Page 75 of Octane

“Sawyer, you worry too much,” Daniel scoffs as he opens the door to his father’s office.

Half expecting Warren to be there waiting for us, I’m surprised when we enter a dark, vacant room.

“Come, have a seat, and I’ll give you all the proof you need.”

Daniel plants me in Warren’s chair, then stands to the side, clicking the mouse and bringing the computer to life. He enters the password needed to gain access, then clicks through several folders until he finds what he’s looking for.

Clicking on a file called StoneRealEstateCorp_InvestmentsLoans, a spreadsheet opens. On it, I see a bunch of dollar amounts and dates, but Daniel opens another file before I get a good chance to look at this one. The new one is titled StoneRealEstateCorp_Payments. This spreadsheet has more of the same, a lot of numbers. I get the gist of what each file entails based on what they’re named, but I need Daniel to decipher what exactly it is that is going to prove to me he’s telling the truth.

“If you look at this spreadsheet here,” he begins, pointing to the InvestmentLoans file, “you’ll see a list of all of your father’s investments from several years ago, as well as how much money he lost from each one.”

My stomach rolls, looking through the list, but when I see the grand total, in a larger, angry red font at the bottom, bile rises in my throat.

-$ 1,275,346,528.32

“And this tab lists the money that he borrowed from the people responsible for those pictures that I showed you earlier.”

I don’t bother looking at the acronyms listed for these people or the dollar amounts my father borrowed from them individually. Instead, I scroll down to the bottom, looking for that angry red number again.

-$100,526,253.00

Jesus Christ, Daddy.

“Oh, my God,” I whisper.

I take a few deep breaths as my world crumbles around me. Does Carissa know any of this? If she knows and she didn’t tell me about it, I’m going to be furious.

“And on this spreadsheet, you can see all of the… deposits, let’s call them, that your father has received from the Bank of Kramer over the past few years.”

$578,596,523.00

Even though I’m sitting down, it feels like the floor just dropped out from beneath me. I’m speechless. I have so many questions, yet I can’t seem to ask any one of them right now.

“There’s your proof, Sawyer. Make your decision.”

My heart breaks and tears cascade down my cheeks as realization hits. What little, beautiful freedom I’ve had the past few weeks was all I’ll ever get.

“What’ll it be?” Daniel glares at me as the tears fall faster.

He knows what my answer is based on my reaction.

“Say it, Sawyer,” he smirks as he leans over the back of his father’s chair and speaks quietly into my ear. “I want to hear you say that you want to come home. That you made a mistake, and I’m the one you want to be with.”

I shake my head. I can’t manage it. I’d rather die than say what he’s asking me to say.

“Say it, Sawyer. If you don’t, my father might forget to send your father his next deposit.”

He’s going to hold this over my head for the rest of my life, knowing that he’s got me. That I will do whatever it takes to keep my family safe. To ensure they’re okay at the cost of my own happiness.

“I—I want—t—to come h—home.” I sob.

“Good girl,” he coos, running his hand through my hair. “Keep going.”

“I—I made—a mistake.”

“And?”

“And you—you’re the—only one—I want t—to—be with.”

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