“No, sir. Just the engagement ring.”
Yeah, I guess the wedding band would only be worth ten or fifteen grand, which is chump change in comparison. She’ll likely hold onto that until she finds herself short of cash again. “I want it back.”
“Of course, sir.”
“And I’m not paying a dime over one-sixty.”
“Of course not, sir.”
I end the call and lean back in my chair, my heart pounding in my chest and my temples throbbing. So she sold the ring, but for what? Because that amount of money isn’t worth everything she put herself through by marrying me. Not worth giving up so much of her life for. I guess I have no idea who Melanie Edison is at all.
Rubbing a hand over my jaw, I blow out a breath before I dial my best private investigator. He’s a hacker too—not as good as Jessie Ryan, but this is the type of information he specializes in getting. After a brief conversation, he promises to have Mel’s financial records sent to me within a week.
Not that it will make any difference. Legally the money is hers to do with as she pleases, but maybe finding out what the hell she wants it for will make me feel less like going on a murderous rampage. Or maybe it will have the opposite effect. I guess we’ll wait and see.
Only four days later, I’m staring at an email from my PI. He must have noticed that my work for him has dwindled and wanted to make a solid impression. I click on the link in his email, and the records fill the screen. She has less than two thousand dollars in her account. So where the fuck is my money? Glancing over her recent transactions, I see one payment to Harvard for just shy of forty thousand dollars and another payment to Ashley for the remaining one hundred and twenty grand Mel got for her ring.
And now it makes sense. Ashley has another year at Harvard, and if Melanie wasn’t lying about her brother and the financial abuse, as well as the way he would use their sister to control her, then it adds up that she used that money to secure Ashley’s future.
It doesn’t change what she did. But for some reason, I feel differently knowing that she used the money for someone else. That’s the Melanie I fell in love with, not the woman who lied to my face. My chest aches with the weight of the emotions that rage inside me. I wish I knew which Melanie Edison was the real one.
Chapter
Forty-Six
MELANIE
Ifish in my purse for my key to Tyler’s apartment, juggling the bag of groceries in my other hand, when I hear footsteps behind me. The familiar heavy tread makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
With a thumping heart, I look over my shoulder and come face-to-face with my brother. “I have nothing to say to you, Bryce.”
Grabbing my arm, he spins me around and slams me against the door, knocking the wind out of me and making me drop the bag of groceries.
Bryce’s face twists into a vicious snarl. “Did you know we just lost our biggest contract? The only thing keeping us from going under? All the investors I had lined up won’t even return my calls. All because you couldn’t stick to the fucking plan. You ruined everything, you stupid bitch.”
I square up to him, unwilling to play the role of dutiful little sister for a second longer. “There was no plan. You had someone drug and assault Nathan. You should be in prison. I hope he presses charges and you end up there. You pathetic weasel.”
He brings the back of his hand crashing down over my right cheekbone, and I stagger back, clutching my hand to my face. Tears prick at my eyes, but the sting of his blow hurts far less than the stark reminder that my brother despises me and always has.
He advances on me again and is about to wrap his hand around my throat when a deep voice booms down the hallway. “You lay another finger on her and you’ll be taking a fucking leap out of that window, pissant.”
I shiver at the tone and the familiar voice it belongs to but sigh with relief when Bryce backs away from me, fear etched all over his face now. Yeah, he’s a big man hitting a woman, but he would never stand up to a man, and definitely not to Elijah James.
I rub my cheek and mouth a silent thanks to Nathan’s older brother as he approaches. I have no idea what the hell he’s doing here, but I’ve never been more grateful to see anyone in my life.
Bryce turns on his heel, his lips visibly quivering as he fights to maintain his composure.
Elijah bares his teeth like a rabid animal. “I suggest you get the hell away from her, and me, before I give you the ass-kicking you deserve.”
My brother doesn’t hang around to argue. Knowing he doesn’t stand a chance in hell of even landing a blow, he darts past Elijah and runs for the stairwell. Coward.
Elijah scowls at my brother’s retreating back, then returns his attention to me. “You okay, Melanie?”
Nodding, I absent-mindedly rub my cheek. “Yeah. Thanks to you.”
He stoops and places the spilled groceries back into the paper bag before handing it to me. I thank him again, and he stands in front of me, rubbing his knuckles. “Should have beat the shit out of him,” he grumbles.
I don’t argue, although I’m grateful he didn’t. It would have resulted in yet another family drama I’d find myself in the middle of. “Why are you— What are you doing here?”
“I was going to leave this in your mailbox.” He removes an envelope from inside his suit jacket. “But then I saw Bryce coming in here, and I …” He licks his bottom lip. “Well, I guess I was right to check on you.”
I blink at his outstretched hand, and my heart sinks. Surely that’s not … “What is it?”
“It was delivered to the penthouse. Nathan said you might need it.”
I take it from him and glance at the postmark, sighing with relief when I see it’s from Harvard. Probably Ashley’s college tuition invoice. “You could have mailed it to me.”
“Yeah, I could have.” Elijah stuffs his hands into his pockets. “Maybe I also wanted to look you in the eye and ask if you knew what was going to happen in Chicago.”
Guilt balls in my throat and tears burn my retinas. “I swear I didn’t. And the fact that Nathan was hurt because of me will haunt me every day for the rest of my life. I’ll never forgive myself for what that woman did to him.”
His Adam’s apple bobs. “She didn’t do anything to him.”
I blink at him, hoping I didn’t mishear what he said. “She didn’t?”
“Well other than drug him, which is still pretty fucked up. But that was it. She didn’t assault him.”
