Chapter 4 - Tessa’s First Mistake
Tessa believed Rosalie was finished.
That was her first mistake.
She visited Callum's office three days later.
She wore black this time.
No emerald silk.
No seductive smile.
She carried a leather folder.
“I know what's happening.”
Callum didn't look up.
“Leave.”
“You need me.”
“No.”
“Tessa.”
She smiled faintly.
“Your company is collapsing.”
Callum finally looked at her.
“Because of you?”
“Because of your wife's departure.”
“Don't mention her.”
“Why?”
His silence told her everything.
Tessa stepped closer.
“You're still in love with her.”
Callum stood.
“Get out.”
“She's going to destroy you.”
“She has spent ten years preventing exactly that.”
Tessa's expression hardened.
“You never talked about her.”
Callum stared.
“She was the reason.”
“The reason for what?”
“Why men stayed.”
Tessa laughed.
“You think they respected her?”
“I know they did.”
“Then why did you cheat?”
Callum looked at her with disgust.
“You think that makes me proud?”
“No.”
Tessa whispered, “I think it makes you human.”
The office door opened.
Rosalie walked in.
Tessa froze.
Rosalie carried no bag.
No visible anger.
She looked at Callum.
“Marcus found something.”
Tessa's face tightened.
Callum stepped aside.
Rosalie placed a tablet on the desk.
“Your account at Bellmont Bank was accessed last Tuesday.”
Callum frowned.
“By whom?”
She looked toward Tessa.
“Her.”
Tessa went pale.
“That’s impossible.”
Rosalie tapped the screen.
“There's more.”
Security footage appeared.
Tessa entering a bank branch.
Talking to a man.
Handing him a flash drive.
Callum's voice turned cold.
“Who is he?”
Rosalie answered.
“Adrian Cross.”
Tessa looked at Callum.
“Don't believe her.”
“You're lying.”
Tessa shook her head.
“Callum, listen to me.”
He stepped closer.
“You had access to my bank.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came.
Rosalie watched.
Tessa finally said, “Because I was trying to protect you.”
Callum laughed bitterly.
“From what?”
“From Rosalie.”
The room became still.
Tessa looked at Rosalie.
“She has been controlling you for years.”
Callum's face changed.
Rosalie said nothing.
Tessa continued.
“She decides which people get contracts. Which charities receive money. Which employees are forgiven. Which politicians get invited to events. She controls your entire social network.”
Callum looked at Rosalie.
“Is that true?”
Rosalie answered honestly.
“Yes.”
Tessa smiled triumphantly.
“See?”
Rosalie continued.
“But there is something she doesn't understand.”
Tessa frowned.
Rosalie looked at Callum.
“I never controlled you.”
Callum said nothing.
“I advised you.”
She pointed at the tablet.
“I told you when someone deserved a second chance.”
She looked back at Tessa.
“I told you when someone didn't.”
Then she turned toward Callum.
“But you made the final decision every time.”
Tessa's smile disappeared.
Rosalie's voice remained soft.
“The difference is, people trusted me to tell you the truth.”
Callum closed his eyes briefly.
That was the sentence he needed to hear.
Not because it flattered Rosalie.
Because it explained everything.
Tessa hadn't been jealous of his wife.
She had been afraid of her.
Because Rosalie was the one person in the world who could tell Callum no.
And still have him listen.
Marcus entered.
“We found the offshore account.”
Callum turned.
“How much?”
“Twenty-one million.”
Silence.
“Source?”
“Ror Holdings.”
Callum stared at Tessa.
She backed away.
“It wasn't me.”
Marcus added, “The account is controlled by a trust.”
Rosalie frowned.
“Name?”
“C. Mercer Trust.”
Callum looked at Rosalie.
Her face went blank.
“What?”
“My family trust was dissolved years ago.”
Marcus looked uncomfortable.
“This trust was created nine months ago.”
“By whom?”
He glanced at Callum.
“Your wife.”
Callum looked stunned.
Rosalie stepped back.
“I didn't create any trust.”
The room changed instantly.
Someone had used her identity.
Someone had forged documents under her name.
And the purpose was obvious.
To make it appear that Rosalie had stolen from Callum.
Tessa whispered, “You see?”
Rosalie looked at her.
“No.”
Her voice sharpened for the first time.
“I see someone has been preparing for this marriage to collapse.”
Callum moved toward her.
“Rosalie.”
She stepped back.
“Not yet.”
He stopped.
She looked at the forged trust documents again.
“This is bigger than Tessa.”
Marcus nodded.
“I think so.”
Rosalie turned toward the door.
“We need to find out who wanted me blamed.”
Callum followed.
“Together?”
She hesitated.
Then answered, “For the investigation.”
It hurt.
He accepted it.
At least it was honest.
That night, they returned to the old Mercer warehouse.
Dust covered the wooden beams.
Rosalie unlocked a door Callum had never seen.
Inside were filing cabinets.
Maps.
Photographs.
Old contracts.
Callum stared.
“What is this?”
“My grandmother's records.”
“You kept all this?”
“She believed forgotten papers could outlive powerful men.”
Rosalie opened a drawer.
At the bottom was an old photograph.
Three men stood beside a warehouse.
Callum recognized one.
Adrian Cross.
Another was Victor Dane.
The third man was younger.
Much younger.
But his face was unmistakable.
Callum whispered, “My father.”
Rosalie turned.
“Your father knew Adrian.”
Callum stared at the photograph.
“My father told me Adrian betrayed him.”
Rosalie held up another document.
“He may have.”
She opened a ledger.
“Or they may have betrayed someone else together.”
The answer was hidden in an old shipping agreement.
A company called Ror-Mercer Logistics.
Callum's breathing slowed.
The truth about their families wasn't beginning with their marriage.
May you like
It had begun before they were born.
And someone had spent decades making sure neither of them discovered it.
