Chapter 4 - The Man Behind the Messages
Ryan arrived at Parker Environmental Solutions at 9:43 the next morning.
Seventeen minutes early.
Emily noticed.
Ryan had once considered arriving exactly on time a sign of weakness.
His assistant used to schedule him in seven-minute increments.
Now he sat alone in her lobby with no entourage.
Emily watched him through the glass wall of her office.
For the first time, he seemed like a man rather than a headline.
She opened the door.
“You’re early.”
“I didn’t sleep.”
“That makes two of us.”
He followed her inside.
Ryan looked around at the laboratory complex visible beyond the windows.
Scientists moved between testing stations.
Engineers stood around digital models.
Ryan’s expression shifted.
“This is yours?”
“Yes.”
“I knew you started a company.”
“But?”
“I didn’t realize it had become this large.”
Emily sat.
“You weren’t supposed to.”
Ryan accepted the criticism.
“Fair.”
She slid a folder across the desk.
Inside were printed copies of the messages that had ended their marriage.
Ryan looked at them.
His jaw tightened.
“Why keep these?”
“Because one day I stopped wanting to forget.”
Ryan looked up.
Emily pointed at the initials.
“J.C. was James Cole.”
Ryan frowned.
“The forensic accountant?”
“The same one.”
Ryan knew the name.
James Cole had once investigated fraud for federal prosecutors.
“What were you doing with him?”
“Investigating Harrison Energy.”
Ryan stared.
Emily continued.
“Six months before our divorce, I discovered irregularities in one of the research divisions.”
“What kind?”
“Prototype funding disappearing into shell companies.”
Ryan leaned forward.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was trying to get proof.”
“You should have trusted me.”
Emily laughed once.
“Interesting choice of words.”
Ryan looked down.
She continued.
“James told me someone inside the company was manipulating licensing records connected to my technology.”
Ryan’s face hardened.
“Who?”
“We never finished the investigation.”
“Why?”
“Because my husband found three messages, accused me of sleeping with James, and filed for divorce.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
Emily showed him the full conversation.
Ryan read.
James: I confirmed the transfer.
Emily: Are you sure?
James: Yes.
Emily: Don’t tell Ryan until we know more.
James: The hotel conference room is safer.
Emily: I hate lying to him.
The messages looked damning when isolated.
But the earlier lines changed everything.
James had been discussing financial evidence.
Not romance.
Ryan looked physically ill.
“Why didn’t you show me this?”
“I tried.”
“I only saw screenshots.”
Emily went still.
“What?”
Ryan looked at her.
“The messages sent to me were screenshots.”
Emily’s heartbeat changed.
“I never sent you screenshots.”
“I know.”
Silence filled the office.
Ryan spoke carefully.
“Someone emailed them anonymously.”
Emily felt cold.
“Before you confronted me?”
“Yes.”
Ryan stood.
“Who knew you were working with James?”
Emily thought back.
Almost no one.
James.
Emily.
And one executive who had discovered her leaving a private meeting at the Langham Hotel.
She looked at Ryan.
“Adrian.”
Neither of them spoke.
They did not need to.
May you like
Because suddenly the divorce no longer looked like a tragedy caused by jealousy.
It looked engineered.
