Chapter 16 - SABRINA CAME BACK WITH A CHILD
Sabrina Cole called the next morning.
I had not spoken to her in nearly two years.
“I heard about Harbor Point.”
“How?”
“News travels.”
“That phrase is becoming irritating.”
“Audrey, I need to see you.”
“No.”
“Richard Lang contacted me.”
That changed everything.
We met at Martin’s office.
Sabrina entered holding the hand of a little boy.
Three years old.
Dark hair.
Brown eyes.
My entire body went rigid.
Derek, sitting beside Naomi, went white.
Sabrina saw both of us looking.
“No.”
Nobody spoke.
She sighed.
“He is not Derek’s.”
Derek exhaled so visibly that Claire almost laughed.
Almost.
“This is Oliver,” Sabrina said. “My nephew. My sister is in surgery today.”
Oliver waved.
The tension broke by approximately five percent.
Sabrina sat.
“You both look terrible.”
“Wonderful opening,” I said.
She almost smiled.
Then she placed her phone down.
“Richard called last night.”
“From where?” Martin asked.
“He wouldn’t say.”
“What did he want?”
“For me to tell Audrey to stop investigating Meridian.”
“Why you?”
“Because he thinks you’ll believe I’m scared.”
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
That answer mattered.
Sabrina took out an old email.
“Before Derek and I started seeing each other, Richard arranged for me to work several executive events.”
Derek frowned.
“You were an events coordinator.”
“Yes. But Richard requested me specifically.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t know then.”
She looked at me.
“He asked questions about Derek. Whether he drank. Whether he flirted. Whether he complained about you.”
My skin crawled.
“You reported on him?”
“I thought it was internal HR research.”
Derek stared.
“You told him personal things?”
Sabrina’s eyes hardened.
“You told me your wife knew you were sleeping with me.”
Fair.
Derek looked away.
Sabrina continued. “Later Richard gave me a five-thousand-dollar bonus through a consulting company.”
“For sleeping with Derek?” I asked.
“No.”
Her anger flashed.
“For providing event summaries. The affair happened later.”
“But Richard encouraged access.”
“Yes.”
Martin leaned back.
“Meridian may have been collecting leverage.”
“On Derek?”
“On the Whitmore family.”
Derek looked sick.
His affair remained his choice.
But someone had recognized every weakness around him.
His vanity.
His insecurity.
Evelyn’s fear.
Sabrina’s ambition.
My trust.
Dad’s protectiveness.
And turned them into doors.
Sabrina unlocked another file.
“There’s more.”
A voicemail.
Richard’s voice.
“Tell Audrey the school was a warning. If she keeps pushing, the next mistake will be permanent.”
Derek stood so fast his chair fell backward.
“You have his number?”
“Blocked.”
“Give me the phone.”
“No.”
“Sabrina.”
“No.”
I stepped between them.
“Sit down.”
He looked at me.
For one second, I saw the old temper.
Then he sat.
Progress.
Martin copied the recording for police.
Sabrina began gathering her things.
I stopped her.
“Why help me?”
She looked toward Oliver.
“Because becoming an aunt changed something.”
I waited.
“She trusts me to keep him safe. My sister trusts me. I finally understood what I helped destroy.”
I said nothing.
“I’m not asking forgiveness.”
“Good.”
She nodded.
At the door she turned.
“One more thing.”
“What?”
“Richard said something strange before hanging up.”
“What?”
“He said Veronica wasn’t worried about Harbor Point.”
Martin frowned.
“Then what is she worried about?”
May you like
Sabrina looked directly at me.
“You.”
