Page 89 of Owned By a Billionaire

Thepolicestationhadthat cold, unfriendly atmosphere I’d unfortunately grown accustomed to by now. I’d been called in yet again to give another statement about what had happened at the Elysium function. And without Mark, I had no one who could share my angst. I’d grown so dependent on his wisdom and support.

The morning after that fateful party, Mark left for Australia, although I begged him not to.

“I was always going to go, Caroline,” he responded as he packed his overnight bag.

“Where did you disappear to last night?”

“I couldn’t have police looking into my life while my identity is in question,” he said.

“But don’t you see that running to Australia implicates you?”

“I have to go. I’ll miss my flight otherwise.” He squeezed my hand. “At least he’s gone. You’re free now, Caroline.”

A tense breath left my lips. “But at what cost? I’m about to lose you.”

“I had nothing to do with it.” He stared deeply into my eyes.

I searched his gaze for answers, only to find his dark, beautiful eyes shining with heartwarming affection. Whether I believed Mark was immaterial, because I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

He kissed me passionately. “I love you.”

“What do I say to the police when they ask me why you hurried off to Australia? Someone will tell them you were at the function.”

“Tell them the truth.”

“The truth? How you faked your disappearance all those years ago?”

“If you like.” His mouth curled up at one end. He seemed so easy about it all. While, in sharp contrast, I was tied in knots.

On a deeper level, I admired his determination and forbearance. Unlike me and my hand-wringing self-pity, Mark accepted humiliation with poise and calmness.

He smiled. “This time, I mean to stare my bad choices in the face.”

“Bad choices that brought us together.”

He nodded slowly. “Life’s full of strange twists.” Then he left.

A detective in a suit snapped me out of my reflections, beckoning me to come with him just as my lawyer arrived.

We followed him into a nondescript room that was as frigid as the man in the ill-fitting suit, who gestured at me to sit.

My lawyer whispered, “You don’t have to say anything.”

“I have nothing to hide.” I squared my shoulders, channeling that tough version of myself I rolled out when confronted by adversity.

Only I wasn’t sure where this interrogation would lead. It had spared me the almost impossible task of admitting to Alice’s death, given the extraordinary events that unfolded as though someone had deliberately timed it, coming to my rescue in the grisliest of ways and saving me from having to tell my son. That was now a secret that I could take to my grave, despite the festering scar burdening my conscience.

“Can you please give me an account of the night?” the detective asked.

“I have already given my statement to the police,” I said.

“This will be a smoother process if you just answer my question.”

I flinched at his gruff tone. “I was at a function at Elysium when my distressed granddaughter came to me with the news that Reynard Crisp had been stabbed.”

Realizing how suspicious it would all look—Declan and I arriving to find Mark and Manon standing over Reynard’s lifeless body—Declan had agreed we should say that Manon approached us first.

“Where were you at the time?”

---