Page 74 of Dirty Little Secret, Baby
"Wait," I say quickly, pulling out my phone and calling the landlord, Mr. Keith, whom I had spoken with recently. He was friendly then and will surely help me this time, too.
"Mr. Keith, Alex Rodgers here. I..."
"We cleared everything up this morning, didn't we? What else is there?" he asks, sounding a little annoyed and alluding to the envelope in my breast pocket.
"Sir. Is it possible my assistant Eric was in contact with you?"
"Yes, of course he was, my boy. 50,000 dollars if I terminate the lady's lease without notice. I thought that was what you wanted?"
"It wasn't, sir," I say, mortified, and wonder why he didn't tell me anything this morning. It probably wasn't intentional; he seemed a bit distracted and was basically just relieved when I picked up the document from him that's now in my jacket pocket. Besides that, I wonder where Eric got the $50,000. From the company account? No, that wasn't possible, because I had the IT department block his access immediately. It must have been Jake's money.
"Whatever. The shop is yours anyway," he says, alluding to our meeting this morning. "Do what you want, mister." Then the call ends.
"Veronica. Please. I have to speak with Beth," I plead with her. She's been watching me the whole time I was on the phone. "This has been a huge misunderstanding. My assistant betrayed me. He's behind that notice. He and my competitor."
"Why should I believe a word of that? So far, it's all been nothing but lies," she asks, looking not the least bit convinced.
"I understand," I say and pull the envelope from my jacket, take out the documents, and hold them out to her. "But this is not a lie."
Her eyes dart back and forth, trying to make sense of what's written there. Then she looks at me in silence. I want to ask about Beth again, because I can't think about anything else, because I'm crazy about her and her son and want to make everything right.
"If this is true... then..." she stammers, and I'm incredibly relieved that her features soften a little, but then a cry rings out from upstairs, and it's immediately clear that it's Ben.
"I have to go upstairs. Ben's awake. Beth isn't here," she says, already on her way to the stairs. "She's... she went to your house to find out why you had her evicted and..." Another cry. "I have to go," she says, pointing upstairs. "And please. Don't hurt her anymore."
"I won't," I call after her. I never wanted to hurt Beth. That was never my intention. And it's not this time either.
So she's at my place? We must have just missed each other. I've got to get over there.
Chapter 35
Beth
I couldn't help it. I just had to know why he'd done it.
I knew I was letting my anger get the best of me. Veronica had tried to stop me from driving to his place and confronting him. "He's not worth it," she'd said.
I know she's probably right, because my visit to his office back then accomplished nothing. On the contrary. His assistant tried to brush me off, and he played the innocent again. I almost believed him.
But somewhere deep down, I knew I had to hear it from him. One last time. If Ben ever asks me why he grew up without a father, I want to be able to tell him, with complete conviction, what he did and why he had me thrown out of my shop, sendingonly his assistant to do it. I want to be able to tell him that he hated me and him so much, that he was playing games the whole time, just to achieve his own goals.
I want to tell him that...
I stop, realizing I've been thinking about him the entire drive here—to his villa. The place where this all started back then with a ridiculous, gold-leafed bouquet. I should have just run away then, forgotten about the few hundred dollars, and my life would still be in balance.
On the other hand, that thought means wishing for a life without Ben, which I absolutely can't imagine anymore. The sweet little guy simply stole my heart. "You just have to love him," Veronica once said. Maybe that's true. And maybe Alex Rodgers is, once again, the sole exception.
Just like before, I park the car in front of the wrought-iron gate. Memories flood my mind, and I push them aside as I walk up the empty driveway, my heart pounding.
I didn't even need GPS to get here; it's almost as if the route has been permanently burned into my mind.
A small voice in my head asks me why I drove here and not to his office, which is surely the kind of place where ruthless businessmen spend their workdays, swirling glasses of whiskey while they look down on the world and revel in the suffering they inflict on their fellow human beings. I can't answer that littlevoice's question, because it was fury and desperation that drove me to do this.
Now that I'm standing almost at his door, I already feel small, stupid, and like the queen of incorrigible, naive women.
But I'm going to see this through, since I've already come all this way. For my peace of mind. For Ben. One last time.
I summon my courage, press the doorbell, and stare grimly at the camera lens, almost afraid to breathe. Nothing.
