Her lips parted.
Alexander looked at her.
“You said he didn’t know.”
That sentence damaged them more than anything I could have said.
Meredith shot him a furious look.
Adrian’s eyes sharpened.
“Thank you, Alexander.”
“I meant he didn’t know about the airport,” Alexander said quickly.
“That’s all.”
“No one asked what you meant.”
Adrian turned to Meredith.
“Do not access the venture file, contact the investment committee, or communicate with anyone at Victoria’s agency until you receive instructions from compliance.”
“You cannot suspend my authority in an airport.”
“I just did.”
Her expression hardened.
“I am the chief financial officer of Vale Growth Partners.”
“And your authority is delegated,” Adrian said.
“It is not inherited.”
Alexander tried to step between them.
“This is ridiculous.
Whatever happened personally has nothing to do with the deal.”
“That depends on whether corporate resources were used to support the personal relationship,” Adrian replied.
“It also depends on whether your financial projections can survive independent review.”
For the first time, Alexander looked genuinely frightened.
Adrian noticed.
So did I.
He turned to me and lowered his voice.
“Preserve every message Alexander sends you.
Do not answer anything tonight.
Report to your office at eight-thirty tomorrow morning.”
I stared at him.
“Am I being investigated?”
“No.”
His answer came without hesitation.
“You are being given the opportunity to speak before someone else writes the story for you.”
Across from us, Alexander was already pulling out his phone.
Adrian looked at him.
“I would advise against making that call.”
Alexander slowly lowered it.
I should have felt victorious.
Instead, I felt hollow.
The handmade welcome sign was still lying near the arrivals barrier, my cheerful letters bent where someone’s suitcase had rolled across them.
I walked over, picked it up, and folded it in half.
Alexander followed me.
“Victoria, wait.”
I kept walking.
“It isn’t what you think,” he said.
“Meredith and I became close because of the venture.
I was going to explain everything after the financing closed.”
I turned around.
“You were going to explain that you loved someone else after she gave you money?”
His eyes moved toward Adrian, calculating how much he could safely admit.
“I still love you.”
“No,” I said.
“You loved having me at home while you built another life in hotel rooms.”
His face tightened.
