Three Instances of a Lie Chapter 09

Three Instances of a Lie Chapter 09

Savannah rushed into the hospital, her face a mask of practiced anxiety.

“Mr. Grayson, how is Erik?”

Federico opened his eyes. He looked at her face and saw a complete stranger.

Savannah’s father had been the Grayson family’s financial advisor for decades; she’d practically grown up with him.

He’d always believed her to be loyal, to have the family’s best interests at heart…

But his son’s delirious words were like shards of glass in his brain.

“I’ll ask you one more time,” he said, his voice a blade of ice, “what did you teach my

son?”

Savannah froze. “What?”

“I asked you,” he repeated, standing to tower over her, “what did you teach Erik? ‘Money-burning old woman’? ‘Pull the tube’? ‘Bad woman’? Were those your words?”

The color drained from Savannah’s face, her lips trembling. “Mr. Grayson, I didn’t… I was just speaking from a rational, financial perspective…”

“Rational?” He let out a chilling laugh. “You’re teaching ‘rationality’ to a four-year-old? Teaching him to spit on his own mother, is that rational, too?”

“Mr. Grayson, if you’ll just let me explain-”

“Get out.”

The two words hit her like a physical blow,

“What happened yesterday was my mistake. I’ll have a generous severance package drawn up. After that, I never want to see your face again.”

Savannah’s eyes reddened with fury and disbelief.

She had waited years, had finally clawed her way into his bed, only for it to end like this?

But she knew this wasn’t the time to argue. She bit her lip, turned, and walked away.

Federico sagged back against the wall.

He had to admit, Berry’s accusations had stung. While he’d been permissive with Savannah, he’d never been intimate with her. But if not for yesterday, he never would have realized how far she was willing to go.

With that thought, he took out his phone and called a private investigator.

“I need you to find out why Berry Blackwood was at the hotel and the gallery on these specific dates. And I want to know who those three men were.”

He had always left these “investigations” to Savannah.

But if Savannah had her own motives…

He fumbled for his phone, opening his chat with Berry. His thumbs felt heavy as he typed: [Berry, I’m sorry.]

He stared at the screen. One minute passed. Five. Ten.

Her silence was a thousand times more unnerving than any angry reply.

He sent another message: [Our son keeps calling for you. Please, come back and see him. Please?]

Then he slowly slid down the wall to the floor, burying his face in his hands.

He saw Berry, locked in the panic room, mouth taped, hands bound, forced to listen to

him with another woman.

He heard his own voice, accusing her of faking it when she cried, “My mom is going to jump.”

Suddenly, his chest was so tight he couldn’t breathe.