Chapter 6 - THE COST OF DECEPTION
I agreed to meet Claire at a high-end lounge in Scottsdale.
I wanted to see her without Levi’s protection.
When I arrived,
she was sitting in a dark corner booth,
a large martini in front of her.
She looked different—smaller,
more haggard.
The "Marketing Queen" was crumbling.
“You shouldn’t have gone to the board,” she said before I could sit down.
“And you shouldn’t have stolen from the firm,” I countered.
She laughed,
a dry,
hollow sound.
“You think I’m the villain here? Levi approached me.”
“I’ve seen the emails, Claire. You designed the structure.”
She leaned in,
her eyes wild.
“I designed it so we could be together! He promised me a life where I didn't have to hide!”
“He promised me a life where he’d be faithful,” I said.
“Levi Parker promises everyone whatever they want to hear to get what he needs.”
She took a long sip of her drink.
“The SEC is at the office. They’re seizing the servers.”
“Good.”
“If I go down, he goes down. But you lose everything too.”
She looked at me with a twisted sort of pity.
“The house is tied to the shell companies. The cars, the accounts, everything.”
“I don't care about the house,” I said.
“I care about the six years I wasted on a ghost.”
“He’s going to pin it all on me, Hannah. You know he will.”
“He probably will,” I agreed.
“Unless you give the SEC something he can’t explain away.”
She paused,
her glass halfway to her lips.
“Like what?”
“The signature on the 2022 tax filings. I know it’s forged.”
Claire’s face went pale.
“How did you know?”
“I’m an auditor, Claire. I know Levi’s handwriting, and I know when someone is trying to mimic it.”
She looked down at her hands,
shaking.
“He made me do it. He said it was the only way to clear the audit.”
“Then tell them that. Save yourself before he burns you to stay warm.”
I stood up to leave.
“Why are you helping me?” she asked.
“I’m not helping you,” I said,
looking her dead in the eyes.
“I’m just making sure he doesn’t have anyone left to blame.”
I walked out of the lounge,
leaving her to her ghosts.
The sun was setting,
painting the desert sky in shades of bruised purple and angry orange.
I felt a strange sense of closure.
The woman I had hated at the gala was just another victim of Levi's ambition.
A partner in crime,
perhaps,
but a tool nonetheless.
I drove to a motel on the edge of town.
I couldn't go back to the house.
It wasn't a home anymore; it was a crime scene.
I checked into a small,
clean room and sat on the edge of the bed.
My phone buzzed again.
Levi.
"Hannah, please. I'm at the house. Let's talk. I'll give you whatever you want."
I deleted the message.
He still thought this was a negotiation.
He still thought everything had a price.
I turned off my phone and laid back on the thin pillows.
For the first time in six years,
I didn't have to worry about where he was,
who he was with,
or what lie he would tell me when he came home.
I was alone,
May you like
and for the first time,
alone felt like victory.
