Chapter Twenty-Four
Morgan
I was probably lucky to have made it through twenty-six years of life without ever experiencing a betrayal like the one tearing me apart now, but that didn’t make the rest of the night any easier.
I tossed and turned, my dreams a messy, confusing mix of wanting Liam, yelling at him, and watching him walk away from me for good, leaving me alone with nothing but the echo of his accusations.
By morning, I was a grumpy disaster, nursing a too-strong cup of coffee in a kitchen that still smelled faintly of the garlic bread I’d made for our dinner. I’d planned on a simple night with Liam. A nice meal, maybe a movie, definitely ending the evening tangled up together in my bed.
So much for my best-laid plans. Instead, Liam had dropped a bomb that had left me gutted, furious, and impossibly confused. And in the warm morning light, nothing felt less painful. If anything, the hurt burrowed deeper.
I was devastated that he kept the money discrepancies from me while we were in Vegas.
That trip meant something to me. It felt like we’d grown closer in a real way.
I’d opened myself up to him, trusted him, and believed he’d trusted me in return.
Now, I couldn’t help but look back on those days through the lens of deceit.
The whole time, he’d been keeping something huge from me.
Then there was Parker. No matter what Liam said, I couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of my stepbrother stealing from us.
Parker could do it, sure. He was brilliant with computers and anything tech related.
If anyone could get away with embezzling, it was him.
But why would he do such a thing? Unless…
unless there was some reason I didn’t know about.
Something that had made him desperate enough to—
No. I couldn’t think like that.
Frustrated with my spiraling thoughts, I finished my coffee and dressed for work. Thanks to not sleeping, I arrived even earlier than usual. The office was quiet, lights dimmed, the hallways hushed.
I headed toward my office like I would any other morning. But when I reached the door, I stopped. My gaze drifted further down the hall to Parker’s office.
I knew he kept it locked. But I also knew my father had spare keys in his desk to every office, just in case anyone got locked out.
Don’t do this.
I told myself to just go into my own office and stick to my conviction that Parker was innocent. I could talk to Dad about Liam’s accusations today, and he’d know how to handle the situation. There was no need to snoop through my stepbrother’s things like some kind of paranoid detective.
But I still lingered in the hallway, biting my lip, staring at that closed door, while more intrusive thoughts found their way into my conscience.
How Becca’s credit card had been denied the night of my birthday.
How Parker told her to scale back on Christmas gifts for Gracie and he’d had Becca cancel their babymoon.
How he’d reacted that night when we’d been at my parents for dinner and Becca had mentioned them buying a bigger house to accommodate their growing family.
No matter how much I tried to talk myself out of it, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to look.
Truthfully, the doubt that Liam had planted was already taking root, whispering at the back of my mind in tortuous ways, and I knew I’d spend the entire day wondering.
I knew I could ask Liam to view the reports from the forensic accountant, but I wanted to do this on my own.
Cold, hard numbers wouldn’t make as much sense to me as looking around Parker’s office for a reason why.
I told myself no one had to know. I could take a quick look around, confirm that there was nothing incriminating to find, and leave, my conscience clear.
Five minutes later, spare key in hand, I let myself into Parker’s office.
Everything was neat and organized, as always. His shelves were lined with Lego sets he’d built, little shrines to his nerdy hobbies. Two monitors sat on his desk beside neat stacks of papers. A filing cabinet stood behind it, topped with framed photos of Becca and Gracie.
Exhaling a deep breath, I moved to the filing cabinet first. I flicked through the folders, hating that I was betraying Parker’s trust just by being in here, going through his things. By letting Liam’s accusation create enough doubt to make me search for evidence I desperately hoped didn’t exist.
Still, I searched. The filing cabinet contained nothing suspicious, just details of past and current projects, technical specifications, and vendor contracts.
The stack of papers on his desk were all related to the EV charger.
Everything was exactly what it should be.
I wanted to leave, to forget that I ever came in here, but I knew it would drive me crazy if I left before checking everywhere.
Pulling open the top drawer of his desk, I expected to see nothing more than pens, paperclips, and Post-it notes. Those things were there, but it was the small plastic baggie of white powder that made me freeze as I stared in wide-eyed horror.
My brain rejected it immediately. No. It can’t be what it looks like.
There was no way that Parker had drugs in his office. No. Way.
But my excuses had finally reached their limit.
I’d never touched recreational drugs in my life, but I was certain that’s exactly what I was looking at.
My breath went shallow. My hands shook as I picked up the baggie, my denial crumbling with every heartbeat.
I shut the drawer hard and shoved the bag into the pocket of my blazer.
I didn’t look through the other drawers, suddenly afraid of what else I might find.
I rushed out of Parker’s office, pausing only long enough to lock the door behind me so no one else could wander inside and discover whatever other secrets might be hiding in there.
I grabbed my purse, my mind reeling as I ran to the elevator, glad that no one else was around to see me because I was sure my panic and confusion were stamped all over my face.
Why would Parker have drugs? And what kind of drug was this, anyway?
I was halfway to his house before it even occurred to me that I probably had an illegal substance in my pocket and what that could mean if I got pulled over.
That had never happened to me. I’d never gotten so much as a speeding ticket, but suddenly I couldn’t stop imagining a police officer asking me to step out of the car, finding the baggie, and slapping handcuffs on my wrists.
I drove like someone’s grandmother, going exactly the speed limit, coming to complete stops at every sign, my hands gripping the wheel at ten and two. Meanwhile, my heart raced so fast I felt light-headed.
By the time I pulled into Parker’s driveway, I was a complete mess.
It was barely seven in the morning. I knew he’d be getting ready to leave for work soon, probably eating breakfast with Becca and Gracie before heading out.
Under normal circumstances, I never would have shown up unannounced this early.
But I couldn’t wait. I was too freaked out, too desperate for answers and explanations. I needed to know the truth, right now.
At the door, I didn’t bother with the doorbell.
I pounded my fist against the wood, each hit fueled by the nervous energy coursing through me.
It took a couple of minutes, but Becca opened the door.
She was in pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt that stretched over her pregnant belly, hair tousled, blinking at me in sleepy confusion.
“Morgan?” She frowned at me. “What are you doing here so early?”
“I need to talk to Parker.” I stepped past her into the house without waiting to be invited in.
She closed the door and followed me into the living room, looking more awake now, worry creasing her forehead. “Is something wrong?”
“I just…I need to talk to him,” I repeated, glancing around impatiently. “It’s important.”
“He’s in the shower,” Becca said, her concern increasing based on my own erratic behavior. “What’s going on, Morgan? Are you okay?”
No, I was far from okay. I’d found drugs in my stepbrother’s office. And there was a possibility—an awful, terrifying, real possibility—that Liam wasn’t wrong about the money.
But I couldn’t put this on Becca. Not when she was pregnant. Not until I knew the truth about everything.
I exhaled a deep breath and forced myself to calm down. “I’m okay,” I lied. “I just need to talk to Parker about something personal. Please, tell him I’m here.”
“Okay,” she said, and disappeared down the hall.
I sat down on the couch while I waited, but I couldn’t relax. My foot tapped restlessly, and I picked at my nails. The baggie in my pocket felt like a lead weight, despite it being so light.
A short while later Parker walked in without Becca, which I was grateful for.
This wasn’t a confrontation I wanted to have with him in front of her.
His hair was damp and he was wearing a suit.
There was obvious concern on his face because I’d never shown up at their house this early, but other than that he looked completely normal.
There was no sign that anything was off with him, just a slight stiffness in his movements, like when his back pain flared up.
I stood as he approached, searching his eyes for any hint that he was high, but they were clear.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, brows furrowed as he stared at me. “Are you okay?”
His worry hit me hard. Classic Parker, always putting others first. We’d been so close for so long, how had I missed this? My heart ached as I pulled the baggie from my pocket for him to see.
“No, Parker. I’m not okay,” I said, my voice trembling with a mix of hurt and anger. “Are you?”
He blinked, his expression going blank for a split second. When his eyes met mine again, they were guarded, and I could feel my heart cracking in my chest.