known for six months.
Not suspected.
Known.
Grant Mercer, the independent attorney appointed to oversee the forensic audit, discovered that fact when Mara handed him a sealed folder.
He was thirty-nine, a former federal prosecutor, and irritatingly difficult to impress.
He opened the folder.
Hotel receipts.
Photographs.
Deleted-message backups.
An elevator security still showing Ronan kissing Kelsey at the Bellamy Hotel.
Grant looked up.
“You had this?”
“Yes.”
“For six months?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you file then?”
Mara looked toward the window.
“Because I kept hoping evidence would become a misunderstanding.”
Grant did not offer pity.
She appreciated that.
He turned another page.
Two hotel reservations.
Same suite.
Two nights.
“What did Ronan tell you?”
“Client meetings.”
Grant closed the folder.
“And last night was the line?”
“No.”
Mara considered the question.
“The line was probably a hundred moments earlier.”
Her voice softened.
“Last night was just the first time I stopped moving it.”
At 4:00 P.M., Ronan requested a private conversation.
Mara agreed.
Not at home.
Not in his office.
Naomi’s conference room.
Ronan arrived alone.
He looked exhausted.
“I know about the audit.”
Mara said nothing.
“I know Kelsey lied about being sick.”
Still nothing.
He swallowed.
“And I know you know about us.”
Mara finally looked at him.
“How long?”
His face changed.
“Kissing?”
“Don’t insult me with categories.”
Ronan sat.
“Eight months.”
Mara’s heart gave one painful beat.
“Sex?”
He looked down.
“Twice.”
She nodded.
It hurt.
But not like she expected.
The worst pain had already happened at 2:43.
This was simply confirmation.
“Where?”
“Mara—”
“Where?”
“The Bellamy.”
“Both times?”
“Yes.”
Her birthday had been at the Bellamy.
Ronan had said a sponsor was hosting a late reception there.
Mara stood.
He did too.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
“I am.”
“You are sorry because your choices finally cost you something.”
“That isn’t fair.”
She laughed once.
“Fair?”
Ronan flinched.
Mara picked up the folder.
“You had eighteen months to correct the relationship with her. Eight months to stop the affair. Two opportunities to leave a hotel room before sleeping with her.”
Her eyes held his.
“And one door last night.”
“I made the wrong choice.”
“You made hundreds.”
He looked wrecked.
Good.
Then he said something she did not expect.
“Kelsey may have been using me.”
Mara’s expression hardened.
“That doesn’t absolve you.”
“I know.”
For once, he meant it.
Before he left, Ronan stopped near the door.
“There’s something else.”
Mara waited.
“Kelsey told me this morning she might be pregnant.”
Silence.
Ronan looked sick.
“She says it’s mine.”
Mara felt nothing.
That frightened her less than it should have.
“Then I hope you finally answer her calls.”
Ronan closed his eyes.
Mara walked past him.
Ten minutes later, Grant called.
“We traced Ward Strategic.”
“And?”
“Kelsey doesn’t own it alone.”
“Who else?”
“Evan Locke.”
The CFO.
Grant paused.
“And there is a third silent partner.”
“Who?”
He turned his laptop toward her.
The name on the corporate filing made Mara’s blood run cold.
May you like
RONAN ELLISON.
Her husband was listed as an owner of the company stealing from hers.
Related Stories
