I Married a Billionaire: Lost and Found(51)

"What charming little theories you’ve cooked up," said the judge. "I suppose all of that is easier to swallow than the idea that someone might simply think you’re an undeserving, spoiled little brat?"

"I’m not interested in your opinion of me," said Daniel, coldly. "I’m interested in how you arrived there."

"I wish it were that sensational," said the judge. "You’re too young to understand this, but I’ve been working in the courts for forty years. All that time, I’ve seen people taking advantage of the system. Playing it to their own ends. I was never one of them, and my career suffered for it. But I got where I was, finally, by being upright and honest - the things everyone tells you to to be. I got there, after being stepped on by a hundred colleagues along the way. My reputation speaks for itself, and even if it didn’t, I retire in three months. Who’s going to bother to look, no matter how compelling the evidence is?" He looked up at us. "But tell me, Mr. Thorne, supposing everything you’ve said is true. Does that change anything? Will you sleep any better at night?"

"I might," said Daniel. "That’s none of your concern."

"Whether you can successfully blame me for this or not," the judge went on, "you still have to live with the realities of what you’ve done. Every decision you’ve made. Every time you chose to ignore someone instead of extending a helping hand. Every time you stepped on someone’s neck. Every time you did something that benefitted you, and you alone. Every time you left someone in your dust, or let them languish in your shadow." The judge paused, his expression suddenly dark. "I believe we’re done here, Mr. and Mrs. Thorne."

We walked out in silence, except for the loud clicking of our shoes in the halls. I felt like everyone was staring at us. I might have been right.

So this was what winning felt like.

I didn’t expect it to taste so bitter.





***

"Sadly, he’s not wrong." Ms. Greenlee sounded slightly harried. Daniel had called her and actually put her on speakerphone, which I had to appreciate. "When it comes to guys like him, who’ve been in the system as long as they have…not to mention the fact that he’s retiring in less time than it will take to get the investigation started. They’ll grant your petition, because they don’t want the hassle, but the investigation’s probably going to be nothing more than a formality."

"I don’t understand," Daniel said. "Even if Paulson testifies against him? I’ve got my investigator looking for them right now. I’ll only be a matter of time."

Ms. Greenlee sighed, and I noticed how tired and sad she sounded. I had almost forgotten that she and the judge had once been friends. Or friendly, at least. "I doubt the judge will let that happen. Anyway, according to what you’ve told me, Paulson approached the judge for help in taking you down, not the other way around. No matter how he tries to slice it, the whole thing was his head. There’s not much advantage to him trying to throw someone else under the bus. Especially someone with as much influence as that."

Poor Kelly was working overtime on our behalf, simultaneously trying to track down Jim Paulson, Ryan Brewer, and Daniel’s broker. According to Gen’s anonymous source, he hadn’t shown up to work in over two weeks.

The local police had actually been of more help with the Flo situation than I’d anticipated, once they took their sweet time verifying all of our information and going back and forth with the SEC. They agreed that she’d mostly likely made good on her declaration to flee the country. INTERPOL was now informed, and they assured us they’d let us know just as soon as they tracked her down.

"It’s difficult to hide nowadays," the police chief had assured us. "Cell phone signals, security cameras everywhere - odds are, if she’s out there, we’ll be bringing her back in eventually."

Lying in bed one night, waiting for that elusive sleep to come, I found myself asking the question that had been lodged in the back of my mind for ages. "Are you absolutely sure it was Paulson who did it?"

Daniel didn’t answer for a moment. "Yes," he said. "Thinking back, yes, I’m certain. It was his design, mostly. The one he says I stole. He was the only one among them who had any real talent. And he was always the quietest of the bunch. The others would make fun of me to my face, but he never did. I don’t know if it’s because he respected me, or because he was afraid of me, but either way - he was the only one of them who took me seriously. The others would have most likely forgotten about me, if it weren’t for him."

I didn’t know quite what to say to that.





***

"Thank you," said Daniel, out of the blue.




I paused, in the middle of pouring my coffee. "You’re…wait, what?"

Coming to sit down, I searched his face. He looked a little bit soft and unfocused, like he’s just wandered back from being lost in thought.

"You know," he said. "Hiring Kelly. Pursuing everything. All those things I didn’t want to do. You handled this much better than I did. I don’t mind saying it."

He did mind, I think, which only made me appreciate it more. I smiled, laying my hand on top of his, which were folded on top of the kitchen island. He was still looking down, staring at the granite countertop like it held the secrets to life, the universe, and everything.