CHAP 6 — THE PRICE OF SILENCE
Amber wanted to meet in a coffee shop in Addison.
Daniel said no.
Leah said absolutely not.
Simon said nothing because forensic examiners apparently considered personal disasters outside their jurisdiction.
I wanted to go.
Not because I trusted Amber.
Because I had known her since I was eight years old.
There are betrayals so large the mind keeps searching for an explanation that will reduce them.
A misunderstanding.
Coercion.
A secret illness.
A threat.
Anything except the simplest answer:
She chose herself over you.
We compromised.
Amber would meet me at Leah’s office.
No Jason.
No recording by me without legal advice.
No promises.
She arrived wearing black pants and a cream sweater.
The first thing I noticed was that she was not wearing makeup.
The second was that she looked relieved to see me.
That made me angrier than if she had looked cruel.
“Rachel.”
“Sit.”
She sat.
Leah remained in the room.
Amber glanced at her.
“I thought we’d be alone.”
“You were wrong.”
Her mouth tightened.
Then she looked at me again.
“I’m sorry.”
“For which part?”
Tears appeared.
Real tears.
I knew Amber well enough to know when she was pretending.
That almost made it worse.
“All of it.”
“Did you sleep with my husband?”
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“On and off for about eight months.”
The room became very quiet.
Eight months.
She had helped me choose bridesmaid dresses seven months earlier.
She had gone cake tasting with me six months earlier.
She had thrown my bridal shower three months earlier.
“Why?”
“I loved him first.”
I stared.
“Don’t use his line.”
“It’s true.”
“No. You had a crush on him in college.”
“We dated.”
“Twice.”
“It was more than that.”
“Not to him.”
Her face changed.
I saw it.
Pain.
Old and deep.
Jason had found the exact wound to use.
Amber whispered, “He contacted me last year. He said he’d made a mistake.”
“And you believed him.”
“Yes.”
“While helping me plan my wedding.”
“I tried to stop.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
I nodded.
“At least that answer is honest.”
Leah slid a tissue box toward Amber.
Amber ignored it.
“The money wasn’t supposed to be stolen.”
“Then why did your fake company receive it?”
Her eyes snapped toward Leah.
“You showed her everything?”
“I showed my attorney evidence relevant to my marriage.”
Amber looked frightened.
“Jason said Red Creek was temporary.”
“For what?”
“He said Whitmore owed him money from a bonus dispute. He said some vendor payments were being moved around until the company corrected what they owed him.”
“Did you believe that too?”
“At first.”
“When did you stop?”
She did not answer.
“Amber.”
“March.”
Five months before the wedding.
“What happened in March?”
“I saw one of the invoices.”
“And?”
“The job site didn’t exist.”
My throat tightened.
“You knew.”
“I knew something was wrong.”
“And you kept taking money.”
“I was scared.”
“Of Jason?”
She hesitated.
That was enough.
“No,” I said. “Not of Jason. Of losing the money.”
Her face crumpled.
“I was in debt.”
There it was.
Credit cards.
A failed investment.
Tax problems.
Jason had offered Red Creek as a way to “move consulting income.”
Amber had created the LLC.
She opened the bank account.
At first, she claimed she believed the invoices reflected legitimate side consulting.
Later, she knew they did not.
By then, she had used some of the money.
“How much?”
She stared at the table.
“About ninety thousand.”
Leah’s pen stopped.
I felt strangely calm.
“And the rest?”
“Jason moved most of it.”
“To JCM Holdings?”
Amber’s head snapped up.
“You know about that?”
“Yes.”
She began crying again.
“Then you know more than I do.”
“Tell me about the home equity loan.”
She looked toward Leah.
“Jason said you both agreed to refinance.”
“I didn’t.”
Amber’s face went white.
“I didn’t know that.”
“Don’t.”
“I swear.”
“You discussed getting me out of the house.”
Her hands tightened.
“That wasn’t about the loan.”
“What was it about?”
“He said if you decided to leave him after the wedding, he could settle fast. He said you’d want your money back and he’d use the refinance to pay you.”
I laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
“So the wedding-night performance was deliberate?”
“No.”
“Then why did you text, ‘You promised she wouldn’t suspect anything before Monday’?”
Amber looked stunned.
I had the answer before she gave it.
Jason had told her the loan was legitimate.
But he had also told her I could not discover Red Creek before Monday.
The plan was not to make me leave.
The plan was to keep me emotional, distracted and easy to negotiate with.
Their affair was real.
Their timing was opportunistic.
Their lies overlapped until even Amber did not know which story belonged to which crime.
She whispered, “He said he was going to tell you about us after the honeymoon.”
“Why Monday?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I know how it sounds.”
“No, Amber. You know how it is.”
She stood.
Leah said, “Sit down.”
Amber froze.
Leah’s voice remained calm.
“You requested this meeting. You can leave whenever you want. But before you do, understand something: if you have records relevant to financial transactions, deleting them now could create additional problems for you.”
Amber slowly sat again.
Her eyes stayed on me.
“I have a second phone.”
My heart jumped.
“What’s on it?”
“Messages Jason doesn’t know I kept.”
“Where is it?”
“At my apartment.”
Leah said, “Do not bring it to Rachel. Speak to your own attorney.”
Amber looked terrified.
“I can’t afford one.”
Daniel, who had been listening remotely, spoke through Leah’s conference phone.
“You cannot afford not to have one.”
Amber flinched.
Before she left, she turned to me.
“Rachel.”
I said nothing.
“He didn’t marry you because of the money.”
I almost smiled.
“Is that supposed to help?”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“He married you because you made him look like the man he wanted everyone to think he was.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Because for the first time, I understood Jason’s real addiction.
It wasn’t Amber.
May you like
It wasn’t money.
It was being believed.
