Chapter 1 - The Number on the Paper
The number written across the top of the letter was $286,400.
Ruby read it three times before looking at her husband.
Jameson sat on the opposite side of the kitchen island with his head lowered. His tie was loose, and his dark hair looked as though he had dragged his hands through it for hours.
“What is this?” Ruby asked.
Jameson did not answer.
The kitchen clock showed 11:42 p.m. Lily had been asleep for nearly three hours. Until Jameson walked through the door, Ruby had been reviewing invoices from her interior-design company and thinking about the family vacation they had planned for August.
Now the vacation seemed to belong to another life.
“Jameson.”
He finally raised his eyes.
“I made some bad investments.”
Ruby placed the letter on the marble counter. “What kind of investments?”
“A property group.”
“Which property group?”
He hesitated.
That hesitation told her more than his answer.
“Jameson, where did this money come from?”
He stood abruptly and walked to the window. “I borrowed against the business.”
“Your business?”
“Our future,” he corrected. “I was trying to build something for us.”
Jameson owned a small consulting firm that had never produced the profits he promised. Ruby had covered the household expenses during its first two years. She had paid its office rent during the third. Whenever she questioned him, he accused her of not believing in his potential.
She had believed in him for seven years.
She had believed enough for both of them.
“How much do you owe in total?” she asked.
“That is the total.”
“Are you sure?”
He nodded too quickly.
Ruby felt a cold pressure behind her ribs. “What happens if it isn’t paid?”
“The lender takes everything attached to the agreement.”
“What did you attach?”
Jameson turned toward her.
“My company. My car. Some personal assets.”
“Which personal assets?”
He looked away again.
Ruby’s voice sharpened. “Did you use this house?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
For a moment, she believed him.
The house had belonged to Ruby before their marriage. She had bought it using money from her first company and part of the inheritance left by her grandmother. Jameson’s name had never been added to the deed.
Ruby had refused every time Evelyn suggested it.
“A wife who trusts her husband shouldn’t keep property separate,” Evelyn once said during Thanksgiving dinner.
Ruby had smiled and changed the subject.
Now she was grateful she had.
Jameson walked around the island and took Ruby’s hands.
“I have until noon tomorrow,” he said. “After that, they file the claim. My business is finished. My reputation is finished.”
Ruby pulled one hand free. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I thought I could fix it.”
“By hiding it?”
“I was ashamed.”
His eyes filled with tears.
Ruby had seen him cry only twice: when Lily was born and when his father died. Seeing it now weakened something inside her.
Jameson lowered himself into the chair beside her.
“I know I failed you,” he whispered. “But I can rebuild. I only need one chance.”
Ruby stared at the letter again.
She had enough money in a long-term business account to pay the debt. It was supposed to fund an expansion that would create eighteen new jobs. Touching it would delay the project for at least two years.
But refusing could destroy Jameson.
And despite everything, he was still her husband.
Lily still adored him.
“What happens after I pay it?” Ruby asked.
Jameson looked up.
Hope flooded his face.
“I close the investment account. I give you full access to my finances. No more secrets.”
“And counseling.”
“Anything.”
“You sign an agreement stating that you will repay the money.”
“Of course.”
Ruby studied him.
“Tell me now if there is anything else.”
“There isn’t.”
“Any other debt?”
“No.”
“Any other secret?”
Jameson squeezed her hands.
“No more secrets.”
Ruby did not notice the second phone vibrating silently inside his jacket.
May you like
She did not see the message glowing across its screen.
Celeste: Is she going to pay? Evelyn says everything is ready for tomorrow.
