“Why?”
Jonathan’s question was so earnest it left Niamh both amused and exasperated.
In the end, for the sake of the knife wound Jonathan had taken for her, Niamh settled into the chair by his hospital bed and played a lullaby on her phone for him. The gentle melody softened the mood in the sterile room, wrapping them in an unexpected warmth.
“When I was in the hospital before, with that stomach issue…” Jonathan’s voice, usually so cool and distant, sounded almost vulnerable beneath the lullaby’s hush.
“Preston said he told you, but you never came to see me…”
Niamh gave a noncommittal hum.
She hadn’t needed Preston to tell her–she’d already known Jonathan was in the hospital with stomach pain.
“Why?”
His question made her frown.
“Because we’re divorced.”
The answer was crisp, final, like a knife slicing clean through whatever still
connected them.
“If
L
Jonathan’s words trailed off, unfinished.
Niamh turned to look at him and found his eyes closed, he seemed to have drifted to sleep.
She stood and quietly left the room.
Jonathan was never short of people to look after him. Sure enough, as soon as she stepped into the hallway, Marina slipped past her into the room.
Niamh expected Preston to follow in after, since he was Jonathan’s best friend, but instead Preston bounced over to her, clearly eager for a chat and not wanting to disturb Jonathan and Marina’s little moment alone.
Niamh guessed Preston was happy to leave the two in peace–and she happened to
Chapter 416
have a few questions for him, too. They started walking together outside the hospital building.
According to Preston, Neovista Realty’s stock had recently plummeted. The company’s assets had evaporated, and now the district attorney’s office was investigating. Every business tied to the Fraser family was teetering on the brink.
To lighten their debt, Neovista Realty had laid off staff by the hundreds, leaving many people reeling.
And everyone in the industry knew the man behind Neovista Realty’s sudden crisis was Jonathan.
“The guy
who stabbed Jonathan? Word is, he was Neovista Realty’s operations manager. After he got laid off, his wife divorced him, he lost custody of his kid, and now, hitting middle age, he’s alone and drowning in gambling debts. So, yeah, he hates Jonathan. Can’t say I blame him, really.”
The more Niamh listened, the grimmer her expression grew.
Why had Jonathan suddenly turned against Neovista Realty?
After all, the Thomas Group and the Fraser family had always kept to their own corners, never interfering with each other.
Suddenly, Niamh remembered what Jonathan had told her: when she’d almost lost her hands to those thugs, Susy had been the one pulling the strings.
Could it be…
Niamh’s eyes went wide.
“No… That can’t be…”
Seeing her shake her head, Preston couldn’t help but argue, “Why not? Desperate people do desperate things. He was a gambler at the end of his rope–when you’ve got nothing left to lose, there’s no telling what you might do.”
But as Preston spoke, Niamh’s thoughts tangled into chaos.
Surely Jonathan hadn’t gone after Neovista Realty just to avenge
her?
She let out a bitter little laugh, chastising herself for her old habit of reading too much into things.
Even if Jonathan had said the man had a grudge against him.
With what Preston had told her, it did seem Jonathan was the man’s target.
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But as Niamh thought back, she still believed that, that night, the real target had been her–not Jonathan.
If the man had truly meant to stab Jonathan, he wouldn’t have panicked and fled after wounding him; he’d have stayed, triumphant, certain his revenge was complete.
Niamh sighed just as her phone buzzed.
Evening was falling over Neovista Realty’s headquarters.
Inside, Susy was knee–deep in chaos when someone suddenly shoved open her office door.
