Emma finished her patient notes and gave her report to the
evening shift nurse before changing clothes and rushing to the garage. For
once, she would be able to leave work on time. She thought back to days when
she had to pull double shifts or when the chaos of the ER made it nearly
impossible to finish her paperwork in a timely fashion. As she drove home, Emma
called her husband.
“Are you working
overtime again?” Paul asked with a laugh.
“No, for once I'll even
have time to cook dinner,” Emma replied.
“Wow, that's rare,” Paul chuckled, knowing how often he had
to work late at his law firm and rarely had time to finish his work before 5
pm. “Do you mind if I invite Steve over for dinner? He has an investment
proposal and I'd rather discuss it at home than in the office.”
“Of course, darling,”
Emma said with a bright, cheery tone. “Then I'll defrost the lasagna and take
out the German cherry cake from the freezer that I picked up last week. It will
give me time to tidy up before you arrive home.”
“That sounds perfect, sweetheart! We'll be home by six.”
On her way home, Emma
couldn't resist stopping at a charming farmstand she passed by. She carefully
selected fresh lettuce, crisp radishes, juicy tomatoes, and crunchy cucumbers
to create a delicious salad.
As the food thawed, Emma tackled some light cleaning tasks
around the house. She ran the vacuum over the carpets, dusted the surfaces, and
even managed to squeeze in a quick shower before five o'clock rolled around. As
she dried her hair, she tried to recall Steve's face. She had only met Paul's
business manager once at a party nearly a year ago, and their exchange was
brief and polite. Despite not knowing much about him, he seemed like a decent
person and Paul had never said anything negative about him. The firm was
successful and catered to affluent clients, a fact that Emma knew from casual
conversations with her husband. Curiosity piqued as she wondered what kind of
proposal Steve might have in store for them. Since their marriage three years
ago, Emma made a conscious effort not to pry into Paul's work life and only
knew snippets of information that he shared with her voluntarily.
Shortly after six, they arrived, but as soon as she looked
at her husband’s face, Emma knew something was wrong. The slight frown on his
handsome features was a rare display of emotion for him, but Emma had learned
to read his subtle signs over the years. His tense posture and the way he shot
a quick glance at their guest, Steve, told her that something was very wrong.
She raised her eyebrows in question but remained quiet and followed Paul's lead
as they ushered Steve into the living room.
Paul expertly mixed
cocktails for them all, but Emma could sense the tension in the air. As they
sat down, Paul turned to Steve with a calm yet controlled demeanor. “Before you
tell me about your investment plans, let me ask you something,” he said in a
low voice.
Emma watched with growing alarm as her husband's jaw
tightened, signaling his underlying anger. She couldn't imagine what would come
next. It
must be something very serious. She thought. Otherwise,
he would talk about business after dinner, as he usually does.
“Tell me about the two
hundred thousand dollars,” Paul's voice rose slightly, revealing his true
emotions towards their guest.
Steve's hand shook and he jolted in his seat, spilling a few
drops of his drink onto his lap. His eyes widened in surprise as Paul
confronted him about missing money.
“Why are you asking me?” Steve stammered, trying to compose
himself.
“Because the accountant called me just before we left to ask
about one of our bank accounts,” Paul explained. “He said he couldn't find the
statement for the interest we had been paid on that account. I didn't want to
cause a scene in the office, so I'm asking you now. Where is the money?”
“I had nothing to do with it!” Steve exclaimed, his face
turning red with anger as he stood up. “Are you accusing me of something?”
“Yes!” Paul fumed, his frustration evident. “I checked with
the bank, and they informed me that the account we had 210 thousand dollars in
now only has eight thousand. What did you do with the missing money?”
“I… I’m leaving! You can’t just accuse me of something I
didn’t do,” Steve mumbled, putting his glass on the coffee table.
“You’re not going anywhere until you answer my question!”
Paul's voice echoed through the room, loud and forceful as
he jumped up to block Steve's path toward the door. Emma shrunk back into the
far corner of the sofa, her heart racing as she watched them. Paul, usually
calm and collected, now had a fiery rage burning in his eyes. She had never
seen him like this before.
Steve looked like a cornered animal, his hands shaking, and
his face twisted in fear. “Okay, I gamble, and I've been unlucky the past three
months! I'm an addict. I'm sick!” he screamed; desperation evident in his
voice. “I'll pay it back, just give me a chance.”
Paul's voice cracked with pain as he spoke. “How could you
do this? I trusted you!”
“I'm so sorry! You have to understand. It's a disease!”
Steve pleaded, tears streaming down his face.
But Paul was unfazed. “You played your card, now you suffer
the consequences. You're fired!” He stepped aside to let Steve pass. “And
you’ll have to pay back the money you stole,” Paul said coldly.
Panic set in for Steve as he realized what that meant.
Desperation swept over him as he begged, “You can't! Please, you can't do this
to me.”
Paul's face hardened, his once friendly features now twisted
into a cold, angry mask. “You did this to yourself. Now get out of my house!”
Steve recoiled at the sharpness in Paul's voice, feeling a
surge of pain and anger bubbling up inside him. He looked into Paul's eyes, but
all he could see was disappointment and hurt. With drooping shoulders and a
defeated expression, he turned and made his way to the door, the sound of his
footsteps echoing in the tense silence between them.
“I trusted him,” Paul
whispered when the door closed behind Steve, his voice hoarse and heavy with
emotion. He slumped down beside Emma, his shoulders shaking with the weight of
betrayal.
Continue reading the story in the book:
https://books2read.com/u/m27NQd
What if you think the known world isn’t strange enough?
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