Chapter 5 - The Price of Their Happiness
I had imagined seeing Michael again a thousand times.
Sometimes I pictured him apologizing.
Sometimes I imagined screaming at him.
Sometimes I thought I would feel nothing.
But standing outside my stolen office, watching him hold Olivia like a treasured prize, I felt something unexpected.
Relief.
The man I had loved no longer existed.
Perhaps he never had.
"You married her," I said quietly.
Michael smiled.
"Life goes on, Evelyn."
I looked at Olivia.
She couldn't meet my eyes.
"Congratulations," I said.
Michael blinked.
He had expected tears.
Maybe rage.
I gave him neither.
Daniel stepped forward.
"We're leaving."
Michael laughed.
"Still playing her hero, big brother?"
Daniel's expression didn't change.
"Stay away from her."
Michael looked amused.
"Or what?"
Daniel stared at him.
"Or you'll find out what happens when I stop protecting you."
The smile disappeared from Michael's face.
I turned toward the car.
Behind us, Olivia called my name.
I didn't stop.
Then she shouted something that made me freeze.
"Ask him about the clinic!"
I turned.
Olivia's face was white.
Michael grabbed her elbow.
"Get inside."
She pulled away.
"Evelyn deserves to know!"
"Olivia," Michael warned.
I stepped toward them.
"What clinic?"
Michael pointed at Daniel.
"Take her away."
Daniel didn't move.
I looked at Olivia.
"What happened to my pregnancy?"
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
Michael tightened his grip on her arm.
"You're embarrassing yourself," he hissed.
She stared at him.
And for one brief second, I saw the old Olivia.
The thirteen-year-old girl who once defended me from school bullies.
The woman who held me when my father died.
Then fear swallowed her expression.
"I can't," she whispered.
Michael dragged her back inside.
I stood on the sidewalk until the doors closed.
Daniel gently guided me toward the car.
"Let's go."
I stared at him.
"You knew they got married?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think you needed another wound on your first day out."
I looked away.
He was right.
But that didn't make it hurt less.
At the hotel, I called Sarah.
I told her what Olivia had said.
She listened carefully.
Then she asked a question I hadn't expected.
"Do you still have medical records from that pregnancy?"
"Probably somewhere."
"Do you remember the clinic's name?"
I closed my eyes.
"Harbor Women's Medical Center."
Sarah wrote it down.
"I'll help you request your records. We should separate what we know from what we suspect."
I nodded even though she couldn't see me.
After we ended the call, I sat in silence.
Daniel had brought dinner.
I hadn't touched it.
Finally, he spoke.
"My mother tried to tell me something before she died."
I looked up.
"About the baby?"
He nodded.
"What did she say?"
"She said Michael had paid someone to keep a secret."
My stomach tightened.
"What secret?"
"She couldn't explain. By then, her memory was failing."
I stared at him.
"You think Michael arranged my miscarriage?"
Daniel's face tightened.
"I don't know, Evelyn. I won't accuse him of something that serious without proof."
I appreciated that answer.
I also hated it.
Because uncertainty left room for horrors I couldn't bear to imagine.
The next afternoon, Sarah called.
She had spoken with a former employee of my company.
Her name was Grace Holloway.
I remembered Grace immediately.
She had been my office manager.
Efficient.
Honest.
The kind of woman who remembered everyone's birthday.
"She's willing to meet you," Sarah said.
"Where?"
"At my office."
I arrived early.
Grace was already sitting in the conference room.
She looked older.
Her dark hair had turned gray around the temples.
When she saw me, she stood.
For a second, neither of us spoke.
Then she began crying.
"Oh, Evelyn."
I felt tears rise.
Grace crossed the room and hugged me.
I hadn't been hugged like that in years.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
I held her tightly.
When we sat down, she opened her handbag.
"I kept something."
She placed a flash drive on the table.
Sarah leaned forward.
"What is it?"
"Copies of company records."
My heart quickened.
Grace looked at me.
"After your arrest, Michael told us he was taking over."
I nodded.
"He said you'd signed everything over to him."
"He lied."
"I know that now."
Grace wiped her cheeks.
"He fired four employees immediately. Then he started moving contracts. Robert told me the transfers were legal."
"What did you do?"
"I asked to see the documents."
She swallowed.
"Two days later, they terminated me."
I closed my eyes.
"Grace, I'm sorry."
"Don't apologize. You didn't do it."
Sarah inserted the flash drive into her laptop.
Folders appeared.
Invoices.
Emails.
Contract drafts.
Then one folder labeled SEPTEMBER.
Grace pointed.
"Open that."
Inside were scanned documents bearing my signature.
Several were dated after my incarceration.
One was supposedly signed at a Boston law office.
Another claimed I had attended a shareholder meeting.
I stared at it.
"I was in prison."
Grace nodded.
"I knew."
Sarah leaned back.
"These records may be very important."
Grace took my hand.
"There's more."
My stomach tightened.
She opened another folder.
It contained email correspondence between Michael and Robert.
One message was dated six weeks before my anniversary.
Michael had written:
We need the transfer structure ready. Evelyn is becoming suspicious about the accounts.
I stopped breathing.
Grace looked at me.
"I think they were planning to steal the company before you found out about Olivia."
Sarah read further.
Her face hardened.
Another email appeared.
Robert had written:
If Evelyn is removed from management, implementation becomes much easier.
I stared at the words.
Removed from management.
Not divorced.
Not separated.
Removed.
My voice barely worked.
"Did they know I was going to prison?"
Sarah shook her head.
"We can't conclude that from this alone."
Then she opened a final attachment.
It was a spreadsheet.
Projected company revenue.
Assets.
Client transfers.
And a column labeled CONTINGENCY.
Beside my name was a single phrase.
Incapacitation or criminal proceedings.
The date was November 2021.
More than a month before I discovered the affair.
My blood turned cold.
Grace whispered, "Evelyn, they were preparing for something."
I looked at Sarah.
Then Daniel.
For three years, I had believed my imprisonment was the terrible result of one uncontrollable moment.
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Now I wondered whether Michael had been waiting for an opportunity to destroy me.
And whether that night had given him exactly what he wanted.
