Chapter 5 - THE RING ON MASON’S HAND
Rachel found Mason in the Fairmont lounge twenty-five minutes later.
I know because she called me from the lobby.
Not secretly.
Not dramatically.
She simply said, “He’s here.”
Chloe had fallen asleep on the couch beside me.
I covered her with a blanket.
Then Logan’s name appeared on my phone.
I answered.
“Rachel told me about the watch.”
His voice sounded exhausted.
“What do you want, Logan?”
“The truth.”
“So do I.”
There was a pause.
“Would you allow me to come over?”
I almost said no.
Then I remembered he had been used too.
An hour earlier, he had expected to spend his wedding night with his wife.
Instead, he had watched her kiss his best friend on a twenty-foot screen.
“Come.”
He arrived fifteen minutes later.
No tuxedo jacket.
No tie.
No ring.
He looked like a different man.
I showed him the watch, the photograph, and the Harbor House ticket.
He studied the date.
“June 14, 1998.”
“Does that mean something legally?”
“Not by itself.”
That mattered.
No miracle piece of evidence.
No easy answer.
Just another clue.
Logan touched the engraving.
“But it tells us Thomas wanted something divided equally.”
My phone rang.
Rachel.
I answered on speaker.
Her breathing sounded unsteady.
“Mason wants to talk.”
“Put him on.”
There was a rustle.
Then Mason spoke.
“Valerie.”
“Where did you get my father’s ring?”
Silence.
“Mason.”
“Theresa gave it to me.”
Rachel’s voice cut in.
“For what?”
“Collateral.”
“For what?”
Another pause.
Then he said, “She loaned me money last year.”
Logan’s expression hardened.
“How much?”
“Seventy-five thousand.”
Rachel swore under her breath.
Mason continued.
“My company had a bad quarter. I was overextended.”
“And my mother knew?” Rachel asked.
“She knew because I approached her.”
“Why her?”
“Because she had money available.”
I almost laughed.
Apparently some of it had been mine.
“What did she want in exchange?” I asked.
“At first? Nothing.”
“No one gives seventy-five thousand dollars for nothing.”
“She wanted information.”
Logan leaned toward the phone.
“About what?”
“My firm had been advising one of the lenders involved in Montgomery Coastal.”
Logan’s jaw tightened.
“Newport.”
“Yes.”
Rachel whispered, “You were spying on Logan.”
“I was giving Theresa general timelines.”
“You slept with me.”
“That wasn't part of it.”
Rachel laughed bitterly.
“Oh, that makes everything better.”
“I never planned that.”
“But you kept doing it.”
“Yes.”
At least he didn't insult her by denying it.
Then Mason said something unexpected.
“Theresa tried to end it.”
Rachel went silent.
“What?”
“When she found out about us, she was furious.”
I looked at Logan.
That was not what we had assumed.
“She threatened to tell Logan,” Mason continued. “Then she changed her mind.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because Rachel told her she was thinking about canceling the wedding.”
Rachel inhaled sharply.
Mason continued.
“Theresa needed the marriage to happen.”
There it was again.
Rachel’s betrayal had not been Mom’s plan.
Mom simply discovered it and turned it into leverage.
That almost made it worse.
“What did she tell you about Valerie’s share?” Logan asked.
“That Valerie no longer had one.”
“Did you believe her?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
Mason hesitated.
“I saw an old ownership schedule.”
Rachel snapped, “And you said nothing?”
“It wasn’t my business.”
Logan laughed once.
“You were sleeping with my fiancée while feeding information about my company to her mother. Spare us the boundaries.”
Mason went quiet.
I asked, “What did the schedule say?”
“Fifty percent Rachel. Fifty percent Valerie.”
My eyes closed.
Even hearing it now hurt.
Not because of the money.
Because Dad had meant for us to share something.
Mom had stolen the truth along with the property.
Rachel’s voice broke.
“When did you see it?”
“Three months ago.”
“You knew Valerie still owned half.”
“I suspected.”
“And you still helped Mom?”
“I was trying to repay a debt.”
Rachel whispered, “You could have told me.”
“I should have.”
Another piece of her life collapsed.
But Mason wasn't finished.
“There’s something else.”
Logan leaned forward.
“What?”
“The withdrawals started before Thomas died.”
I froze.
“What withdrawals?”
“Rental income. Maintenance reserves. Equity draws.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does if Theresa had access.”
I looked at Dad’s photograph.
“My father would have noticed.”
“He did.”
The room went silent.
I gripped the phone.
“How do you know?”
“Because Theresa told me.”
Rachel’s voice sharpened.
“When?”
“The day she gave me the ring.”
“What did she say?”
Mason exhaled.
“That Thomas had caught her once before.”
My chest tightened.
“And?”
“He made her promise to replace everything.”
I stared at the stopped hands on Dad’s watch.
4:17.
My father knew.
He knew Mom had been taking money.
And still, somehow, she had been left in control after he died.
“Why didn't he stop her?” I asked.
Mason answered quietly.
“I don’t know.”
Then he added:
“But Theresa said something I never understood until tonight.”
“What?”
“She said, ‘Thomas forgave me because he knew why I did it.’”
I looked at Rachel.
She was still on speaker, but neither of us spoke.
Mason’s final words landed harder than everything before them.
“Whatever your mother did, Valerie, it didn't start with your father’s death.”
May you like
“It started while he was still alive.”
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