Chapter 5 - The Letter That Disappeared
Emily opened a locked cabinet behind her desk.
From it, she removed an old envelope.
Ryan recognized his former Manhattan address.
His own name was written across the front in Emily’s handwriting.
“This is a copy,” she said.
Ryan stared at it.
“You kept one?”
“I kept everything after I realized your legal team was documenting every conversation.”
She handed him the letter.
Ryan hesitated before opening it.
The paper was five years old.
The words were not.
Ryan,
I know you hate me right now.
I know you believe something happened between James and me.
Nothing did.
But that is not why I am writing.
I found out yesterday that I am pregnant.
I have taken three tests.
The doctor confirmed it this morning.
I don’t know what happens to us now.
I only know that this child deserves a father who knows he exists.
Please call me.
Emily.
Ryan stopped reading.
His vision blurred.
He sat down.
“I never saw this.”
Emily’s eyes stayed on him.
“I sent it by courier.”
“To where?”
“Your office.”
“Who signed for it?”
Emily opened another page.
Ryan looked at the delivery receipt.
A signature appeared at the bottom.
MELISSA GRANT.
Ryan knew the name immediately.
Adrian’s executive assistant.
Ryan stood so quickly the chair struck the wall.
Emily did not move.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling her.”
“Ryan.”
He stopped.
Emily’s voice was sharp.
“If Adrian intercepted that letter, you cannot warn him that we know.”
Ryan stared at her.
She was right.
The old Ryan would have stormed into Adrian’s office.
He would have demanded answers.
Five years ago, he had done exactly that with Emily.
And he had destroyed everything.
Ryan slowly lowered the phone.
“What happened after you sent it?”
Emily looked toward the window.
“I waited.”
“For how long?”
“Three weeks.”
Ryan whispered.
“Three weeks.”
“I called your office every day.”
“I was in Singapore.”
“I know.”
Ryan remembered that trip.
Adrian had insisted he leave New York while the divorce lawyers handled everything.
Ryan had believed his cousin was protecting him from public embarrassment.
Emily continued.
“Your assistant told me you didn’t want contact.”
Ryan frowned.
“My assistant?”
“Claire.”
Ryan shook his head.
“Claire left the company before we separated.”
Emily stared at him.
“What?”
“She moved to Boston two months earlier.”
The room became silent again.
Emily had spoken to a woman claiming to be Ryan’s assistant.
Someone had answered his office line.
Someone had intercepted her calls.
Someone had known exactly what to say.
Ryan looked at the envelope.
“This wasn’t just Adrian making one bad decision.”
Emily’s voice was quiet.
“No.”
Ryan met her eyes.
“Someone built a wall around both of us.”
For the first time, the anger between them was joined by something else.
May you like
A shared enemy.
And somewhere inside Harrison Energy, the person who had stolen five years from them might still be watching.
