Chapter 4 - The Price of Loyalty
Jonathan Pierce arrived at the estate at 1:17 in the morning.
He looked exhausted.
Ethan was waiting in the library.
Daniel stood near the door.
Jonathan stopped when he saw him.
“I thought this would be private.”
“It stopped being private when someone tried to erase evidence involving my child.”
Jonathan’s face tightened.
“So it’s true?”
“What?”
“That the girl is yours.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Answer my question first.”
Jonathan lowered his eyes.
“I deleted the footage.”
Daniel shifted.
Ethan remained still.
“Why?”
“Victoria asked me.”
“That is not an answer.”
Jonathan looked up.
“She said the child had fallen.”
“And you believed her?”
“She said Rosa was threatening to destroy the wedding.”
Ethan stared at him.
“So you destroyed evidence.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
“You were protecting Victoria.”
Jonathan shook his head.
“No.”
Ethan opened the recovered video.
Lily’s scream filled the library.
Jonathan turned pale.
Ethan stopped it immediately.
“You knew there was a child involved.”
“I never watched the recording.”
“You deleted it without watching?”
Jonathan said nothing.
That answer was worse.
Ethan walked toward the window.
“For nine years, I trusted you with things I didn’t trust my own family with.”
“I know.”
“You had access to my home.”
“I know.”
“My accounts.”
“I know.”
“My private records.”
Jonathan swallowed.
“I know.”
Ethan turned.
“And you sold that trust for what was in the envelope?”
Jonathan’s face changed.
Daniel placed the envelope on the desk.
It had been recovered from Jonathan’s car.
Inside were twenty thousand dollars in cash.
Jonathan sank into a chair.
“It wasn’t supposed to be payment.”
“What was it?”
“A loan.”
Ethan nearly laughed.
Jonathan covered his face.
“My wife’s treatment isn’t covered.”
Ethan’s anger paused.
Jonathan’s wife had been fighting cancer for eighteen months.
Ethan knew that.
He had paid for additional leave.
He had never known about the debt.
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because I was ashamed.”
“So you went to Victoria?”
“She found out.”
“How?”
Jonathan looked toward the floor.
“She knew everything about people who worked here.”
That sentence changed the room.
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
“What does that mean?”
Jonathan took a breath.
“Victoria had files.”
“On whom?”
“Staff.”
Jonathan hesitated.
“Executives.”
Another pause.
“Your family.”
Ethan stared at him.
“She said it was normal background research before the marriage.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Where are those files?”
“I don’t know.”
Ethan’s voice lowered.
“What was she looking for?”
Jonathan looked directly at him.
“Leverage.”
Silence followed.
Jonathan continued.
“She wanted to know who had debt.”
“Who had affairs.”
“Who had addiction problems.”
“Who could be pressured.”
Ethan remembered Victoria joking that marriage into the Caldwell family required preparation.
He had assumed she meant charity boards and society events.
He had been wrong.
Then Jonathan said something worse.
“She had a file on Rosa too.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
“What was in it?”
Jonathan looked almost afraid to answer.
“A photograph of Lily.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
May you like
Jonathan whispered.
“It was dated six months ago.”
