Chapter 4: The Deadline She Couldn't Explain
“Who told you about Friday?””
Serena's voice was barely above a whisper, but Damon heard the fear beneath it.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
The crystal chandelier cast warm light across her face, illuminating the faint streaks of mascara still clinging to her cheeks. Her torn royal-pink gown hung unevenly at her hip. One hand gripped the banister, while the other remained extended toward Damon, waiting for him to take it.
He didn't.
Instead, he turned his phone over and placed it beside the leather folder.
“That's an interesting question,” Damon said.
“Especially considering I haven't told you what I know.””
Serena's fingers curled.
“You just mentioned Friday.””
“I asked what happens on Friday.””
“Because you're interrogating me!””
“No. I'm asking my wife a question.””
She glanced toward Calvin.
“Can you give us a minute?””
Calvin remained seated behind his desk, his reddened cheek unmistakable beneath the chandelier.
“I'm afraid I can't,” he replied.
“Not anymore.””
Serena's eyes narrowed.
“This is between my husband and me.””
“Your husband struck me because you told him I attacked you. That makes it my business.””
For the first time, Serena had no immediate response.
Damon watched her carefully.
He had spent four years believing he understood this woman. He knew how she took her coffee, which songs she played while getting ready, and how she curled her fingers around his wrist when she wanted his attention.
He had memorized the little things.
He had mistaken that knowledge for understanding her character.
Now every memory seemed to have developed a second meaning.
“Serena,” he said, “who is the man in the photograph?””
Her expression changed.
Only slightly.
But he saw it.
“What photograph?””
“The one showing you outside the hotel with a man wearing a silver watch.””
She let out a brittle laugh.
“That's your big accusation? A photograph?””
“Who is he?””
“An acquaintance.””
“What's his name?””
“Why does it matter?””
“Because his company has been receiving money from Hayes Holdings.””
Serena's lips parted.
Then she looked toward Calvin again.
“You hired someone to follow me?””
Calvin folded his hands on the desk.
“I hired someone to investigate suspicious transactions involving the company. You appeared in the investigation.””
“You had no right!””
“I had every right to protect a company I've spent forty years building.””
“Your company?”” Serena snapped.
“Damon runs it now!””
“And I remain its majority shareholder.””
The words silenced her.
Damon looked sharply at his father.
He had known Calvin retained significant ownership, but he hadn't realized how directly the investigation could affect Serena's plans.
Calvin continued.
“If the financial records are accurate, someone has attempted to transfer assets without proper authorization. I intend to find out who.””
Serena turned toward Damon.
“Are you going to let him destroy me?””
Damon's voice was quiet.
“I'm going to let the evidence speak.””
She stared at him as if he had slapped her.
Then her expression softened. Her shoulders lowered, and her eyes filled with tears.
“Damon, please. You know how difficult things have been between your father and me. I felt trapped. I made a terrible mistake when I panicked downstairs, but I never intended for you to hurt him.””
Calvin looked at her.
“You deliberately tore your dress.””
“I was frightened!””
“You checked the staircase before doing it.””
“I was looking for help!””
“You pointed at me before I even stood up.””
Serena's tears spilled over.
“You're twisting everything!””
Damon raised a hand.
“Enough. I want one answer.””
She turned to him.
“Who is the man?””
For a moment, she seemed ready to tell him.
Instead, she reached into her handbag and pulled out a folded tissue.
“His name is Adrian Cole. He's a consultant. I met him through a charity foundation.””
Damon remembered the name.
Adrian.
The man who had visited their house three months earlier.
The man whose handshake Damon had returned with a smile.
“What does Adrian have to do with Rosebridge?””
“Nothing.””
“Then why was he photographed carrying an envelope connected to the investigation?””
“I don't know!””
“Why did your email mention keeping someone unaware until a transfer was finalized?””
Her face drained of color.
Damon felt his heart pounding.
He hadn't expected that question to land so hard.
Serena took a step backward.
“You read my emails?””
“The investigator found the message.””
She stared at him.
Then, unexpectedly, she laughed.
It wasn't a happy sound. It was the exhausted, bitter laugh of someone who had spent years building a wall and had just watched it collapse.
“You really think you're innocent in all this, don't you?””
Damon frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“You think your father is some wonderful old man who never makes mistakes. You think the company is clean because you sit in an expensive office and sign papers.””
Calvin rose slowly.
“Be careful, Serena.””
She rounded on him.
“Or what? You'll hit me?””
Damon's face tightened.
“Don't.””
She turned back toward him.
“Your father has spent years controlling everything around you. Your career, your money, your decisions. Even our marriage.””
“That isn't true.””
“Isn't it? Who decided where we would live? Who insisted on keeping his office in this house? Who told you that I wasn't right for you when we first got engaged?””
Damon hesitated.
Calvin's expression became pained.
“I told my son to be careful because I wanted him to know the difference between love and dependence. I never told him not to marry you.””
“But you made your opinion clear.””
“Yes,” Calvin replied.
“And I was willing to accept his decision.””
Serena shook her head.
“You all want me grateful for being allowed into this family.””
Damon looked at her.
“Is that why you did this? Because you wanted revenge?””
“No!””
“Then explain the transfers.””
She pressed her hands against her temples.
“I didn't steal anything.””
“Then the investigation will clear you.””
“And if it doesn't?””
Damon stared at her.
“Why are you asking that?””
Serena lowered her hands.
For a moment, the anger drained from her face, leaving something that looked almost like despair.
“Because you don't understand what you're dealing with.””
Damon stepped closer.
“Then tell me.””
She looked toward the front door.
“I can't.””
“Why not?””
“Because if I tell you, he'll know.””
“Who?””
Serena's lips trembled.
Then she closed them.
Calvin moved away from the desk.
“Damon, we should contact the attorney now.””
Serena suddenly lunged toward the desk.
She snatched the leather folder and clutched it to her chest.
“Give that back!”” Damon shouted.
She stumbled toward the fireplace, tearing the folder open. Several pages scattered across the marble floor.
“Serena, stop!””
She grabbed the printed email and shoved it toward the flames.
Damon reached her before the paper touched the fire.
He caught her wrist.
She screamed.
“Let go of me!””
He released her immediately.
The paper fluttered to the floor.
Serena stared at him, breathing hard.
Damon stepped away, horrified by how close he had come to repeating the same mistake.
He wouldn't touch her again.
Not in anger.
Not in fear.
Not until he knew exactly what was happening.
Calvin collected the scattered papers, his movements slow and deliberate.
Then Damon noticed something beneath the folder.
A second document had slipped free.
Unlike the other pages, this one carried the seal of a local bank and a handwritten signature at the bottom.
Damon bent down.
The document was a temporary authorization to release funds from a trust account.
His trust account.
The one his mother had established for him before her death.
He read the beneficiary's name.
Serena Hayes.
He looked at the signature.
It was supposed to be his.
But Damon knew he hadn't signed it.
“Dad,” he whispered.
Calvin came beside him.
His face darkened as he read the document.
“This is serious.””
Damon turned to Serena.
“Did you forge my signature?””
She shook her head violently.
“No.””
“Then explain this.””
“I didn't prepare it!””
“Your name is listed as the beneficiary.””
“Because you were going to give me that money!””
“When?””
She said nothing.
Damon held up the paper.
“This document says the funds are to be released on Friday.””
Serena looked at him, and he watched the last of her composure collapse.
“You don't understand,” she whispered.
“Then make me understand.””
Her phone began vibrating inside her handbag.
She ignored it.
It vibrated again.
Then again.
Damon glanced at the screen when she pulled it out.
A message appeared from Adrian Cole.
*The bank needs confirmation by nine tomorrow morning. If Calvin has seen the original, we're out of time.*
Serena snatched the phone against her chest.
But Damon had already read it.
He stared at her.
“Confirmation of what?””
She backed away.
“Damon, please.””
“What are you confirming tomorrow?””
“Please, just listen to me.””
He pointed toward the phone.
“Does Adrian have something to do with the forged signature?””
She began crying again.
This time, the tears came without the theatrical gasps and trembling shoulders. She looked genuinely frightened.
“I never wanted it to happen this way.””
Damon felt the words settle heavily inside him.
“Then how did you want it to happen?””
She opened her mouth.
A sharp knock sounded at the front door.
Everyone turned.
Margaret appeared from the hallway, visibly shaken.
“Mr. Hayes,” she said, “there's a man outside asking for Mrs. Hayes.””
Serena went completely still.
Damon glanced at her.
“Adrian?””
She shook her head.
But she did it too quickly.
Margaret swallowed.
“He says his name is Victor Cole. And he says if Mrs. Hayes doesn't come outside immediately, he'll make sure this entire family loses everything.””
Serena's handbag slipped from her fingers.
Her phone struck the marble floor.
The screen lit up with one final message.
*Don't let Damon open the blue envelope.*
Damon slowly lifted his eyes toward the desk.
Beneath the scattered financial statements lay a blue envelope he hadn't noticed before.
May you like
And on its front, in his mother's unmistakable handwriting, were five words:
*For Damon, when the time comes.*
