Chương 5
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“What are these?”
She did not answer immediately.
And that delay was the first answer he had.
“Rebecca.”
She sat down slowly.
“I can explain.”
Daniel felt a cold emptiness settle over him.
Everyone always said that sentence before explaining something impossible.
He had heard it in boardrooms.
He had heard it from employees.
He had heard it from people who had already made their decision and only needed time to make it sound reasonable.
“Then explain.”
Rebecca stared at the screen.
“They weren’t for me.”
“Who were they for?”
Her eyes filled.
And when she finally spoke, her voice was smaller than before.
“Emily knew about them.”
Daniel looked at the document again.
The numbers blurred slightly.
“What does that mean?”
Rebecca pressed her lips together.
“She asked me to do something.”
“What?”
Rebecca looked toward the wedding dress hanging in the corner of the office.
A dress that suddenly seemed like it belonged to someone else.
“She asked me to lie.”
Daniel did not speak.
The sentence remained in the air between them.
She asked me to lie.
Not Rebecca lied to Emily.
Not Rebecca betrayed Emily.
Not Rebecca hid something.
A different sentence.
A heavier one.
Because it meant the story Daniel had built inside his head was missing pieces.
Pieces Emily had known about.
Pieces she had chosen not to reveal.
“Why?” Daniel asked.
His voice sounded unfamiliar.
Rebecca looked down at her hands.
The same hands that had held flowers minutes earlier.
The same hands that had adjusted Noah’s jacket before the ceremony.
“She wanted to protect you.”
Daniel shook his head slowly.
“No.”
Rebecca looked up.
“No?”
“No.”
He pointed at the computer screen.
“Do not use that explanation unless it’s true.”
The honesty in his voice surprised even him.
He was angry.
But beneath the anger was something more painful.
He was tired of people deciding what he could handle.
Emily had done it.
Marcus had done it.
Now Rebecca was doing it.
Everyone had loved him enough to hide things from him.
And somehow that hurt worse than if they had simply left him alone.
Rebecca wiped her cheek.
“I know how it sounds.”
“Then tell me how it is.”
She looked at the door.
Outside, someone laughed.
A guest.
A person who had no idea that the wedding they were waiting for might never happen.
“Emily found out I was sending money.”
Daniel waited.
“To who?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“My brother.”
Daniel stared at her.
“You have a brother?”
“Yes.”
“You never mentioned him.”
“I know.”
The answer was quiet.
Not defensive.
That bothered him.
“What does he have to do with Emily?”
Rebecca took a breath.
“My brother made mistakes.”
“That’s vague.”
“He struggled with addiction.”
Daniel said nothing.
He had expected many answers.
That was not one of them.
“He needed help,” Rebecca continued.
“So you hid money from me.”
“I didn’t hide it from you.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You just never told me.”
She looked away.
The distinction clearly mattered to her.
It did not matter to him.
“Emily found out because she saw a transfer notification on my phone.”
“When?”
“About a year before she passed.”
Daniel’s mind searched through old memories.
A year before.
Emily had still been working.
Still making plans.
Still believing she had more time.
“What did she say?”
Rebecca’s face changed.
A small memory passed through it.
“She was angry.”
Daniel almost laughed.
“That sounds like Emily.”
Rebecca nodded.
“She told me I was making a mistake.”
“What kind of mistake?”
“She thought I was letting guilt control my life.”
Daniel looked back at the document.
The payments.
The dates.
The evidence of a secret that suddenly seemed less simple.
“What did she mean?”
Rebecca leaned forward.
“She knew my brother had hurt people.”
The words came slowly.
“She knew I kept believing I could fix him.”
Daniel looked at her.
“And could you?”
Rebecca gave a tired smile.
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
That honesty caught him off guard.
“No, I couldn’t.”
The room became quiet.
For a moment, Rebecca was not the bride standing accused.
She was a woman admitting something she had probably admitted to herself many times.
“I grew up thinking love meant you stayed.”
She rubbed her thumb against her palm.
“My parents gave up on him years ago.”
“Were they wrong?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“I don’t know.”
That answer felt human.
Messy.
Uncomfortable.
“I only know I couldn’t be the next person who walked away.”
Daniel understood that feeling.
Because he had spent eighteen months doing something similar.
He had tried to hold onto Emily after she was gone.
Through Noah.
Through memories.
Through every object in her house that he could not bring himself to move.
Grief made people hold onto things that hurt.
Sometimes because pain was the last proof something mattered.
“Why didn’t Emily tell me?”
Rebecca looked at the USB drive.
“She wanted to.”
“Then why didn’t she?”
“Because she found out something else.”
Daniel felt the room change again.
“What?”
Rebecca looked toward the computer.
“The money wasn’t the problem.”
Daniel frowned.
“Then what was?”
“Someone was using my brother’s name.”
The words landed slowly.
Daniel looked at the document again.
“Explain.”
Rebecca stood and walked closer.
Her wedding dress brushed softly against the floor.
“After Emily confronted me, I showed her everything.”
“Everything?”
“The bank records.”
“Why?”
“Because she was the only person who made me feel like I wasn’t crazy.”
Daniel studied her.
“You’re saying Emily investigated this?”
Rebecca nodded.
“She thought something was wrong.”
“With you?”
“No.”
Rebecca looked at him.
“With the person who was taking advantage of both of us.”
Daniel felt his suspicion shift.
Not disappear.
Shift.
And that frightened him.
Because it meant he was no longer standing on solid ground.
“Who?”
Rebecca did not answer immediately.
Her hesitation was different this time.
Not avoidance.
Fear.
“Rebecca.”
“I don’t know for sure.”
“That’s not good enough.”
May you like
“I know.”
She looked at the USB drive.
