Chương 4
Perhaps betrayal depreciated like anything else once held long enough.
Caldwell followed her gaze.
He looked at Sloan’s wrist.
Sloan covered the bracelet with her opposite hand.
It was too late.
“Sloan.”
Her chin lifted.
“Don’t.”
“Where did you get that?”
She laughed, but the sound came out thin.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Where?”
“You gave it to me.”
The words slipped out fast.
Then the whole room seemed to contract around them.
Caldwell went still.
Saraphina’s pulse kicked once against her throat.
Sloan realized what she had said.
“You said it was personal.”
Caldwell’s face changed color.
“I bought you a bracelet.”
“Yes.”
“With my money.”
“Yes.”
Saraphina spoke quietly.
“The invoice was charged through business development.”
Caldwell looked at her.
For the first time, he had no immediate denial.
Sloan’s lips parted.
“You told me it was reimbursed.”
Caldwell rounded on her.
“Stop talking.”
“Oh, now I should stop talking?”
“Yes.”
“That’s convenient.”
Elise stepped slightly between them, not dramatically, simply enough to break the line of confrontation.
“Everyone should avoid discussing disputed transactions in public.”
Caldwell looked at her as though she had insulted him.
“You think I’m afraid of an audit?”
“No.”
Elise’s voice stayed flat.
“I think anything you say can complicate your position.”
That finally reached him.
His jaw tightened.
He looked around the ballroom.
The donors had stopped pretending.
Two people openly held phones now.
A woman at the far end whispered something to her husband, who shook his head while staring at Caldwell.
Public opinion had not turned all the way.
Not yet.
Saraphina could feel uncertainty moving through the room rather than certainty.
People who had known Caldwell for years were not ready to decide he was a criminal because his marriage had imploded beside a champagne tower.
That was more believable than instant condemnation.
Some looked at Saraphina with sympathy.
Others looked suspicious.
A few looked irritated, as if domestic humiliation had violated the terms of the evening.
Caldwell saw all of it.
“Phones down,” he snapped.
Nobody moved.
His authority had become ambiguous, and everyone could feel it.
Lenora stepped closer to Saraphina.
“You should fix this.”
Saraphina blinked.
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Thirty seconds earlier, Lenora had been calling her a leech.
Now her voice had changed into the one she used when speaking to caterers after something expensive broke.
“You’ve made your point.”
Saraphina stared at her.
“Have I?”
“Whatever Caldwell did, this is a family matter.”
Sloan made a small incredulous sound.
Lenora ignored her.
“You don’t destroy your husband in public.”
Caldwell looked away.
That, more than anything, made Saraphina angry.
Not Lenora’s hypocrisy.
Not Sloan’s bracelet.
Caldwell’s refusal to defend her after allowing his mother to humiliate her for years, followed now by his willingness to let the same woman invoke marriage as protection.
Saraphina folded the wet napkin again until it became a small square.
“You watched him throw his wedding ring at me.”
Lenora’s mouth tightened.
“He was upset.”
“You told me to get on my knees.”
“You provoked him.”
Saraphina laughed.
It came out unexpectedly.
For one terrible second she could not stop.
The sound made Lenora flinch.
Saraphina pressed two fingers to her lips.
“I’m sorry.”
Lenora stared.
Saraphina shook her head.
“No, actually, I’m not.”
Caldwell rubbed his temple.
“This is insane.”
A man in a charcoal suit entered through the ballroom doors.
Derek Holt looked as though he had run from somewhere, though his tie remained perfectly straight.
He spotted Caldwell first.
Then Saraphina.
His expression told her enough.
He crossed the room without acknowledging the phones.
“Caldwell.”
“What?”
“We need to talk privately.”
“You could have answered when I called.”
“I did answer.”
“No, you called me.”
Derek blinked.
Caldwell looked briefly confused, then irritated at himself.
“Whatever.”
Derek lowered his voice.
“The board has locked executive disbursement access.”
“I know.”
“They also opened the special audit archive.”
Caldwell’s eyes narrowed.
“What archive?”
Derek looked at Saraphina.
She had not known about that.
A new knot formed beneath her ribs.
“What archive?”
Derek swallowed.
“The one Martin kept off the general accounting server.”
Sloan moved first.
She picked up her clutch from the table beside her.
Caldwell saw it.
“Where are you going?”
“I need air.”
“No.”
Her head snapped toward him.
“No?”
“Stay.”
“Caldwell, I am not your employee.”
Saraphina watched Derek’s face.
He was trying not to look at Sloan.
That was clue enough.
“Derek.”
He reluctantly met Saraphina’s eyes.
“What is in Martin’s archive?”
Caldwell stepped between them.
“This conversation is over.”
Saraphina looked at him.
“No.”
“You suspended me, congratulations.”
His voice cracked around the last word.
“You seized the cars, you sent lawyers, you got your little public execution.”
“This isn’t about the cars.”
“You always hated them.”
“I hated the orange one.”
Against every reasonable instinct, Derek almost smiled.
Saraphina nearly did too.
Then the moment vanished.
Derek looked down.
“The archive contains supporting documentation for several vendor accounts.”
“What vendor accounts?”
He hesitated.
Caldwell said, “Don’t.”
Derek’s face tightened.
He had worked beside Caldwell for nine years.
Loyalty did not disappear in a ballroom because paperwork changed hands.
Saraphina could see him fighting with that.
Then Derek looked toward Sloan.
“Mercer Strategic Advisory is one of them.”
Sloan stopped moving.
Caldwell’s expression hardened.
Saraphina felt cold despite the wine drying sticky against her skin.
“How much?”
Derek rubbed his thumb along the edge of his phone.
“Over eighteen months?”
“Yes.”
“Just under four million.”
Nobody nearby laughed now.
Sloan whispered, “That’s not possible.”
Derek looked at her.
“It is.”
Caldwell reached for his phone.
Saraphina spoke before he could move.
“Don’t delete anything.”
His eyes found hers.
“You think I’m that stupid?”
She looked at the phone in his hand.
“I don’t know what you are anymore.”
He flinched so slightly she almost missed it.
Then every phone at the nearest executive table chimed within seconds of one another.
Emails.
Notifications.
May you like
The emergency notice was spreading.
Caldwell looked around as people began reading.
