The Secret Past

The dim glow of the desk lamp cast long shadows across the room, the only light that illuminated the otherwise dark office. The air in the small, windowless space was thick with dust and the scent of old leather. Scarlet sat across from Bernard, her eyes focused on the open file before them, but her mind was miles away. The documents in front of her felt like another betrayal, another layer of lies wrapped around her life that she could never untangle.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked, her voice strained. The words tasted bitter as they left her lips, like swallowing something too sharp to be comfortable.

Bernard didn’t look up. His fingers danced over the paperwork with the same ease he used to handle a bouquet of roses. The difference, though, was that this wasn’t delicate. It wasn’t beautiful. It was grim. “I’ve been digging into Wyatt’s history for the past week,” he said, his tone quiet but heavy with the weight of his findings. “And everything points back to your father. The debts he owed to Wyatt they were never just about money. There was something darker at play.”

Scarlet’s heart skipped. She’d always known her father had been a man of secrets, but hearing Bernard speak of them so matter-of-factly made the reality of it all feel so much worse.

“What do you mean, darker?” she asked, though her gut already told her the answer. She didn’t want to hear it, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away.

Bernard finally met her gaze, his eyes grave. “Wyatt’s dealings weren’t just business. They were about power. Your father wasn’t just his partner he was his leverage.”

The words hit her like a blow to the chest, knocking the air from her lungs. Leverage. The word echoed in her mind, the enormity of it settling in, crushing her. She thought back to the way her father had struggled in his final years, the increasing stress and anxiety, the way his health had deteriorated so rapidly before his death. Leverage. It all made sense now, but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow.

“Leverage?” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “What do you mean by that? What did Wyatt do to him?”

Bernard’s jaw clenched as if he had to force the words out. “Your father’s debts were more than just financial. Wyatt used your father’s struggles to manipulate him into making deals he never would have agreed to if he had been in his right mind. Wyatt had your father in his pocket. Every deal, every failure, it all fed into Wyatt’s power over him.”

Scarlet’s breath hitched, a strangled sob rising in her chest. Her father, the man she had looked up to, had been nothing more than a pawn in Wyatt’s twisted game. No wonder he’d been so desperate. No wonder he’d tried so hard to keep me away from this world.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me?” Scarlet demanded, her fists clenched tightly in her lap. The anger surged within her, hot and painful. “Why did no one warn me about Wyatt? About what he was really doing?”

Bernard’s gaze softened, but there was no apology in it. “Scarlet, you weren’t supposed to find out. No one was supposed to know. But your father’s debts were buried deep in the company’s ledgers. When you found out about the foreclosure, that’s when the walls started to crumble.”

Scarlet stood abruptly, the sudden movement causing the chair to scrape harshly against the floor. She paced across the room, her mind racing. Her father’s betrayal, his desperation to protect her from the truth, it all came rushing back. She had never known the real reason behind his death. The whispers about his financial troubles had always been vague, distant rumors. But now, everything made sense. Everything.

“Wyatt manipulated him,” she said through gritted teeth, the realization biting deeper than she had imagined. “But how did my father get involved with Wyatt in the first place? What did Wyatt promise him? Or was it something worse?”

Bernard stood too, moving slowly toward her, his eyes dark with regret. “That’s what I don’t know yet. But what I do know is that everything that happened the crash, the way your father fell apart Wyatt orchestrated it all. He didn’t just want your father’s company; he wanted you, Scarlet. He wanted to make sure that your family would be tied to him in every way possible.”

The revelation hit Scarlet like a physical blow, the breath leaving her lungs in a rush. She stumbled back against the desk, her hands clutching at the edges for support. “Me?” she choked out. “Why me? What could I have possibly meant to him?”

Bernard stepped closer, his expression now a mixture of sympathy and guilt. “Because your father’s debt wasn’t just about money. Wyatt had plans for you, Scarlet. He always did.”

The words lingered in the air, heavy and suffocating. Scarlet felt as though the floor beneath her might crack open and swallow her whole. Wyatt had plans for me? She couldn’t bring herself to ask what those plans were, but the implications were clear and terrifying.

“Do you know what he wanted?” she whispered, her voice trembling with fear.

Bernard hesitated, his eyes flicking away, then back to her. “I think I do. But it’s worse than you think, Scarlet. He wanted control over you, over your life. And now, everything that’s happening the marriage proposal, the foreclosure it’s all part of the plan.”

Scarlet’s knees buckled beneath her, and she sank into the chair, her mind spinning. Control over me. The words rang in her head, each one a death knell for the life she had known.

“Bernard,” she whispered, her voice barely audible, “I can’t fight him alone. I can’t do this.”

Bernard knelt in front of her, his face softening with genuine concern. “You don’t have to fight him alone. I’ll help you, Scarlet. But you have to trust me.”

Scarlet’s gaze flicked toward him, the weight of his words sinking in. She wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe that there was a way out of this nightmare. But the truth was too much. Too much to bear.

A cold shiver ran through her as she thought of Tucker. What does he know?