Chapter 125
Jonathan’s POV
Apartment – Late at night
It was late night as I got back home after another long meeting with the federal agents, John and Vance.
I was careful not to make any sound as I knew it was after midnight and Veronica and the kids must be fast asleep.
I switched my phone’s flashlight on as I expected the lights to be off at this hour.
But I got shocked to see the lights, except the kids’ rooms, were on.
And Veronica was waiting for me on the sofa.
She didn’t look angry.
And it didn’t seem to me she had been crying.
The weather was also fine, so it couldn’t be her pain firing up.
Instead she smiled and walked over.
She hugged me with a warm smile.
“Ate?” She looked at me with a tilted head. “Your dinner is waiting p>
My chest tightened as I felt guilty.
Because of the investigation, I realized how much I neglected her and myself.
“No, I didn’t eat p>
“Okay,” she smiled. “Take a seat, I’ll bring your dinner over p>
For the first time since I began this investigation, I decided to slow things down.
As I was eating, Veronica quietly says,
“Jonathan, we need to talk about some things p>
I exhaled.
“I’m sorry for coming so late. Lately, things have been p>
Before I could explain myself, she cut my words midway.
She took hold of my hand.
“Jonathan,” she said in a low voice. “A week back, I came to study. You were sleeping p>
My heart skipped a beat as I knew she knew something.
“I saw the investigation board, the white board with the details and connections p>
“The files on your desk,
“The photograph of Fredrick p>
She trailed off a bit.
My heart was racing as I listened to what she wanted to tell.
My mind blocked her words for a moment as I realized the things I was keeping from her p>
She had already found out.
I expected her to be angry or frightened, but she was calm.
I studied her face as I was searching for a disappointed look, but all I could see was understanding.
I realized the secret I had been keeping from her to protect was no longer only known to me.
I lowered my head as I wondered,
Did I end up hurting the woman I love once again?
The woman I swore to protect from the day I saw her.
“Jonathan, I’m sorry for misunderstanding you p>
I quietly listened as Veronica softly spoke.
“I thought you were neglecting me the same way you did back then p>
“I was thinking you didn’t love me back then p>
“I know you loved me back then too, but you always chose her over me so p>
As she trailed off a bit,
Her words were deepening the guilt that was weighing on my heart.
“Nicky, I’m sorry p>
I didn’t reply because I was regretting protecting her, but I regretted keeping it from her.
I regretted carrying everything alone just like I did seven years ago, that made me lose Veronica.
I swore to myself the day she came back, I would never let another wall stand between us ever again.
Yet fear of losing her, made me do the same thing once again.
I was looking into her eyes as I realized how close I was to making history repeat itself.
I also realized protecting Veronica didn’t mean hiding from her or shutting her out of my life.
For the first time since the investigation began, I allowed myself to admit.
“I should have trusted you and involved you in the investigation p>
I watched Veronica reach across the table and gently held both of my hands in hers.
The tightening feel in my chest began to fade away slowly as she spoke.
I realized from the beginning I had convinced myself, as long as I face the danger alone, Veronica would be safe.
I realized in doing so the only thing I was doing was p>
Creating distance between us.
“You remember?” she asked as I quietly listened, realizing how unfair I had been to her.
“We made a promise to one-another,” she continued.
“We would face everything together p>
I knew she never told me to fight my fights alone.
I was the one who chose the path to fight alone.
For the first time since I began the investigation, I felt the crushing burden I was feeling, lighten up inside of me.
I squeezed her hands softly as I silently swore to myself,
I would never again keep her out of my life.
I exhaled as I knew I had to explain everything to her.
“Let me begin from the top p>
“At first, we found hidden shell companies in his and Imelda’s names p>
“Then we found out about him coming to Livelane and meeting Charles p>
“His link to the fertility clinics, the donor funding p>
“The laboratory, the recovered files from the cloud storage p>
“We retrieved lots of surveillance footage p>
“Then there were some businessmen Adrian recognized p>
“In them, one had a diplomatic connection p>
Veronica listened without interrupting.
I knew the more I explained, the more it seemed impossible for it to happen.
It all seemed as if a drama play was being summarized.
“So, you weren’t only after a revenge p>
Veronica said as she realized I was uncovering years of carefully planned deception, mastermind Fredrick.
“And this was just the beginning.” I said quietly.
I removed a folder from my backpack.
I opened the folder and placed the documents on the table.
“These are the timelines I noted,
“Some of the crucial business records we need to know about p>
“These are the investment records of his shell companies and some clients p>
“And some old correspondence mails p>
I exhaled.
“So far, everything in the investigation points towards one conclusion p>
“Fredrick never reacted to events p>
“Cause he was the creator p>
“The planner behind them p>
“He was the one controlling us for years p>
“Even I didn’t want to admit when I found this evidence p>
“But the deeper we investigated, the clearer the facts became p>
“There’s something else, you should see,” I said quietly.
I placed a photo of me, Daniel, and Charles.
Veronica looked at me with a confused look.
“See,” I said.
“It’s the three of us, different times, different years p>
“Each time connected to Fredrick p>
“Me, with him at a business meeting p>
“Daniel with him at an auction, he desperately tried to take a photo of the same diamond Daniel was p>
“With Charles at the warehouse p>
“Each one of us is linked to him, one way or another, business p>
“Neither one of us knew one another at the time p>
“I met Daniel two years after this event, and Charles? Sixteen years later p>
“This means he was already investigating us even before we knew about him.
“And this realization shocked me to no end.
“Our lives never crossed accidentally p>
“You mean…he knew about us from the beginning?” Veronica whispered.
I nodded slowly.
“Fredrick had been studying young potential business students he knew would become successful businessmen one day p>
“Me, Daniel, Charles p>
“We all represented something valuable to him p>
“He knew we could bring him money, influence and reputation p>
“He wasn’t just watching us, he was choosing us, planning and positioning us on his chess board p>
“I admit this realization made me uncomfortable, and for the first time in my life I questioned as to how much of my past was truly my own p>
I opened one more file.
This file contained some of the crucial investment proposals.
His business expansion plans, his meeting schedules, his partnership requests.
“Most on the surface, appear to be ordinary p>
Then I showed her several handwritten notes written in the margins.
“Look p>
“These are not typed, but written p>
“In Fredrick’s handwriting p>
I exhaled as I began to read the instructions he had given.
That’s when I realized sometimes even the smallest detail can lead to a bigger clue.
Just then one sentence caught my attention.
I read the notes twice,
Then a third and fourth time.
I was unable to believe what I read.
The words are short, clear and undeniable.
These instructions were not meant for the public to know.
They were clear instructions.
I slowly handed the page to Veronica, who read it silently.
We both struggled to process what we read and neither of us spoke for several moments.
I finally broke the silence.
“Nicky, if this document is authentic p>
“Fredrick was not just hoping p>
“He was planning something would happen p>
“And this was long before I met you, or before Imelda entered our life p>
“He had already mapped our life p>
I let out a pathetic laugh.
“Now, I wonder if spending the night with Imelda was really planned by Imelda or not p>
This thought sent the chills down my spine.
“And maybe our marriage might have disrupted his plan, that he began years before,” Veronica said.
I slowly turned the document towards her and let her read it one last time.
We finally understood, we had been his pawns all the time back then.
I also understood why he seemed to appear every time our lives changed.
And it was never a coincidence.
Veronica reached for my hand.
This time I wanted to tie our hands with a cuff so we’d never part.
We read the document together.
For the first time, we would face whatever it is…together.
For the first time I realized Veronica was never my weakness, she was my strength.
The document was an investment proposal in Fredrick’s handwriting to a client who invested in my company back then.
At the time Veronica was only my college-mate.
The last line shocked us:
Jonathan must marry Imelda by the end of his graduation.
I was shocked as I began dating Veronica during our first semester, and during our last semester, we got married.
She was already pregnant with Janet, and after graduation, Janet had been born, and I became Adrian’s father as well.
I realized the greatest battle of our lives had begun even before we ever began to date.