Chương 9
Nobody commented on the picture.
After twenty minutes, Lily climbed onto the couch beside him.
Daniel did not touch her until she leaned against his arm.
Evelyn watched from the kitchen doorway.
It was painful how ordinary they looked.
At one point Daniel said something about the unicorn.
Lily went stiff.
“I don’t want it.”
“Okay.”
“Did you give it back?”
“I donated it.”
“To who?”
“A children’s shelter.”
Lily thought.
“Do they know Madison bought it?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Daniel smiled.
Lily did not.
The smile disappeared.
Later, while Nora helped Lily find colored pencils, Daniel stepped into the kitchen.
“You look tired,” he said.
Evelyn stared.
He winced.
“Sorry.”
“Good instinct.”
He put both hands on the counter.
“I signed the temporary financial disclosure your lawyer requested.”
“I heard.”
“I also gave her access to the hotel receipts.”
“I heard.”
“And I removed Madison from every account and system she had access to.”
“That should have happened the day you ended the consulting contract.”
“I haven’t ended it yet.”
Evelyn stared at him.
Daniel continued quickly. “Legal told me not to terminate her until they finish preserving records.”
That made sense.
Evelyn disliked that it made sense.
“She still works for your company?”
“She’s suspended.”
“Paid?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful.”
“I know.”
“Stop.”
“Right.”
He rubbed his hands together.
“She’s threatening to sue.”
“For what?”
“Retaliation. Sexual harassment. She says the relationship created a conflict because I had authority over her contract.”
Evelyn stared at him.
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Then she may have a point.”
Daniel’s face tightened.
“I never threatened her job.”
“That isn’t the only issue.”
“I know.”
“You were sleeping with a contractor whose work you approved.”
“Yes.”
“You signed invoices?”
“Yes.”
“Did you increase her contract while you were sleeping with her?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Evelyn looked away.
There were moments when the affair felt almost less offensive than the stupidity surrounding it.
“Your board knows?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I’m taking a leave.”
That surprised her.
“Voluntary?”
“Technically.”
“So no.”
“No.”
Daniel gave a tired half-smile.
It vanished quickly.
“Marcus will run things.”
“For how long?”
“I don’t know.”
For the first time, Evelyn saw the practical cost reach him.
Not enough to equal hers.
Not some cosmic balance.
Just consequence.
His company had been his identity for fifteen years. He had built Hart Urban Systems from a rented office with six employees into a regional logistics technology firm. He loved work partly because work obeyed rules he understood.
Now an affair had become an employment problem, a governance problem, a legal problem.
Modern life was efficient that way.
One bad decision could occupy five departments.
Evelyn leaned against the sink.
“Did Madison manipulate the video because she wanted me gone?”
Daniel swallowed.
“I think so.”
“Think?”
“She told me if I knew the truth about you, I’d finally stop pretending the marriage could work.”
Evelyn stared.
“What truth?”
“She said you were seeing Adrian.”
“And you believed her.”
“Yes.”
“Why Adrian?”
“I mentioned him.”
“When?”
Daniel looked ashamed.
“Months ago.”
“Why were you talking about my ex-boyfriend with your mistress?”
“She asked whether you’d ever cheated.”
Evelyn almost laughed.
“And you said?”
“No.”
“So she needed a candidate.”
Daniel said nothing.
“Did you tell her I met Adrian for coffee last year?”
“Yes.”
“That was at his mother’s funeral.”
“I know.”
“Did you tell her that part?”
Another pause.
“I don’t remember.”
Evelyn nodded.
There it was.
Not conspiracy.
Carelessness.
He had fed Madison pieces of Evelyn’s life without considering what those pieces became in someone else’s hands.
“What else did you tell her about me?”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Too much.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I complained.”
“About?”
“Our marriage. Your work. Sex. Your mother.”
Evelyn’s head came up.
“My mother?”
He almost smiled.
“You intimidate her.”
From the living room, Nora shouted, “I can hear you.”
Daniel froze.
Evelyn laughed.
Nora added, “And good.”
For half a second, the old ease appeared between Evelyn and Daniel.
They both smiled.
Then they remembered where they were.
The silence afterward was worse than hostility.
Daniel looked toward the living room.
“I miss you.”
Evelyn’s face went still.
He lifted one hand.
“I shouldn’t have said that.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking you for anything.”
“Good.”
“I just—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
Evelyn crossed her arms.
“You miss the version of this where you still came home.”
Daniel’s eyes met hers.
“Yes.”
“That version was already gone. I just didn’t know.”
He nodded.
Before he left, Evelyn apologized for slapping him.
They were standing by the front door.
Daniel looked startled.
“I shouldn’t have hit you,” she said.
He opened his mouth.
“Don’t tell me it was okay.”
He closed it.
“It wasn’t.”
“No.”
“I accept your apology.”
She nodded.
He looked at her.
“I’m sorry for putting my hands on you.”
Her throat tightened.
“And for the accusation. And the affair. And for making Lily watch me become someone she was afraid of.”
Evelyn looked away.
That one hurt.
Daniel did not ask for forgiveness.
He left.
Two days later Arthur Vale called.
“I need to tell you something.”
Evelyn was in her car outside a client meeting.
“What?”
“Madison contacted me.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“What did she want?”
“She offered me money to say the raw footage had been modified after delivery.”
Evelyn sat very still.
“Did you record the call?”
“No.”
“Of course not.”
Vale sounded offended.
“I’m a licensed investigator, not a television detective.”
“Sorry.”
“I documented it immediately afterward.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That I wouldn’t lie.”
“And?”
“She said everybody has a price.”
Evelyn looked through the windshield at a man arguing with a parking meter.
“What happened then?”
“I told her mine was higher than hers.”
Evelyn blinked.
“That sounds like you were negotiating.”
“Yeah. My attorney said the same thing.”
Despite everything, she laughed.
Vale sighed.
“I’m not great under social pressure.”
“Apparently.”
“Anyway, there’s more.”
May you like
Evelyn stopped smiling.
“She asked whether I had copies of footage from other days.”
