Chapter 6 - THE SILENT PARTNER
Nathaniel surfaced a week later in a small town near the border.
He had been trying to access a hidden account that he thought I didn't know about.
But I knew everything.
I had been his silent partner for years,
managing the books he thought he was hiding.
I had seen the patterns long before I saw the mistress.
The police were waiting for him at the bank.
He didn't go quietly,
shouting about his rights and his legacy as they cuffed him.
I didn't go to see him.
I had nothing to say to a man who had traded his honor for a shortcut.
Daniel brought me the news in my office.
“He’s in custody,”
he said,
dropping a newspaper on my desk.
The headline was simple:
WHITMORE CEO FALLS.
“Good,”
I said,
not looking up from the blueprints for the Eastside fix.
“How are the safety audits going?”
“We found the Grade-B steel,”
Daniel said,
his face grim.
“It’s in the support columns for the first ten floors.”
“We have to replace them.”
“Do it,”
I said.
“Whatever the cost.”
“We’re building for the next fifty years,
not the next fiscal quarter.”
Daniel nodded and left.
I sat back in my chair,
looking out at the city.
The lights were beautiful,
but I knew the rot that could hide beneath them.
I had been part of that rot,
ignoring the signs because I wanted to believe in the man I loved.
Never again.
I had learned that the most dangerous thing you can take from someone is their trust.
Nathaniel had taken mine,
May you like
and I had taken his life in return.
It was a fair trade.
