Chapter 12 - What Derek Knew
The dinner ended in chaos.
Police took statements.
Richard refused to speak without counsel.
Thomas disappeared during the confusion.
Laura went into protective custody.
And Derek came home with me.
Not because I trusted him.
Because I wanted the truth.
Nolan hated the idea.
I overruled him.
Derek sat in my father’s office.
The same office where we had discovered the safe.
His face looked ten years older.
I stood across from him.
Nolan remained by the door.
“What did Richard mean?”
Derek looked at me.
“I was twenty-three.”
“I did not ask your age.”
“I need you to understand—”
“No.”
My voice sharpened.
“You have spent four years deciding what I should understand.”
“Tonight, you answer.”
He closed his eyes.
“My father told me your dad was investigating him.”
“I know.”
“He said James Bennett was going to destroy our family.”
“So?”
“He asked me to find out where your father would be on a specific day.”
My chest tightened.
“How?”
“I knew someone who worked at a restaurant your father used.”
“You gave Richard Dad’s route.”
“I gave him a meeting location.”
“Why?”
“I thought they were going to confront him.”
Nolan stepped forward.
“Bullshit.”
Derek looked up.
“It’s the truth.”
“You knew your father.”
“I did not think he would kill anyone.”
My voice became quiet.
“When did you realize?”
“The night your father died.”
The room blurred.
“You knew that night?”
“I suspected.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was terrified.”
“For nine years.”
“I was twenty-three.”
“Stop saying that!”
My voice cracked.
“You were an adult.”
“I know.”
“You let my brother and me bury our father believing it was an accident.”
Derek’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
I wanted to hate the tears.
Part of me did.
Part of me remembered wiping those same eyes when his grandmother died.
That was the cruelty of loving someone who betrayed you.
Memories did not vanish when truth arrived.
They turned poisonous.
“Why did you approach me?”
Derek looked at the floor.
“My father ordered me to.”
Nolan’s jaw tightened.
“When?”
“Four years ago.”
“At the charity auction?”
“Yes.”
“So even our first meeting was arranged.”
“Yes.”
My throat burned.
“What did he tell you to do?”
“Get close.”
“How close?”
“Whatever it took.”
“Marriage?”
Derek hesitated.
“Yes.”
I turned away.
No amount of preparation made that answer easy.
Then Derek said.
“But I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Please.”
“I did.”
“You were sleeping with Clara.”
“Yes.”
“While planning to marry me.”
“Yes.”
“That is not love.”
“I know how it looks.”
“It looks exactly like what it is.”
He stood.
“Nolan, leave us alone.”
“No.”
I looked at my brother.
“Please.”
He hesitated.
Then walked outside.
Derek waited until the door closed.
“I met Clara because of my father.”
“I know.”
“She was watching you.”
“I know.”
“We both hated what we were doing.”
“Did that make sleeping together feel ethical?”
“No.”
He flinched.
“It made us weak.”
“How romantic.”
“I deserve that.”
“You deserve much more.”
“I know.”
I crossed my arms.
“Why marry me if you wanted Clara?”
“Because Richard had enough evidence to implicate me in your father’s death.”
I stared.
“He threatened prison?”
“He threatened you.”
My breath caught.
“What?”
“He said if I backed out, he would destroy you financially and use the instability plan.”
“You expect me to believe you stayed to protect me?”
“No.”
Derek’s voice broke.
“I stayed because I was a coward.”
That was the first answer I believed completely.
“I told myself if I completed the property transfer, I could keep him away from the rest of the trust.”
“Theft as protection.”
“I know how pathetic that sounds.”
“It sounds criminal.”
“It is.”
Silence.
“Why Cabo?”
Derek wiped his face.
“Clara had evidence.”
“She wanted to give it to me away from my father’s people.”
“You kissed her.”
“I love her.”
There it was again.
Clean.
Cruel.
I nodded slowly.
“Then at least one thing between you was honest.”
He looked at me.
“I cared about you too.”
“Don’t.”
“I did.”
“Don’t reduce what you did by calling it complicated.”
He lowered his eyes.
“You’re right.”
That surprised me.
I opened the office door.
“Nolan.”
My brother entered.
I looked at Derek.
“One final question.”
He nodded.
“Friday.”
“What happens if the wedding goes forward?”
Derek’s face changed.
He knew the question mattered.
“My father expects you to sign three documents.”
“Which?”
“Revised prenup.”
“Medical proxy.”
“Trust authorization.”
“And then?”
“He gains temporary access to Whitmore Holdings through me.”
“Through you.”
“Yes.”
“Can we prove that?”
Derek looked at Nolan.
“If I testify.”
Nolan replied.
“You’ll be implicating yourself.”
“I know.”
“Fraud.”
“Yes.”
“Conspiracy.”
“Yes.”
“Possibly obstruction related to James Bennett’s death.”
Derek swallowed.
“Yes.”
I stared at the man I had planned to marry.
“Will you testify?”
He looked at me.
Then something hardened in him.
“Yes.”
Before anyone could respond, every light in the house went out.
Darkness.
Nolan shouted.
“Emily, down!”
Glass shattered downstairs.
Marcus’s voice came through the radio.
“Breach!”
Derek shoved me behind the desk.
A gunshot cracked through the hall.
Then another.
Security returned fire.
I heard someone running upstairs.
Nolan drew his weapon.
The office door slammed open.
A masked man raised a gun.
Derek moved before Nolan could.
He threw himself between us.
The shot exploded.
Derek hit the floor.
And for one horrifying second, I forgot every reason I hated him.
May you like
I screamed his name.
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