Page 135 of Dex

“I was hoping it would never have come to this, filha.”

“What changed?What was new that he made you sign another contract?”

“I didn’t read it.”

I gasp and my mouth falls open.I’m glad my father can’t see the shock on my face.“You didn’t read it?”This man isn’t the businessman I knew.My father is a shrewd man, and ordinarily he would check and triple check everything.That he didn’t on this instance tells me just how far he’s fallen.How desperate he must have been.

“Paul Knight was so angry when he discovered that the accounts had been touched, he was furious that we’d gone to such great lengths to mislead him.He warned me that it’s a punishable offense, but I was so desperate …”

Desperate men do desperate things.

“We’ll find a way out of this, Papai.”I do my best to try to reassure him but I feel empty inside.Hollow, like there’s nothing holding me together and I might crumble into a heap of nothingness.

“Paul Knight threatened to expose me, and he told me that the bad publicity would make things worse, and if I wanted to avoid all of that, to just to sign the contract.That’s what I did, filha.”

What worries me is that he did so without reading it.I need to see what has changed.“Please, just send me a copy of the contract.”

“Do you really need to see it, filha?”My father sounds tired.He doesn’t sound like himself, and I feel him slipping away from me again, lost in his own world.

“Yes, I do, Papai.You’ve met Paul Knight, and you should know the type of man he is.This isn’t good.”

“Are you in danger?”He sounds even more worried, so I try to lighten my tone.

“You should have told me the company was in a worse position than I believed.Why did you mislead Paul Knight?”

“I didn’t know what to do, filha.”

“When did he find out?Was it when he stayed behind, when Dexter and I went on our honeymoon?”

“It might have started then.He must have suspected something, because he had his own people in, going through the accounts.I’m sorry, filha.I’ve put you in a terrible position.”

My father’s betrayal and the consequences of it, finally sink in.“I would never have married Dexter Knight if I had known this.We would have found another way.Why didn’t you tell me before?”

I hear labored breathing at the other end of the line.“I failed you as a father.I failed the company...but mostly, I failed you, my daughter.As a father, what I’ve done is unforgivable, expecting my daughter to marry a man she barely knows.”

I soften when I hear the pain in his voice.I can’t let this destroy him.“It was only ever on paper, Papai.Nothing happened.You don’t need to worry.”Now it’s my time to lie.I suck in a breath to stop myself from saying anything that might hurt him, but I’m furious and disappointed that I walked into the lion’s den without knowing what I was getting myself into.

What makes it worse is that I’ve given my heart to Dexter, and now he’s going to hate me.I feel so torn.I sacrificed everything to save the company, but now it’s worse than before.My father blames himself and I can’t let him do that.I can’t let this be the end.I can’t let Paul Knight win.

“Please email me the contract, Papai.Does Mãe know?”I hold my breath and pray she doesn’t.

“She knows only what you knew.That things weren’t great.She doesn’t know the truth.”

“Don’t tell her anything.”I can’t have both of my parents worried sick.

“The truth will come out soon, filha.”

“Maybe not.He made you sign another contract.I just need to know what you signed.Please send it as soon as you can, Papai.”

I hang up and feel lost as I pace around the apartment, not knowing what to do.

Do I stay?Do I go?

I won’t know what to do until I see what my father has signed.I need the facts.It was not having the facts in the first place that landed me in this situation.Paul Knight thinks he’s the grand chess master, and that I’m just a pawn.

Not so.I’m determined to exact my revenge, but I don’t yet know how.

I spend the evening alone.Dexter still hasn’t come home, and I doubt he will.He was furious when he discovered I’d been keeping something from him.I shouldn’t have kept this from him.He wouldn’t keep anything from me.

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