“I can’t go to jail,” he pleaded. “My daughter needs me. My wife’s health isn’t good either.”
“Did you think about my situation when you were framing me, Rick?” I asked.
He looked down.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t fix anything,” I said. “You have two choices. Confess to the company, cooperate with the investigation, and hope for leniency. Or wait for the police to arrest you.”
“The first one,” he said immediately. “But I have one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Please don’t tell anyone about my daughter,” he begged. “My wife doesn’t know what I did. She thinks I borrowed the money for the surgery.”
I looked at him. This once arrogant man, now utterly broken. Pathetic, but also pitiable.
“I can agree to that,” I said. “But you have to give me everything you have on Alex.”
“I have it,” he said eagerly. “Our text messages, the wire transfer receipts, even backups of files he told me to destroy. I saved everything.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Insurance,” he said with a grim smile. “In our line of work, you always keep an ace up your sleeve.”
That afternoon, Rick submitted his confession to the company. Mr. Henderson called an emergency meeting. I was there. Rick stood before the board and admitted everything, providing a mountain of evidence that proved Alex had orchestrated the entire plot. Mr. Henderson’s face was stone.
“I am profoundly disappointed in you, Rick.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Rick said, bowing his head.
“Sorry?”
Mr. Henderson scoffed.
“This is a criminal offense. The company will be turning this matter over to the police.”
Rick’s face went white, but he didn’t argue. After the meeting, Mr. Henderson asked me to stay behind.
“Chloe, the company was wrong about you,” he said. “You can come back tomorrow. The Blue Sky account is yours again.”
“Thank you, Mr. Henderson.”
“And as a gesture of apology, the company would like to double your quarterly bonus.”
“That’s not necessary.”
I shook my head.
“All I wanted was to clear my name.”
He looked at me with a complex expression.
“You’ve changed, Chloe.”
“People do,” I said.
Leaving the office, I called Leo.
“It’s over. Rick confessed. I get my job back tomorrow.”
“That’s great news,” he said. “What about Alex?”
“The police are involved now. He’s not getting away.”
“What about Rick’s daughter?” I asked.
“That’s his problem to solve,” Leo said calmly. “Adults have to live with their choices.”
“I know,” I sighed. “It’s just… life is hard.”
“That’s why we have to live it well,” he said.
That evening, we sat down to a celebratory dinner at my place. Leo had cooked an elaborate meal.
“A toast,” he said, raising his glass of juice.
“To what?”
“To your name being cleared.”
We clinked glasses.
“And to a successful partnership,” I added.
He smiled.
“To a successful partnership.”
Later, as we were washing dishes together, he suddenly said,
“Chloe, have you thought about the baby’s future?”
My hands paused under the running water.
“Why do you ask?”
“I was just thinking, if the baby is born, we…”
He didn’t finish, but I knew what he meant. We were legally married. The child would legally be his.
“I still haven’t decided if I’m keeping it,” I said softly. “The doctor said I need to make a decision soon.”
“So you’re still thinking about it?”
“I don’t know,” I said, drying my hands. “Keeping him means what? Bringing him into a loveless home? Or…”
“Or we could try to give him a home filled with love,” Leo said.
I looked at him, his expression completely serious.
“I mean it,” he said. “We could try to be a real couple.”
I was stunned.
“Why? Not to fulfill a promise. Not as a transaction.”
“Just to try.”
I stared at him.
“Because you’re stronger than I ever expected,” he said. “Because my mom liked you. Because…”
He paused.
“Because I think we could work.”
My heart started to beat faster.
“This is really sudden.”
“I know,” he said. “You can think about it. No rush.”
I couldn’t sleep that night. Leo’s words echoed in my mind. Try to be a real couple. Was it possible? Two people burned by love, thrown together by a ridiculous marriage. Could we actually build something real? And the baby. If I kept him, what kind of life would he have? And if I didn’t… I touched my belly, which was now just starting to show a tiny curve.
The next day, I went back to work. The way my colleagues looked at me had changed completely, from suspicion and pity to awe and apology. Rick’s office was empty. I heard he’d been arrested. Alex’s company officially declared bankruptcy, and he was under investigation, his passport confiscated. At lunch, Mr. Henderson called me into his office.
“Chloe, I have some news. Blue Sky Group has officially awarded us the contract.”
“Really?” I gasped.
“But on one condition,” he said, looking at me. “They’ve specifically requested that you lead the project, and they want you to fly to their headquarters for the final presentation in one month.”
“One month?”
I did the math. I’d be four months pregnant then. My stomach would be more noticeable.
“Is that a problem?” Mr. Henderson asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ll get it done.”
“Good.”
He nodded, satisfied.
“Keep this up, and that VP spot is yours.”
