Chapter 5 - THE MONEY BETWEEN FRIENDS
Mara called Serena.
“Four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”
Silence.
“Tell me what you did with it.”
Serena began crying.
Mara closed her eyes.
“Please don't cry before you answer.”
“I used some of it to pay Julian's creditors.”
“And the rest?”
Serena whispered, “I kept it.”
Mara felt something inside her go quiet.
“You sat beside me in the hospital after I lost my baby.”
Serena sobbed.
“Mara—”
“You held my hand while I cried because I thought my body had failed.”
“I know.”
“And all this time, you knew exactly how much my nursing career meant to me.”
Serena couldn't answer.
Mara continued.
“You knew I worked through grief because caring for patients was the one part of my life that still felt steady.”
“I never thought anyone would find out.”
Mara stared at the phone.
There it was.
Not remorse.
Regret at being discovered.
She ended the call.
That evening, Dominic came to the hotel.
Mara agreed to meet him in a private conference room with Evelyn Price present.
Dominic looked as though he hadn't slept.
He sat opposite his wife.
“Mara, I'm sorry.”
She studied him.
“For what?”
He hesitated.
She waited.
Finally, he said:
“For treating your name like something I owned.”
Mara felt tears threaten.
But she kept her voice steady.
“Did you know Julian forged my signature?”
“No.”
“Did you give him permission to use my name?”
Dominic lowered his eyes.
“I told him we could discuss your possible involvement.”
“Without asking me?”
“Yes.”
Mara nodded slowly.
“Then you started the betrayal. He finished it.”
Dominic accepted the words.
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“Is there anything else?”
He hesitated.
May you like
And Mara knew.
There was.
