Part 5

Dominic said his sister, Elena, had promised to keep the debt private until he found a solution. He had intended to sell part of his own stake, he claimed, but the buyer wanted the whole hotel. The amendment would have given him the authority to negotiate it.

“And Madison?” I asked.

He looked away. “I told her she could manage the property after the sale. I thought she would help me find a buyer.”

It was the first time he admitted that the romance and the business plan had been linked. I asked him whether he had also promised Madison a future with him. He said yes. Then he added that he had never intended to leave me.

The answer was more revealing than an apology. He had expected both of us to accept whatever version of him suited his plans.

I packed a bag and moved to my mother’s apartment. The following day, Elena came to see me. She brought the original letter and bank records showing the debt. She had assumed Dominic would tell me because she knew I had to approve any sale. When he stopped answering her calls, she had become frightened of what he might do.

Denise requested an independent audit. The company’s board accepted, and Dominic’s authority to sign new agreements was temporarily suspended. That did not decide the outcome of the investigation. It kept more documents from being signed while the facts were checked.

Madison sent me the final correction she planned to post. It admitted that she had accepted Dominic’s false account of his marriage and that she had published the photographs to humiliate me. She had removed the pictures. She did not ask me to endorse her statement.

I read it, sent it to Denise, and finally turned off my phone for the night.