Chapter 69 The Recording
"Let me explain," Sebastian said again, but Harper was already backing away.
"You knew. About Morrison. About the embezzlement. You knew and you covered it up." Her voice was hollow. "Claire was right. About everything."
"No. Yes. It's complicated." Sebastian set down the document. "Harper, please sit down. Let me tell you what really happened."
"I don't want to sit down. I want the truth. Did you know Morrison was stealing from the company?"
Sebastian closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, they were filled with something Harper had never seen before. Shame.
"I suspected. Three years ago. I found irregularities in the offshore accounts. But I couldn't prove it was Morrison. And he was my father's right hand man. Someone Dad trusted completely. I thought I was wrong."
"But you weren't wrong. And instead of investigating, you what? Ignored it?"
"I monitored it. Put safeguards in place. Limited his access to certain accounts. I thought I was containing the damage while gathering evidence." Sebastian's voice was strained. "I didn't cover it up. I was trying to build an airtight case."
"For three years? Sebastian, people steal millions in three years. How is that not covering it up?"
"Because I was trying to protect the company! If I'd gone public with suspicions but no proof, it would have tanked our stock. Destroyed investor confidence. Ruined everything my father built."
Harper stared at him. "So you chose the company's reputation over stopping a thief."
"I chose to be strategic instead of reckless. Yes." Sebastian stepped toward her but she moved back. "Harper, you're making this sound like I was complicit. I was investigating."
"While Morrison kept stealing. And now he's cooperating with the DA, getting a reduced sentence, and you're the one who looks incompetent." Harper felt hysteria rising. "No wonder Claire thinks she can win. You gave her ammunition."
"Those documents don't prove I covered anything up. They show I was monitoring suspicious activity."
"They show you knew and didn't act. That's negligence at best. Conspiracy at worst." Harper picked up another document. "This email. You to Morrison, three years ago. 'Let's discuss the offshore transfers privately. Best to keep this between us.'"
Sebastian flinched. "That sounds worse out of context."
"What's the context that makes that okay?"
"I was trying to see if he'd incriminate himself in a private conversation. Set up a meeting where I could confront him directly."
"Did you? Confront him?"
"Yes. He denied everything. Said the transfers were legitimate international business expenses. I had no proof otherwise."
"So you let it go. For three years. While he kept stealing." Harper felt tears threaten. "Sebastian, do you understand what this means? If Claire's lawyer gets these documents, they'll use them to show you're corrupt. That you were working with Morrison. That everything Claire did was justified."
"They're out of context. My lawyer can explain—"
"Your lawyer can't explain away your signature on documents covering up embezzlement!" Harper's voice rose. "This is what Claire wanted. To make you look guilty. To validate her actions. And you handed it to her by being exactly the kind of CEO she accused you of being."
"I was protecting the company."
"You were protecting yourself! Admitting you knew about theft on your watch would have made you look incompetent. So you buried it. And now it's going to destroy everything we've built."
Sebastian's jaw tightened. "What we've built? Harper, you're acting like I deliberately sabotaged us. I made a judgment call three years before I even met you. I couldn't have known how it would play out."
"But you knew when Claire was arrested. When she started building her defense. You could have told me then. Warned me these documents existed. Let me decide if I wanted to stay married to someone who'd covered up crimes."
"I didn't cover up crimes. I delayed public revelation while building a case."
"That's just semantics and you know it." Harper grabbed her bag. "I need space. To think. To figure out if anything you've told me over the past months is actually true."
"Harper, don't leave. Not like this. We need to work through this together."
"Together? Sebastian, I just found out you've been lying by omission for three years. Maybe longer. How am I supposed to trust anything you say?"
She headed for the door but Sebastian blocked her path.
"Move," Harper said quietly.
"Not until you hear everything. Not until you understand the full picture."
"I understand perfectly. You prioritized your company's reputation over honesty. You made decisions that are now being used to destroy us. And you didn't tell me any of it until I found out from your sister."
"Because I knew you'd react like this! I knew you'd see it as betrayal instead of strategy."
"It is betrayal. You kept secrets that directly impact our lives. Our future. Our baby's future." Harper's hand went to her stomach. "How many other secrets are you keeping? What else am I going to find out from Claire or Vanessa or some other person you've wronged?"
"I haven't wronged anyone. I made difficult decisions in impossible situations."
"You made selfish decisions and convinced yourself they were necessary." Harper pushed past him toward the door. "I'm going to Jessie's. Don't follow me. Don't call me. I need time to process this without you trying to spin it into something acceptable."
"Harper, please. I love you. That hasn't changed."
She turned at the door, tears streaming down her face. "Love requires honesty, Sebastian. And I don't know if you're capable of that."
Harper left before he could respond. Drove to Jessie's house with blurred vision and shaking hands.
Jessie took one look at her and pulled her inside. "What happened?"
Harper explained everything. The meeting with Claire. The documents. Sebastian's admission that he'd known about the embezzlement and done nothing.
"That bastard," Jessie said. "After everything you've been through, he was keeping that kind of secret?"
"He says he was building a case. That going public would have hurt the company."
"And did building his case for three years stop Morrison from stealing more millions? Did it protect anyone except Sebastian's reputation?"
Harper slumped on Jessie's couch. "I don't know what to believe anymore. Every time I think I know who Sebastian is, something new surfaces. The contract. The custody clause. Now this. How many versions of the truth are there?"
"Only one version matters. The one where he lied by omission about something that could destroy both of you." Jessie sat beside her. "Harper, you need to make a decision. Either you forgive this and accept that Sebastian has secrets he won't share, or you protect yourself and the baby by leaving."
"I can't leave. I'm six months pregnant with his child. We're legally married. Our lives are completely entangled."
"You can absolutely leave. Divorce exists for a reason."
The word hung in the air. Divorce. The ending written into their original contract. The escape clause they'd supposedly moved past.
"I don't want a divorce. I love him. Despite everything, I love him."
"Then you need to figure out if love is enough. If you can live with someone who makes unilateral decisions that affect you both. Who keeps secrets to protect himself. Who's more concerned with his company's reputation than your trust."
Harper didn't have an answer.
Her phone buzzed. A text from Sebastian.
"I'm forwarding you the complete file on the Morrison investigation. Everything I have. Every email, every document, every piece of evidence I've gathered over three years. No more secrets. You deserve to know everything."
A minute later, her email pinged with a massive file attachment. Harper opened it on her phone, scrolling through hundreds of documents.
It was exactly what Sebastian promised. Three years of investigation. Notes on suspicious transfers. Attempts to trace the money. Communications with forensic accountants. A paper trail showing Sebastian had indeed been building a case, not covering up a crime.
But it also showed he'd prioritized the company over transparency. That he'd made decisions without consulting the board or authorities. That he'd put his own judgment above proper oversight.
The truth was complicated. Not the simple betrayal Claire suggested, but not the innocent investigation Sebastian claimed either.
"What are you going to do?" Jessie asked.
Harper looked at her friend. "I don't know. But I need to decide soon. The trial is in five months. I'm testifying. And I need to know if I'm testifying for Sebastian or against him."
Her phone rang. Morrison.
"Harper, we authenticated the documents Claire gave you. They're real. But there's more. We found evidence that Claire had those documents for six months. She's been sitting on them, waiting for the right moment to use them."
"Why does that matter?"
"Because it shows premeditation. Strategic timing. She didn't give them to you out of honesty. She gave them to you to drive a wedge between you and Sebastian right before trial." Morrison paused. "Harper, Claire's playing you. Everything today was designed to make you doubt Sebastian. Don't let her win."
After hanging up, Harper looked at Jessie. "Morrison says Claire manipulated the meeting. Waited months to reveal this information for maximum impact."
"Does that change what's in the documents? Does it make Sebastian's choices better?"
"No. But it means Claire's still orchestrating. Still trying to destroy us from inside her house arrest."
Harper's phone buzzed again. This time a video file from an unknown number.
She hesitated, then clicked play.
It was security footage from Claire's apartment. From yesterday. Claire meeting with someone Harper recognized.
Marcus Hyland.
They were discussing the documents. Planning when to give them to Harper. Timing it to cause maximum damage right before Claire's trial.
"We give her the documents," Claire said on the video. "Make her doubt everything. By the time she realizes I'm manipulating her, it'll be too late. She won't testify for Sebastian. Maybe she'll testify for me."
Marcus's voice: "And if she doesn't take the bait?"
"She will. Harper's biggest weakness is her need for honesty. Show her Sebastian kept secrets and she'll spiral. It's perfect."
The video ended.
Harper stared at her phone, feeling played and furious and exhausted.
"They set me up," she whispered. "The whole meeting. The documents. All of it was Claire manipulating me into doubting Sebastian."
"Does that make his secrets okay?" Jessie asked gently.
"No. But it means I can't trust Claire's version either. I'm caught between two people who both lie when it suits them."
Harper stood. "I need to go home. Talk to Sebastian. Get actual truth instead of dueling manipulations."
"Are you sure that's wise? You're emotional and pregnant and..."
"I'm emotional and pregnant and tired of everyone making decisions for me. Including Sebastian. Including Claire. Including you." Harper grabbed her bag. "I'm going home to my husband. And we're going to figure this out. Together. With complete honesty. Or we're done."
She drove back to the penthouse, her decision made.
No more running. No more letting other people control the narrative.
Just her and Sebastian and the truth.
Whatever that turned out to be.