Chapter 3 - Her Husband’s Most Trusted Woman Betrayed Them—Then Sadi Discovered Her Ex Had Been Paid for Years to Keep Her Poor and DistractedMara disappeared with Trevor.
That hurt Sadi almost as much as Roman's original deception.
Mara had helped choose her wedding dress.
Had sat with her when Roman was hospitalized after being shot eighteen months earlier.
Had once told Sadi:
“You're the only person I've ever seen make him ask instead of order.”
Apparently affection and betrayal could exist in the same person.
Roman wanted to hunt them.
Sadi wanted answers.
This time, he listened.
They turned Matteo's evidence over to federal investigators.
All of it.
Including records implicating Roman.
His attorney nearly had a stroke.
“You cannot voluntarily surrender these.”
Roman sat behind his desk.
“I already did.”
“You're admitting to extortion, illegal payments, obstruction—”
“Yes.”
“You could go to prison.”
“Yes.”
The attorney looked at Sadi.
“This is your influence.”
Sadi shook her head.
“No.”
Roman looked at her.
She continued.
“He made the decision.”
Something softened in Roman's expression.
That distinction mattered.
Sadi wasn't his conscience.
She wasn't responsible for making him good.
He had to own what came next.
The investigation into Trevor revealed something uglier.
North Meridian had paid him for thirty-seven months.
Not for legal work.
For information about Sadi.
Her jobs.
Her addresses.
Her friendships.
Her financial problems.
Trevor had not simply abandoned her.
He had been recruited.
The realization made her physically ill.
Roman sat beside her.
“He took money to keep me unstable.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“So you wouldn't start asking questions about Matteo.”
Sadi stared at the payment schedule.
The first payment came two months before Trevor left.
Ten thousand dollars.
Then another.
Then another.
Trevor had deliberately drained their savings.
Encouraged her to quit bookkeeping.
Mocked her intelligence.
Told her she would never succeed.
He had not created every insecurity she carried.
But he had been paid to deepen them.
Sadi whispered:
“I thought I wasn't enough.”
Roman said nothing.
“I spent years wondering what Chloe had that I didn't.”
He reached for her hand.
Stopped.
She noticed.
Then placed her hand in his.
“You know what the worst part is?”
“What?”
“He didn't need to work very hard.”
Roman frowned.
“I already believed terrible things about myself.”
“Sadi.”
“I was poor. Tired. Scared. He just kept confirming what I already feared.”
Roman's voice was quiet.
“He was wrong.”
“I know that now.”
She looked at him.
“But you were wrong too.”
Roman didn't flinch.
“Yes.”
“You decided you had the right to investigate me without telling me.”
“Yes.”
“You approached me under false circumstances.”
“Yes.”
“And then you let me build a marriage without knowing the truth.”
“Yes.”
She pulled her hand away.
“Why?”
Roman looked toward the window.
“At first, I thought you might know where Matteo's evidence was.”
“And later?”
“I knew you didn't.”
“When?”
“Three weeks after meeting you.”
Sadi's heart sank.
“We dated eleven months before marrying.”
“I know.”
“So you had almost a year to tell me.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you?”
“Because I was afraid you'd leave.”
The answer surprised her.
Roman Veyron admitting fear sounded almost unnatural.
“That isn't an excuse.”
“No.”
“You understand I might still leave.”
His face changed.
“Yes.”
“Would you stop me?”
“No.”
That answer mattered.
Sadi stood.
“I need time.”
“You have it.”
She moved toward the door.
Roman said:
“Sadi.”
She turned.
“I love you.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“I'm sorry that knowing that doesn't fix anything.”
She looked at him.
“So am I.”
Three days later, Trevor called her.
Sadi recorded it.
“You finally know,” he said.
“Know what?”
“Why I left.”
“You mean why you were paid.”
Trevor laughed.
“You make it sound worse than it was.”
“You took money to manipulate me.”
“I was leaving anyway.”
“Then why accept payment?”
“Because unlike you, I recognized opportunity.”
Sadi almost smiled.
Same Trevor.
Different scale.
“What does Mara want?”
Silence.
Then:
“The case.”
“Matteo's evidence?”
“Yes.”
“Federal investigators have copies.”
“Not everything.”
Sadi frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Trevor continued.
“Matteo had one final ledger.”
“Where?”
“You tell me.”
“I don't know.”
“Then Mara says you're useless.”
Sadi understood.
Mara believed another ledger existed.
Trevor had been brought back into Sadi's orbit to force her toward it.
“Why did you kick me?”
Trevor paused.
“What?”
“At the mall.”
Silence.
“Was that planned?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“I saw you.”
His voice changed.
“I saw you standing there like you belonged.”
Sadi said nothing.
“You looked happy.”
There it was.
“And that bothered you?”
“You were supposed to be nothing.”
Sadi closed her eyes.
Trevor continued.
“I was supposed to win.”
“Win what?”
“Life.”
The absurdity almost made her sad.
“You thought me being miserable proved you made the right choice.”
No answer.
“And seeing me happy meant maybe you hadn't.”
Trevor hung up.
Sadi stared at the phone.
For the first time, she understood him completely.
And understanding him made him smaller.
Not more frightening.
Smaller.
She returned to Matteo's notebook.
One line bothered her.
The poor girl understands numbers better than all of us.
Numbers.
Sadi examined the transaction records.
Amounts.
Dates.
Patterns.
Then she saw it.
Every transfer contained cents.
.26.
.11.
.19.
.04.
She mapped them to letters.
Z.
K.
S.
D.
Nothing.
Then she remembered Matteo's habit.
Reverse everything when the obvious answer looks wrong.
She reversed the numbers.
Still nothing.
Then she grouped the dates.
Coordinates.
A location appeared.
An abandoned garment factory.
Sadi laughed.
Of course.
Matteo had hidden his final evidence somewhere connected to sewing.
He knew exactly how her mind worked.
Roman wanted to accompany her.
She refused.
Then reconsidered.
Not because she needed protection.
Because marriage meant partnership when chosen freely.
“You can come.”
Roman nodded.
“No security inside unless we call.”
His face tightened.
“Two outside.”
“One.”
“Two.”
“One and Arthur counts as two normal people.”
Roman considered.
“Fair.”
They entered the factory together.
Locker 26.
Inside was Matteo's final ledger.
And a letter.
Not to Roman.
To Sadi.
Sadi,
If you found this, I was right about you.
You always think being poor made you less important. It made people careless around you. They talked while you served coffee. They left papers where you cleaned tables. They assumed the girl counting tips couldn't count millions.
Never confuse being underestimated with being powerless.
Sadi cried.
Roman stood silently beside her.
The ledger contained names.
Mara Quinn was among them.
But her involvement began before she worked for Roman.
She was Leonard Shaw's daughter.
Her real name was Mara Shaw.
Roman stared.
“She spent nine years beside me.”
“Waiting.”
“For what?”
Sadi turned another page.
Then found the answer.
Revenge.
Roman had killed Leonard Shaw five years earlier.
Not knowing Shaw had acted for Roman's father.
Mara had infiltrated Roman's company afterward.
Everything led here.
Then the factory lights went out.
Roman immediately moved.
“Behind me.”
Sadi grabbed his jacket.
“No.”
“Sadi.”
“We stay together.”
Footsteps sounded.
Mara's voice came from the darkness.
“She's right.”
Emergency lights turned red.
Mara stood at the far end.
Trevor beside her.
Two armed men behind them.
Mara looked at Roman.
“You killed my father.”
Roman did not deny it.
“Yes.”
Trevor looked terrified.
Sadi almost laughed.
He had finally realized he was not the important man in the room.
Mara raised a weapon.
Roman stepped forward.
Sadi caught his hand.
Mara smiled.
“Still controlling him?”
“No.”
Sadi looked at Roman.
“He controls himself.”
Mara's expression hardened.
May you like
Then she pointed the weapon toward Sadi.
“Let's test that.”
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