Chapter 6

On my way back, Jessica called, "Susan, something's wrong."

Confused, I asked, "What is it?"

"Andrew's got someone digging into your life. He hired a PI to track what you've been up to lately."

"How could he..."

"Crystal put him up to it. You checked her spending records last night, and now she's worried you might have more on her."

I gripped the steering wheel tighter.

Crystal.

She was even tougher to deal with than I'd imagined.

"Jessica, how much have they found out?" I asked.

She replied, "So far, they only know you went to Eastgate Tech Park today. But they don't know which building you went into."

"HarperTech has four buildings in that park."

"Yeah, so he won't be looking in that direction for now. But if he keeps digging..."

"He won't find anything."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because when I went to HarperTech today, I used the visitor entrance and signed in as you."

Jessica went quiet for a couple seconds. "Susan, when did you get so good at this?"

"People pushed me into it."

"So what now? The patent transfer will take three to five days. How are you going to hold him off in the meantime?"

I paused to think. "He wants me to sign that agreement, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'll tell him I'm considering it."

"You're going to pretend to give in?"

"I'm dragging it out. If I can hold off for five days, the patent transfer will go through, and by then, even if he tries to sue, it's game over."

"Alright. But watch yourself. Andrew's the type who'll go to any lengths if he's desperate."

"I know."

When I got home, Andrew wasn't there.

But someone was sitting in the living room.

It was my mom, May Nolan.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" I asked.

She looked at me, her eyes rimmed with red. "Sweetie, Andrew called me."

I set my bag down. "What did he say?"

"He told me you've been really emotional lately, not cooperating with the company, and even suspecting him of having an affair."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Which part of that do you really believe?"

"Sweetie..."

"He handed 100 million to another woman for my patent, but only pays me 300,000 a year in royalties. And I'm the one who's not cooperating?"

Mom was stunned. "One hundred million dollars?"

"Yeah. Crystal, the marketing director. Everyone at the company knows about their relationship."

I handed her my phone and opened up the folder with the screenshots.

She flipped through them one by one.

With each image, her face grew paler. "These are all..."

"Hotel bills, luxury goods, jewelry. All put on his secondary card. For two years now."

Her hands were shaking. "Sweetie, why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Because I was waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"For the day when everything was ready."

Mom looked up at me. "What are you planning?"

"Mom, head home for now. You'll find out in a few days."

"I'm not leaving," she said, suddenly grabbing my hand, "I'm not leaving. Sweetie, I've had enough pain in my life. Back when your dad..."

She didn't finish.

But I knew exactly what she meant.

My dad, Alex Nolan was like that, years ago.

Another woman, another marriage that was nothing but a lie.

Mom shouldered everything alone for twenty years, raising me all by herself.

Her biggest fear was that I'd end up walking the same path she did.

"Mom, don't worry. I'm not going to end up like you did back then." I comforted her.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Back then, you chose to put up with it. I'm choosing to fight back."