Chapter 15 - The Recording
The recording lasted eleven minutes.
Emily could barely listen.
Adrian’s voice was unmistakable.
Melissa had recorded him six months earlier after becoming afraid he might blame her if the fraud was discovered.
Ryan sat beside Emily.
Neither spoke.
On the audio, Melissa asked about the divorce.
Adrian laughed.
Ryan was always easy when it came to loyalty.
Emily flinched.
Then Adrian explained how he had taken Emily’s messages with James Cole out of context.
How he had removed the lines mentioning shell companies.
How he had arranged the anonymous email.
How he had encouraged Ryan’s lawyers to move quickly.
Then came the sentence that destroyed whatever remained of Ryan’s trust in his cousin.
By the time he realized she was pregnant, he hated her too much to ask questions.
Ryan paused the recording.
He stood.
Walked to the opposite side of the room.
Pressed both hands against the wall.
Emily watched silently.
Ryan whispered.
“He knew me.”
Emily understood.
Adrian had not created Ryan’s jealousy.
He had used it.
That distinction mattered.
Ryan turned.
“I need you to hear something.”
Emily waited.
“I could spend the rest of my life blaming Adrian.”
“But he did not make me refuse to listen.”
“He did not make me humiliate you.”
“He did not make me let lawyers turn our marriage into a battlefield.”
Emily’s throat tightened.
Ryan continued.
“That part is mine.”
For five years, Emily had wanted him to say those words.
Now that he finally did, she did not feel victorious.
She felt tired.
“I loved you,” she said.
Ryan closed his eyes.
“I know.”
“No.”
Emily stood.
“You don’t.”
“I loved you enough that when you accused me, I kept believing you would calm down and come back.”
“I waited every morning for your call.”
“I carried three babies and kept thinking their father would suddenly appear at the door.”
Ryan’s face crumpled.
“But you never did.”
Emily’s voice broke.
“Eventually I stopped waiting.”
Ryan did not approach her.
That mattered too.
He let her have the distance she needed.
“I cannot ask you to forgive that.”
“No.”
“I can only tell you I am sorry.”
Emily wiped her eyes.
The recording continued.
Near the end, Adrian mentioned moving the final Meridian funds before the annual shareholder meeting.
Ryan looked at the date.
The meeting was in three days.
Emily understood immediately.
“He’s not running.”
Ryan nodded.
“He’s trying to take control first.”
Adrian intended to force Ryan out of Harrison Energy before the evidence became public.
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And with enough board votes, he might succeed.
Unless Emily returned to the company she had sworn never to enter again.
