Betrayed Hearts and Second Chances のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 10

Monica arrived at Riverside Café ten minutes early. Judge Simon was already there, looking worried. He stood when she approached his table."Monica, thank you for coming.""Make this quick, Simon. I have to finish packing.""You're leaving Connecticut?""Starting fresh in Boston."Simon ordered coffee for both of them. "Monica, I need to tell you something about Germany Slater.""George's business partner? What about him?""He's been sabotaging your marriage from the beginning."Monica stared at him. "What do you mean?""Germany has resented George since college. George got the business scholarships Germany wanted. Got into the MBA program Germany was rejected from. Germany has been waiting years for revenge.""That doesn't explain why George cheated on me.""That's just it. I don't think George intended to cheat."Simon pulled out his phone and showed Monica a series of photos."These were taken at the business dinner three months ago. The night George claimed he realized he didn't l

The FBI arrested Germany Slater at 6 AM. Monica watched the news coverage from George's penthouse, where she'd been staying since the hotel incident three days ago."Federal agents raided the offices of Slater Financial Services this morning," the reporter announced. "Germany Slater faces charges of embezzlement, fraud, blackmail, and conspiracy."George turned off the television. "It's over. Finally.""What about the photos he threatened us with?""Agent Rodriguez found them on Germany's computer. They'll be destroyed as evidence disposal after the trial."Monica felt relief wash over her. The photos would never surface now."And Sharon?""Pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges yesterday. She'll serve eighteen months minimum security prison."George's phone rang. His lawyer."The annulment paperwork is ready for filing," George told Monica after hanging up. "I'll be legally single again in ninety days."Monica nodded. She'd been expecting this news, but it still felt significant."Monic

The envelope never made it to me.George arrived in twenty minutes. Agent Rodriguez arrived in thirty. They pulled the lobby footage, identified the delivery man as a mid-level associate of Germany's named Corey Hall, and had him in an interview room by midnight.Corey Hall wouldn't say a word."He's scared," Rodriguez told us the following morning. "More scared of Germany than he is of a federal obstruction charge. That tells you something.""It tells me Germany still has leverage over people even from a holding cell," I said."Yes." Rodriguez didn't sugarcoat it. "His legal team filed for bail this morning. Judge Holloway denied it, but Germany's people are appealing. Could take two weeks, could take four days. Depends on the circuit."George's jaw tightened. "What do we do in the meantime?""You keep her somewhere he can't map," Rodriguez said, tilting her head toward me.I was already shaking my head. "I'm not going into hiding. I have clients. I have a business. I have a life.""M

I was still reading Rodriguez's text when George's hand closed around my arm."Monica." His voice was low and completely controlled, which was worse than panic. "We need to move right now."I was already moving. Coat, keys, phone. The elevator. The lobby. George's car at the curb with the engine still warm because he'd only been upstairs forty minutes.Four blocks.I kept saying it to myself like a measurement I could close with enough speed. Four blocks. Four blocks was nothing. Four blocks was a five-minute drive at this hour, less if George pushed through the yellow light on Columbus, which he did, and the one after it.Bright Beginnings Preschool had a glass-front lobby and a buzzer entry and a rule that no child could be released without a parent or pre-approved guardian presenting photo identification. I had read those policies when I enrolled Georgia. I had read them carefully because I was a woman who had learned, at great cost, that careful reading was the only reliable form o