Chapter Eight. The Truth Between Us

I had two choices: tell him everything. Say nothing. I thought about what Daven had said: do not tell Ethan I came here. Then I thought about what the unknown number had said: do not tell him about these messages.

I looked at Ethan.

"Yes he came to my aunt's house this morning, " I said.

Something changed in Ethan's expression; it was like he was thinking about something.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"He said he did not forge the document, he said someone used him too and used both him and Elena " I replied.

Ethan was still.

"Did he say who?" he asked.

"He was about to then his phone rang. He looked at the screen and he looked afraid, not guilty. " I said. ". He left without finishing."

Ethan stood up. I walked back to the window. I watched him and I could see him thinking.

"He is telling the truth, " Ethan said quietly.

I stared at him.

"You knew?" I asked.

"I suspected, " he said. "Daven Cole does not have the sophistication to run something this complex, someone else built this, he was just the piece to you."

The piece closest to me was what Daven was.

Three years, a proposal, a wedding, all of it to get someone close enough to me to use me.. Daven had just been another piece on someone else's board.

"Who " I said, my voice was steady even though I was not. "Ethan, who is behind this?"

He looked at me for a moment.

"I have a name, " he said. ". I need one more piece of evidence before I say it out loud because once I say it once we move on there is no going back and the person we are talking about will know immediately that we know."

"How long?" I asked.

"Days, less " he replied.

I nodded.

Then I thought about the number, about the message telling me not to tell Ethan. I had already broken that instruction the moment I told him about Daven’s visit.

I opened my mouth to tell him about the messages. Then Claire knocked and opened the office door.

"Mr Voss I am sorry to interrupt. There is someone asking for Ms Wren, they say it is urgent " she said.

Ethan looked at Claire at me.

"Who is it?" he asked.

Claire hesitated for a second.

"She says her name is Margaret Wren and she says she is Sofia's mother, " Claire said.

I went cold.

My mother had never come to find me in my life, not once. She waited, she called, she sent messages through aunts and cousins she did not show up unannounced at a strangers office building in the middle of the morning.

Something had happened, something enough to bring her here.

I stood up.

"Send her up, " Ethan said to Claire before I could speak.

Claire. Left.

I looked at Ethan.

"Whatever your mother is about to tell you " he said quietly "I need you to stay calm can you do that?"

I looked at him.

"You already know why she is here, " I said slowly.

He did not answer, which was its answer.

The elevator, down the corridor. I heard my mothers footsteps coming toward the door.

My mother walked into Ethan's office. It was like she had been holding everything together for hours. She was all dressed up and her hair was neat. Her hands were clasped in front of her. To anyone she would have looked calm.. I knew my mother really well. I could see it in her eyes. She was blinking fast and her mouth was set just a little too tight.

She saw me and something in her face changed for a second before she pulled it back.

"Sofia, " she said.

"Mum, what happened?" I asked.

She looked at Ethan back at me then at Ethan again. It was like she was trying to decide how much to say in front of someone she did not know well.

"It is alright, " I said. "You can speak."

She nodded once said,

"Your father got a letter this morning. It was from a law firm. They are saying he signed over fifteen percent of the company shares three months ago. They have the document. They have his signature. They want him to hand over board access by the end of the week or they will take it to court."

The room was very quiet.

I heard every word she said. I understood it all.. My brain was having trouble accepting it.

"End of the week " I repeated.

"Friday " my mother said. Her voice was very controlled. "Your father is. He does not understand. He says he never signed anything. He has been on the phone with his lawyer all morning. The document looks very real Sofia. The signature looks real."

I looked at Ethan.

He was already standing up.

"Which law firm?" he asked my mother. His voice was calm and direct.

My mother opened her bag. Pulled out the letter with slightly shaking hands. She handed it to Ethan. He read it quickly. His expression did not change. His jaw tightened once.

"This firm works for one client exclusively, " he said. "I know exactly who sent this."

I stood up.

"Then tell me, " I said. "Ethan, you said you had a name. You said you needed one piece of evidence. You have it. That letter is your evidence. So tell me who it is."

He looked at me for a moment.

My mother was standing behind me. The letter was on the desk between us. And out there the person who had spent months building a trap around my family was waiting to see if it would close.

Ethan picked up the letter again, turned it over and pointed to the bottom of the page. There was a reference number, a client code.

"This code belongs to a holding company " he said. "The holding company has one registered director. The same name that appears on the bank account I showed you."

I stared at him.

"Say the name, " I said.

He said it.

I heard it.

The world tilted sideways.

Because the name Ethan said out loud in that quiet office on that ordinary morning was not Daven's name. It was not Elena's name. It was not anyone I had suspected or feared or even considered.