Chapter 4 - No More Technicalities
Nathan read every message.
He did not remember writing half of them.
That did not make them less real.
Emma thinks I can switch everything off when I walk through the door.
You understand what this pressure feels like.
Stay for another drink. I don’t feel like going back yet.
None said he loved Olivia.
None proposed an affair.
None contained anything sexual.
Six months earlier, Nathan would have treated that as proof of innocence.
Now each sentence looked like an indictment.
He had given Olivia his frustration.
His fears.
His loneliness.
He had given her hours of himself while telling Emma he had none left.
Olivia watched him.
“You see?”
Nathan looked up.
“Yes.”
She seemed surprised.
“I betrayed my wife.”
Olivia’s confidence faltered.
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
Nathan gathered the pages.
“You thought these would prove we had something special.”
Her jaw tightened.
“We did.”
“We had something inappropriate.”
“You relied on me.”
“I did.”
“You called me.”
“Yes.”
“You asked me to stay.”
“Yes.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“Then stop pretending I invented this.”
Nathan did not look away.
“I’m not.”
That silenced her.
“I gave you reasons to believe you mattered to me in a way you should not have.”
Olivia swallowed.
“And now?”
“Now I’m going to tell Emma.”
Her eyes widened.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’m done controlling what she knows because I’m afraid of what she’ll decide.”
Douglas stood.
“Nathan, consider the legal consequences.”
Nathan turned.
“For my marriage?”
“For the company.”
There it was again.
The company.
Always the company.
Nathan picked up the messages.
“At eleven, issue a statement.”
Douglas frowned.
“What statement?”
“That Emma did nothing wrong.”
“Nathan.”
“State that she did not conceal our child for financial leverage.”
Douglas opened his mouth.
Nathan continued.
“State that our separation followed failures in my marriage for which I take responsibility.”
Helen stared at him.
“You want to publicly admit misconduct?”
“Marital misconduct is not securities fraud.”
“The press will call it an affair.”
“They already are.”
Douglas slammed a hand on the table.
“You have a fiduciary duty.”
“And you had no right to release or facilitate the release of my wife’s medical history.”
“We did not.”
“Then investigate whoever did.”
Nathan turned toward Olivia.
“You are not entering this building again.”
She went pale.
“You can’t blame me for what you did.”
“I’m not blaming you for what I did.”
He held up the printed messages.
“I’m blaming myself.”
Then Nathan looked at the board.
“And every one of you should understand something.”
His voice lowered.
“If protecting Whitmore Global requires sacrificing Emma again, find another CEO.”
The room went silent.
Nathan walked out carrying the worst evidence against himself.
Thirty minutes later, he photographed every page.
He sent them to Emma.
May you like
Beneath them, he wrote only one sentence.
You deserved to know this from me, even if knowing it means you never choose me again.
