《Return to Her First Love》全部章節：第 1 章 - 第 10 章

“That’s it, Toby, I think we got the last of it,” Mason crowed. “Fantastic!”“This is awesome,” the young man agreed. “I am so psyched to get this into the final testing round. You’re gonna do so much good with this, boss.”“We,” Mason corrected. “We are. Now, it’s after seven. Go home. We’ll reconvene at ten a.m. tomorrow.”“We’re on tap at eight-fifteen on the calendar,” his employee reminded him.“Yes, we are. But since I’m the big boss, I’m telling you - sleep in a bit. You’ve earned it. See you at ten.”Toby’s wide smile lit up the room. “Yes, sir.”Mason secured all the files and results before locking up the office and heading home. On the way to his car, he called the Chinese place he had logged into speed dial and ordered his usual for takeout. Within forty minutes he was walking triumphantly into his apartment with dinner, feeling like he owned the world.It’s finally coming together, he mused as he scooped out beef fried rice onto a paper plate. After six years, it’s finall

Once she’d shared everything with Rebekah, the lawyer had asked several questions, then explained, “Maddie, it sounds to me like we’re talking what’s called a ‘no fault’ divorce. Basically, it means the cause is irreconcilable differences. Now, do you think Eric will fight you on this?”“I honestly don’t know,” Maddie murmured. “We barely even talk anymore. So, I honestly have no idea what his reaction will be.”“Okay. So, here’s some things I want you to be thinking about. You don’t have any children, and aren’t expecting any, correct?”Not unless pregnancy in humans now lasts over four years, Maddie thought bitterly, but only answered, “No, no kids, at all.”Rebekah made several notes as they talked, and at the end of their time together she’d concluded with, “I’m going to have Cheryl get all this into an outline and email it to you. You’re going to want to be thinking about these things ahead of time. If you think he might contest the divorce at all, it’s going to be better for us

The detective and the chaplain exchanged glances, and Kenney lowered his voice when he explained.“Mr. Smithing, Eric was beaten to death. The damage was such that visual verification wasn’t possible. I didn’t share that with her. I’m telling you this because Maddie may want to see him when he’s released by the coroner’s office. Trust me, she doesn’t need that image in her head. None of you do.”Chase blanched.“I see. I’ll make sure she’s not subjected to that.”“Eric worked for you, Mr. Smithing, is that right?”“Yes, he’s my CFO.”“Do you know of anyone that might have wanted to harm him? Anyone you can think of?”“No,” Chase answered. “No one. Eric was well-liked by everyone so far as I knew.”Chase fielded a few more exploratory questions, and the three men moved back into the living room. Maddie’s mother Deborah was seated beside her daughter, holding her hand.“What happens now?” Maddie managed through her tears.Officer Greene stepped forward, extending a card to her.“Maddie,

Mason Gentries walked into his apartment, threw his keys on the kitchen counter, and headed straight to the liquor cabinet to pour himself four fingers of whiskey over ice before he slumped down in his armchair.“Un-freaking believable,” he muttered aloud to no one. He wanted to rant, yell, throw things.But what would that accomplish? Precisely nothing. No good whatsoever. And this is partly my fault, for not thinking ahead enough to arrange daily back up of all the files onto a portable drive that I could keep at home. I overlooked a vulnerable spot, and they exploited it.He ran his right hand over his face then through his hair as he considered his next move, but he felt adrift in the middle of a waking nightmare, with no safe harbor anywhere in sight.And to make things worse, every spare cent of operating capital was tied to this project, he reminded himself. Allen and Jennifer and I are the only three that know that. If I can’t salvage this, Gentries Unlimited will have to shut

After a restless night, Maddie was awake for good by six-ten a.m. She shrugged on her running gear, pulled her hair up, tucked the cabin key into the tiny pocket of her jogging suit, and set out for an early morning run.A low mist hovering delicately close to the water’s surface lent an air of mystery to her surroundings. Her footfalls echoing off the gravel trail were only some of the sounds she heard as she went along. Birdsong was in full swing as the landscape around her came awake.Sudden movement up ahead and to her left startled her and she stopped, heart racing. When the bushes parted, Maddie was face to face with a gorgeous doe. The deer looked at her for a long moment, then crossed the path in front of Maddie to continue her journey to the lake’s edge for a drink. A dainty little fawn trotted along after its mother, pausing only to regard Maddie for a moment with its wide brown eyes before flicking its tail and disappearing, as the doe had, into the bushes on the trail’s ri