“Did you arrange the apartment payments?”
“Yes.”
“Did you arrange the watch and bracelet?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She looked down at her hands.
“I had access to the fund. It was already used for staff support and temporary housing. I told myself I could code the expenses there and correct them later.”
“Why the gifts?”
“I wanted Alexander to notice how useful I was. I wanted to be indispensable.”
“And you let him believe he had bought those things for you.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn’t ask.”
The answer was quiet, but it did not excuse her.
“Did you know I thought he was choosing you over me?”
She swallowed.
“I knew you were hurt.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“Yes,” she said. “I knew.”
The admission changed the air between us.
For a moment, I saw not a rival but a person who had made a series of selfish decisions and then watched someone else bear their consequences.
