Chapter 7 Secrets and Sacrifices
Sloane
I walked into my apartment that evening and just leaned my back against the door. My mind was a mess with images of Cade’s office, the cold look in his eyes, and the spreadsheets full of missing women.
I wanted to tell myself that he was lying. I wanted to believe that he just made up some elaborate revenge scheme because of how badly things ended between us years ago. But that look on his face when he spoke about his sister was real. That kind of pain can’t be faked. If he was right, over a thousand people were about to lose their jobs to cover up a trafficking ring, and my own family might be at the center of it.
Sleep was impossible. I made coffee and opened my laptop, pulling out the documents I’d taken from Cade’s office. If I was going to doubt him, I needed proof, not denial.
As a consultant, I knew how to read between the lines of a corporate calendar. I started noticing things I had ignored during my own professional audits, things that only made sense now that I was actually looking for them.
Then I saw it, appearing over and over again in the internal notes:
"Special accommodation under C. Hartford authorization."
C. Hartford could be Claire, but it could also be any executive with Hartford system access. I pulled up the user logs. At least six people had used Claire's login credentials in the past year. Standard practice for the executive suite. Even Melissa had Claire's passwords for "emergency access."
The authorization proved nothing except that someone with Hartford executive access was involved. That could be anyone. Or everyone. What made my stomach turn was seeing Richard's employee ID attached to the scheduling.
Richard had personally handled these events. But then again, that was his job. He manages operations. Of course, his name would be on the bookings. The question was, had Richard known what these events really were? Or was someone using his position without his knowledge?
I thought about Richard at grandmother's funeral, how he'd squeezed my shoulder and called me a fighter. That couldn't have been the touch of a criminal associate. Could it?
The next morning, I didn't go to my own firm. I went straight to the Hartford Hotels corporate office. I used my family ID to get in early, before the hallways were filled with gossiping assistants. I sat in a corner of the records room, my heart hammering against my ribs.
My phone buzzed with texts from Nina at the office. Three clients needed callbacks. A proposal was due for weekend. My business, the one I'd spent six years building, was crying for my attention while I chased ghosts in my family's hotel empire. But I couldn't stop now.
I pulled the financial reports for the special events. It looked like money was being moved to hide something, or someone.
I felt my stomach unsettled. Something was definitely wrong. I didn't know if it was trafficking yet, but it was definitely looking suspicious. Around 10am, my phone buzzed again. It was my grandmother’s lawyer.
“Sloane,” he said. “I’m calling to check in. You have just a eleven weeks left to meet the requirements of the will. The board is getting restless. Your cousin Melissa is already talking to developers about selling the land under the hotels.”
“I'm still thinking, Jonathan,” I lied, leaning back in the chair.
“Okay. Well...Your grandmother was very specific about Cade Whitmore,” Jonathan said, dropping his voice. “She asked me to hand something over to youonly if you agree to the marriage.”
I sat upright. “What’s that? Why are you just telling me now?”
“Those were her instructions, Sloane. She said it’s something that would help you with the family business”
I hung up the phone, my head throbbing as I thought, what did my grandmother know? And was she trying to make the marriage a lifeline for the hotel or a trap for me?
I needed air. I walked to a small coffee shop three blocks away, hoping the caffeine would clear the fog in my brain. But I wasn't alone for long.
“Well, look who it is,” a sharp, high-pitched voice called out.
I looked up to see my cousin Melissa walking toward my table, looking perfectly polished in a white power suit. She sat down across from me without being asked. “I just ran into some of my developers at the club,” she said, a cruel smirk on her face. “They’re very excited about the Hartford Grand location. It’s a shame about the staff, though.”
“Those staff need those jobs, Melissa” I said, keeping my voice flat.
“Oh, you know. Business is business,” Melissa said, waving a hand dismissively.
I gripped my coffee cup so hard I thought it might shatter. She was doing it on purpose. She knew exactly which buttons to push for me to feel the weight of those 1,200 lives, hoping I would snap and so she could get her payout.
“I told you. You're too proud, Sloane,” she whispered, leaning in.
She got up and walked away, leaving me staring into my cold coffee. The guilt was a physical weight now. If I did nothing, Maria and Tom lost everything. If I married Cade, I might lose my mind, or my life
I went back to my apartment and spent the rest of the evening weighing the pros and cons.
I put out the paper and wrote the one pro:
Save 1200 jobs
Then I wrote the cons.
Marry Cade.
The next one came too easily.
Investigate my own family,
Risk my business reputation...
I stopped, threw the pen away and ripped the paper apart, breathing heavily after.
What if Cade’s right? If there was a trafficking ring, every day I waited was another day someone else disappeared. My heart was thumping so hard I could feel it in my throat.
It was already midnight. I finally gave in. I picked up my phone. I dialled Cade’s number. He answered on the first ring, his voice steady, like as if he’d been sitting by the phone waiting for me.
“I didn't think you'd call,” he said.
“I need to know the truth,” I said, my voice shaking just a little. “About my family. About what's happening at those hotels. I’ve seen the records, Cade.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “And?”
“I'll do it,” I said, the words feeling like a life sentence. “I’ll marry you. But we need rules. We need boundaries. I want a separate contract. This is a business arrangement and an investigation. Nothing more.”
“Tomorrow morning in my office,” Cade said. “You can bring your lawyer if you want.”
“I will,” I replied. “And Cade? If you're wrong about my family... if this is some scheme to get back at me for the past, I will destroy you. I will use every resource I can get my hands on to make sure you never work in this city again.”
His voice was quiet, almost sad. “If I'm wrong, Sloane, then I'll deserve it.”
I hung up and let the phone drop onto the bed. I just agreed to marry the man who had shattered my heart six years ago. I still remembered the day he left. Six years later, and I was about to walk back into that pain voluntarily.
But I wondered if I could survive the truth. For the first time in my life, I wasn't sure if what I was doing was protecting my family, or helping to tear it down. One thing was certain, from this time tomorrow my family, my name, and my heart would never be the same again.