Chương 7
“Why did you leave?”
Rachel hesitated.
“I didn't leave.”
The answer caught Madeline's attention.
“Then what happened?”
“I was fired.”
“Why?”
Rachel looked toward the window.
“Because I asked questions.”
Madeline leaned back.
“What questions?”
“About money first.”
That was not what Madeline expected.
Rachel opened her purse and removed a small folder.
She did not push it across the table immediately.
She held onto it.
“I don't know if giving you this is going to help.”
“Why wouldn't it?”
“Because once you know, you can't pretend you don't.”
Madeline looked at the folder.
“Rachel.”
The woman finally released it.
“Jeffrey was moving money.”
Madeline opened the folder.
Inside were copies of expense reports.
Company transactions.
Dates.
Numbers.
At first, they looked like ordinary business documents.
Then she saw the names.
Several payments had gone through companies she did not recognize.
Small consulting firms.
Companies created recently.
Amounts that were large enough to matter but small enough to avoid immediate attention.
“Why didn't you report this?”
Rachel gave a tired smile.
“I tried.”
“And?”
“No one wanted to hear it.”
Madeline studied her.
“Why?”
“Because Jeffrey was successful.”
Rachel looked down at her coffee.
“People forgive successful men for things they would never forgive ordinary people for.”
Madeline flipped through the pages.
“How does this connect to Liam?”
Rachel's expression changed.
“That is the part I should have told you before.”
A silence followed.
The coffee shop continued around them.
Someone laughed near the counter.
A child dropped a spoon.
A barista called out an order.
The world kept moving.
Madeline hated that.
She wanted the world to stop until she understood everything.
Rachel took a breath.
“When you went to London, Jeffrey changed.”
Madeline looked up.
“Changed how?”
“He became paranoid.”
“About what?”
“Losing control.”
Rachel's fingers tightened around her cup.
“He started saying the company would collapse if people stopped trusting him.”
Madeline frowned.
“That doesn't explain Liam.”
“No.”
Rachel looked directly at her.
“It explains why he wanted you gone.”
The words sat between them.
Madeline did not react immediately.
Not because she was calm.
Because she needed to be certain she heard correctly.
“What?”
Rachel lowered her voice.
“Jeffrey didn't send you to London because you were the only person who could lead the expansion.”
Madeline felt cold.
“What are you saying?”
Rachel swallowed.
“I think he sent you away because you were the one person who could see what he was doing.”
Madeline looked back at the documents.
Her mind moved through memories.
The sudden opportunity.
The urgency.
The way Jeffrey had encouraged her to accept.
The way he had said it was temporary.
The way he had hugged her at the airport.
All those moments had looked like support.
Now they looked different.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
Rachel did not answer right away.
That hesitation bothered Madeline more than the documents.
“Because I saw Liam last year.”
Madeline froze.
“Where?”
“At the house.”
Rachel looked ashamed.
“I went there to return some company files after I was fired.”
Her voice became quieter.
“And I saw him.”
Madeline waited.
“What did you see?”
Rachel looked down.
“He was sitting alone in the laundry room.”
Madeline's fingers went numb.
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Rachel's eyes filled slightly.
“I asked Noelle what happened.”
“And?”
“She told me he was being punished.”
Madeline felt something break inside her.
“Punished for what?”
Rachel looked at her.
“For crying.”
Rachel's last word stayed between them.
Crying.
A simple word.
A normal thing for a child to do.
Something every parent expected.
Something that should never have been treated like a problem to remove.
Madeline looked down at the papers on the table, but she no longer saw numbers.
She saw Liam sitting alone somewhere in that house, learning that his sadness was inconvenient.
“Tell me everything,” she said.
Rachel nodded slowly.
“I should have done this sooner.”
“That doesn't help me now.”
“I know.”
Rachel accepted the anger without defending herself.
That surprised Madeline.
Most people who carried guilt rushed to explain why they were not responsible.
Rachel just sat there with it.
“I went to the house because I still had access to some old company folders,” Rachel said.
“Jeffrey had changed the locks at the office after firing me, but I still had personal things there.”
Madeline listened carefully.
“Your mother-in-law answered the door.”
“Noelle.”
“Yes.”
Rachel looked uncomfortable.
“She told me Jeffrey was not home.”
“And Liam?”
“He was in the hallway.”
Madeline's hand moved toward the coffee cup but stopped before touching it.
“What was he doing?”
“He was standing there.”
“Standing?”
“Just standing.”
Rachel swallowed.
“He wasn't crying anymore.”
That somehow made it worse.
“Why?”
“Because he looked scared to.”
Madeline closed her eyes.
For a second, she was back in the house.
The way Liam covered his ears.
The way he checked Jeffrey's face before answering.
The way he looked smaller whenever adults raised their voices.
“What happened after that?”
Rachel looked at the table.
“I asked if he was okay.”
Madeline waited.
“He didn't answer.”
“Why?”
“Because Noelle told him not to speak to strangers.”
Rachel paused.
“I told her I wasn't a stranger.”
Madeline's voice was quiet.
“What did she say?”
Rachel gave a bitter smile.
“She said children needed discipline.”
Madeline looked away.
The anger was there.
Hot.
Immediate.
But underneath it was something heavier.
A question she did not want to ask.
“How long?”
Rachel knew what she meant.
“I don't know.”
“Guess.”
“I think it started after you left.”
Madeline stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because before that, everyone was different.”
Rachel looked at the window.
“Jeffrey loved being seen as a family man.”
The phrase bothered Madeline.
Not because it sounded false.
Because it sounded familiar.
She remembered company events where Jeffrey brought Liam along.
People always praised him.
The successful businessman who still made time for his son.
The devoted father.
The perfect husband.
May you like
She remembered smiling beside him.
She remembered believing the image because she was part of it.
