Across the street, Mrs. Keller slowed with her dog. A gardener paused near the hedge. Patricia noticed them and straightened like royalty under attack.
“You’re lying,” she hissed.
I opened the front gate remotely, but not the door.
“Daniel can collect his personal items later through my lawyer. You are both trespassing if you stay.”
Daniel looked up at the camera, panic slipping through his charm.
“You’re making a mistake.”
“No,” I said. “I made the mistake three years ago.”
Before he could respond, a black sedan pulled up at the curb. My assistant, Mark, stepped out with a clipboard and two security officers.
Daniel stared at them.
His face drained of color.
Mark looked almost apologetic. “Mr. Hayes, I need the keys to the Range Rover.”
Patricia turned sharply. “What Range Rover?”
“The vehicle is registered under Voss Meridian Holdings,” Mark said. “It has been recalled.”
Patricia blinked. “What is Voss Meridian?”
I smiled at the screen.
“My company.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
There it was.
The second lie.
For two years, Daniel had let his mother believe he was a rising executive supporting a pretty, dependent wife. At dinners, he described my investment firm as “Rachel’s little project.” When clients praised me, he interrupted. When Patricia mocked my late nights, he smiled like I was eccentric.
But he had never told her the truth.
I was not his ornament.
I was his employer.
And worse for him, I was the one who had approved his access, his salary, his credit card, his vehicle, and the regional accounts he thought no one was watching.
Mark extended his hand.
“The keys, Mr. Hayes.”
Daniel’s voice dropped into a threat. “Rachel, don’t embarrass me.”
I looked at the torn white dress lying across the chair beside me.
“You embarrassed yourself.”
Patricia grabbed Daniel’s sleeve. “Tell me she’s lying.”
