Chapter 7 - THE FINAL CONFRONTATION
Monday morning,
the forensic report arrived.
It was more damning than we had imagined.
Jake hadn't just embezzled money;
he had been selling company secrets to a competitor for eighteen months.
He was planning to tank the company himself,
once he had moved enough money into Amanda’s accounts.
He wanted to leave me with the wreckage while he started over with her.
I called him.
I didn't wait for him to call me.
"Meet me at the house,
Jake,"
I said.
"One last time."
I arrived at our home,
the place where we had spent fourteen years.
It felt cold,
like a museum of a life that had been a lie.
Jake was in the study,
sitting in the chair my father had given him.
He looked old.
He looked small.
"You have the report,"
he said,
not looking up.
"I do,"
I said,
standing by the fireplace.
"Why,
Jake?"
"We had everything."
"I gave you everything."
He finally looked at me,
and the hatred in his eyes was naked.
"You gave me a cage,
Emma."
"Everything was 'your father’s estate' or 'Emma’s trust'."
"I was the CEO,
but I was always your employee."
"I wanted something that was mine."
"So you stole?"
I asked.
"You betrayed the woman who supported every dream you ever had?"
"I didn't want to be supported!"
he roared,
standing up.
"I wanted to be feared!"
"I wanted to be the one holding the strings!"
I looked at the man I had loved and felt nothing but pity.
"You are feared now,
Jake,"
I said softly.
"But not the way you wanted."
"You're feared as a thief."
"You're feared as a fraud."
I reached into my bag and pulled out a small,
silver key.
"The police are in the driveway,
Jake."
"Martin has already handed over the files to the District Attorney."
"This is the key to the safe in the basement."
"The one where you kept the offshore account codes."
His face went from pale to a ghostly white.
"You found it?"
"I always knew where it was,"
I said.
"I just hoped I would never have to use it."
The front door burst open,
and the sound of heavy boots echoed in the foyer.
Jake looked at me,
a flicker of the old man I used to love appearing in his eyes for a split second.
"Emma,
please..."
"Goodbye,
Jake,"
I said,
turning my back on him.
"I hope Amanda’s diamond was worth it."
As the officers led him away in handcuffs,
I stood by the window and watched the rain fall on the garden.
The roses I had dropped in the lobby were long gone.
But the seeds of my own life were finally starting to grow.
May you like
The kingdom of Jake Whitmore was ash.
And I was the one who had finally stopped the wind from blowing it away.
