Chapter 52 : Secrets Unveiled Part 5 (Dark)

Aishleen sighed, but the frown on the woman's face had not disappeared as she still tried to digest everything. "What was the deal? With your company? Production, distribution and logistics?"

"Yeah, mostly production, distribution, and logistics," Keenan shrugged. "My father was trying to figure out how to regain the trust of his customers after what happened to my brother, Kyle. Your father's company was on the rise, and maybe he thought if he could be the one behind your father's success when he got to the top, then everyone would trust us again."

Keenan waited, studying his wife's face as she turned away. It was difficult to keep her eyes on her husband as the information kept coming, but he drew Aishleen's attention back to him as he asked in an annoyed voice, "Do you know how much danger you're putting yourself in by investigating everything yourself?"

Aishleen looked at him defiantly. "I have too many questions to answer and no one I can trust. Besides, I'm not doing this alone, Keenan."

"Right," the man nodded with a mocking smile. "Are you going to tell me about your little team formed between you and a rookie detective and a hacker?"

"How did you..." Aishleen was about to ask how he could know about their secret alliance when she suddenly remembered Adrian's shadow following her on the night of her meeting with Detective John. "Of course you must have known from Adrian. So I guess you also know about Darrel's apartment?"

"Your little hideaway?" the man scoffed. "Yes, of course I know. Unfortunately, it is the only place that neither I nor Adrian can enter without your permission or knowledge."

Pride immediately overcame Aishleen at having succeeded in securing her sanctuary. Although Aishleen was disappointed with his long-held knowledge, the woman was happy to know that her decision to install a new security system in every part of the apartment the day she moved all her belongings there had been the right one. That, and the fact that she had specifically told the building's security guards that no one was to enter the apartment except her and two acquaintances, meant that there was not a single chance for either Adrian or Keenan to evade their scrutiny.

That pride vanished so quickly when Aishleen was reminded that she still had more problems to solve. That Aishleen still had many questions to ask the man before her. But for some reason, there was only one she couldn't get out of her mind because Aishleen felt she might know the answer. And Aishleen needed to know the answer more than anything.

"Who killed Darrel?" asked Aishleen tense.

Aishleen could see how surprised he was by her question, which showed that he hadn't really expected the woman to throw the question at him without warning. But after what he had done last night, surprising her with his own accusations and leaving Aishleen reeling alone, he thought it only fair to reveal it as soon as possible.

"It wasn't me," Keenan replied to Aishleen immediately, looking directly into her eyes as the man said it.

"But you know who did it," Aishleen stepped forward, meeting his gaze to see if he was telling the truth.

Keenan stood straight in his place, all the funny looks and mocking smiles completely wiped from his face. "Yes," he replied. "I know why he was killed and by whom."

The woman paused, the next question on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't say it, knowing how close she was to everything she had been searching for.

Keenan waited for his wife to continue, but after a few moments of silence and the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to speak anytime soon, the man decided to go first. "Ash," he called his wife's name softly, and she raised her face to look at him again.

"How much do you know about Darrel?" Keenan asked cautiously, while Aishleen just looked at him without saying anything.

*Apparently nothing*, Aishleen kept that thought to herself, even though it was the only thing that had bothered her since the night of his death. Since the day she had learned the truth about him.

Keenan watched closely as the woman clenched her fists on either side of her body, noticing how her eyes were overwhelmed with emotion at the moment.

"Ash, there's something you need to know about Darrel," he told Aishleen after clearing his throat. He took a deep breath to buy a few seconds as he waited for Aishleen's breathing to stabilize and the woman's eyes to focus on him.

"He's not the person you think he is or what he says he is. He is a *con man* who was trained to infiltrate your father's company to find a way to gain his trust and eventually take over the entire company, and..." the man paused to make sure Aishleen was ready to hear the real truth, afraid the woman would break down at what he was about to tell his wife about his late fiancé. But somehow Aishleen's eyes seemed more focused and clear now than before. And then the man continued,

"He was also hired to kill you after he got what he was sent there for."

Keenan paused, instantly relieved to have everything out in the open. He had kept this secret to himself while trying to figure out how to tell Aishleen without hurting her. And now that he had finally revealed his secret, Keenan could feel the weight he had been carrying slowly lifting.

During the weeks that Keenan had kept the secret from Aishleen, he had imagined many different scenarios of how she would react to the news. He knew all too well how strong Aishleen was as a person, but Keenan had been prepared to see his wife hurt by the truth about the man she once loved. So when Keenan saw his wife standing before him, completely different than he had imagined her to be, completely unshaken as Aishleen stood tall in front of him, never looking away, Keenan could only stare at Aishleen with a wide gaze. Surprised by the look his own wife gave her husband, it didn't seem to change.

And Keenan finally knew why when Aishleen finally responded with a long sigh, as if she felt the same relief at the truth that her husband felt now, before answering him with—

"I know."