Chapter 36: Secrets and Lies

Scarlet stood in front of Wyatt’s office door, her heart pounding with a mix of dread and determination. She had to know the truth. Why had he been targeting her? Why had he done this to her? To her family? To everything she had worked for?

The door was open just a crack, but the faint murmur of voices from within suggested someone else was already there. Scarlet didn’t care. She had come this far, and she wouldn’t turn back now.

She pushed the door open, stepping inside before anyone could protest. Wyatt was seated behind his massive mahogany desk, looking as pristine and untouchable as always. His fingers lightly traced a pen, seemingly deep in thought, until his cold blue eyes flicked up to meet hers.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the prodigal daughter,” Wyatt said, his voice rich with mockery. “What brings you to my office today, Scarlet? Looking for more pity?”

“Cut the crap, Wyatt,” Scarlet shot back, her voice tight with the raw edge of suppressed fury. She wasn’t going to let him play his games. Not this time. “I know what you’re doing. I know you’ve been setting me up. But why?”

Wyatt’s lips curled into a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers. “What you think I’m doing doesn’t really matter, Scarlet. The game’s already been played. You’ve lost.”

“No,” she spat, taking a step forward. “Not yet. Not until I get the truth out of you. Why? Why are you doing this?”

He sighed, as if her question bored him. “Why, indeed?” Wyatt’s voice dropped lower, his tone turning venomous. “It’s quite simple, really. You’ve always been so blind to the real world. Your father was always too proud, too stubborn. He owed me. And when he couldn’t pay, well... let’s just say the consequences were inevitable.”

Scarlet’s breath caught. “My father?”

“Yes,” Wyatt replied, leaning forward, his gaze sharpening. “Your family’s debts were just the beginning. I made sure of that. I needed you to be in a vulnerable position. I needed you to rely on me. Now, you’re just a pawn, Scarlet. A mere tool in my game.”

The words sliced through her like a dagger, but she refused to show weakness. “You... You killed my parents, didn’t you?” Her voice cracked with the weight of the accusation, but she had to know. The truth had to be exposed.

Wyatt’s expression didn’t falter. “They were a casualty of business. Nothing more. Your father’s poor decisions led to their downfall, and I was merely ensuring my interests were protected.”

His words were a slap to her face, a painful reminder of the shattered pieces of her life. “You manipulated me. You manipulated all of us,” Scarlet whispered, a sob catching in her throat.

Wyatt’s gaze hardened. “You think you can defeat me, Scarlet? You’re nothing. Just like your father. You had potential once, but now now you’re nothing more than collateral damage.”

The finality in his voice made her stomach churn. But she wasn’t finished. She wouldn’t be. There had to be another way out.

“I’ll fight you,” she said, the words heavy but filled with conviction. “I’ll find a way to take you down, Wyatt. You’ll regret underestimating me.”

He chuckled, a low, dark sound. “We’ll see. But remember, Scarlet, you’re on borrowed time.”

Scarlet turned and walked out of the room, her mind reeling. But one thing was certain now: she was not going to let Wyatt win.

Scarlet paced back and forth in her apartment, her thoughts racing faster than her legs could carry her. Wyatt’s cold words haunted her, and the more she thought about what he’d said, the more everything seemed to fit. It wasn’t just about money. It was about power. And now, she was learning how deep the web of lies ran.

She sat at her desk and opened the file she had been going over for days. It was a thick stack of documents from her family’s old business dealings, records of the company her parents had once owned. She had been going through them in search of anything that could clear her name. But this... this was different. As she skimmed through an old set of bank transactions, something caught her eye.

Her pulse quickened as she pulled a specific document closer. The name of Wyatt Lockwood appeared in one of the signatures on a financial agreement between her father and several other businesses. But the numbers didn’t add up. And there, buried in the fine print, was a reference to several offshore accounts connected to Wyatt.

Scarlet’s hands shook as she dialed her lawyer, Carla. “Carla,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady, “I think I’ve found something. Something big. You need to look at these documents. Wyatt was involved in illegal transactions with my parents. It wasn’t just about money. It’s much worse than that.”

Carla’s voice came through the phone, calm but urgent. “What are you talking about? Are you sure?”

“Wyatt had control over everything,” Scarlet said, her voice growing more frantic. “He manipulated my father’s debts and funneled money into accounts no one knew about. And... he’s the reason my parents are dead. It wasn’t an accident, Carla. It was planned.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “Scarlet, we need to get this to the authorities. This could be the smoking gun we’ve been looking for. But you need to be careful. Wyatt won’t let this go easily.”

“I’ll be careful,” Scarlet whispered, her mind already racing with the possibilities. Wyatt had been playing a game much bigger than she had ever imagined. And now, she had a chance to stop him. But she couldn’t do it alone. She needed to act fast before Wyatt buried her and everyone else with him.

The rain beat against the windows of the café where Scarlet and Tucker had agreed to meet. It had been days since they had last spoken, and the air between them now was thick with unspoken words, guilt, and unresolved tension. Scarlet had spent the last few days piecing together everything she could about Wyatt’s scheme, but there was one person she needed to speak to before making her next move.

She walked into the café, her eyes scanning the room for Tucker. There he was, sitting at the corner booth, his jaw tight, eyes focused on something in the distance. As soon as their eyes met, the space between them seemed to grow smaller.

“Tucker,” Scarlet said softly, her voice uncertain. She didn’t know what she expected maybe anger, maybe guilt but she didn’t expect the quiet pain in his eyes.

He stood and nodded slightly. “Scarlet.”

They sat down across from each other, the weight of everything between them pressing down like an invisible force. The silence stretched for a moment, both of them lost in their thoughts.

“I’ve been an idiot,” Tucker finally said, his voice hoarse. “I’ve known for a while that something wasn’t right with my father. But I couldn’t bring myself to face it. I thought I could control it. I thought... I thought I could protect you.”

Scarlet felt the sting of his words. She didn’t want to hear excuses. She didn’t want his apologies. But part of her, the part she had buried deep inside, still longed for the man she had once loved. And in that moment, she knew that whatever happened, she would never be the same again.

“You knew?” she asked, her voice trembling. “You knew about Wyatt’s involvement?”

“I suspected,” he replied, his voice thick with regret. “But I couldn’t do anything. Not without risking everything. I didn’t want to believe it. And I didn’t want to drag you into it.”

Scarlet’s chest tightened. “I was already dragged into it, Tucker. My life’s been falling apart because of him. And because of you.”

The words hung in the air, a bitter reminder of everything that had gone wrong. But as she looked at him, her heart still ached. She had always known he was capable of more, of being more than what he had become. She had wanted to believe he could fix this.

“I won’t let him win,” Tucker said, his voice low but filled with determination. “I’ll fight him, Scarlet. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop my father.”

Scarlet looked into his eyes, searching for the sincerity she needed. “But can you stop him in time? Can you stop him before it’s too late?”

Tucker didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he reached across the table, his hand brushing hers. The contact was electric, and for a moment, everything else faded away. But the weight of their past, of everything they had lost, hung between them like a cloud.

“I don’t know,” he whispered. “But I’ll try. For you.”

Scarlet walked into the office the next morning with a heavy heart. The rain from the night before had cleared, but the storm inside her still raged. She had been working tirelessly, looking for more evidence to bring Wyatt down, and today, she had the breakthrough she had been waiting for.

She met with Carla in her office, her mind still reeling from the conversation with Tucker. There was a shift in their dynamic now, a delicate balance between the love they had once shared and the war they were about to face together.

“Carla,” Scarlet said, taking a seat. “I think I’ve found the final piece of the puzzle.”

Carla raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “What do you mean?”

Scarlet placed a folder on the desk, opening it to reveal a series of documents bank statements, financial transactions, everything she had painstakingly pieced together. She pointed to one of the key transactions. “Here. Wyatt’s name is on it. It’s tied to offshore accounts accounts my father had no knowledge of. And look this was the account that paid off a significant portion of my family’s debts. This was Wyatt’s doing.”

Carla studied the documents, her eyes widening. “This... This could be the break we need. This is proof, Scarlet. Proof that Wyatt’s been using your family to launder money.”

Scarlet’s hands trembled as she looked at the evidence. The weight of the discovery settled heavily on her shoulders. “This is it, Carla. This is what will bring him down.”

But even as hope flickered within her, doubt lingered. She couldn’t do it alone. She couldn’t win this fight without facing the man who had caused it all Wyatt Lockwood.