Page 113 of Bitter Secrets

“Thea? Is that you?”

“I’m sorry, miss, I wanted to return your call, but…” Thea let out a horrible, wracking cough before she finished with, “I lost my voice.”

The last remnants of good cheer she’d been desperately clinging to vanished. She turned her back on Mo and Johan, who were halfway down the stairs. They stopped once they realized she wasn’t making a run for it.

“Thea, I’m so sorry. I don’t know where to start. I…” She struggled to come up with an explanation or apology that would make up for Roth’s actions, but there was nothing that could justify what he’d done. “What can I do? How can I make this up to you?”

“I want to keep my job,” Thea wheezed.

“Keep your…? You don’t need to work. I’ll give you severance pay and—"

“No!I…”

Whatever Thea was going to say was lost as she went into a coughing fit.

“Are you okay? Should I call a doctor?”

Thea came back on with a weak, “I’m fine, miss.”

“You’re not fine.” Her voice shook. “He could have killed you.”

“I’m right as rain.”

Thea’s attempt to make light of the situation was an epic fail since she started gagging.

“Don’t talk. You’re making it worse,” she fretted as she paced. “The last thing you need to worry about is your job. You should have retired years ago, and after what he did… I can’t imagine you’d want to return.”

“That’s exactly what I want to do.”

“I’ll give you a pension you can live on. You don’t have to—"

“I don’t want anything, miss, but my job.”

“Why?” Jasmine had nightmares about what happened at Tuxedo Park, but it seemed the person who had every reason to be traumatized was acting like nothing had happened. “Thea, what he did was…”

“I knew the risks.”

She stopped dead in her tracks. “What are you talking about?”

Thea sighed. “I’ve been employed by your father over thirty years. I’ve carried out many tasks for him. Things I shouldn’t have, but your father’s a dangerous man if crossed. Your husband is no different. I knew the time to hand you that package had passed, but I did it anyway.”

Thea let out a horrible cough. Jasmine heard her gulp something down before she continued.

“I didn’t know what was in that envelope, but I suspected… Your father never learned how to let you and your sisters make your own decisions. He meddled in something he shouldn’t have, and I paid the price for it.”

“What else did he ask you to do?” Her hand tightened on the phone when she didn’t answer.“Thea?”

“It’s done.”

“No, it’s not. I’m living with it.” She looked around to make sure Mo and Johan were out of earshot. “Roth asked you if Dad gave you anything else. Did he?”

“All he left me were those letters.”

“Letters?” she echoed sharply and then made the connection. “Yousent those letters to Colette and Ariana?”

“Yes, miss.”

“Why… Why didn’t you tell me?”

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