Chapter 493
It was the first time Jonathan had ever seen Marina looking like this.
She was dressed in the bright yellow uniform of a delivery driver, the bill of her baseball cap pulled low over her eyes, and a thick black mask covering nearly her entire face.
Jonathan’s first thought was that Marina had gone to these lengths to sneak into The Thomas Group unnoticed.
After all, with the company’s $1.5 billion loss, Sprague Thomas had pinned the blame squarely on her shoulders.
Marina was now persona non grata at The Thomas Group-barred from entering outright.
So, disguising herself as a delivery driver was the only way she’d get in.
But even as Jonathan watched her, a strange feeling grew in his gut-this wasn’t the only reason Marina was dressed this way.
Even now, after making it inside, the hat and mask stayed on. If Jonathan hadn’t known her as well as he did, he never would have recognized her.
He said nothing.
He didn’t ask what was wrong, though of course, he wanted to.
Marina’s face was mostly hidden, only her eyes visible-but even that was enough. Jonathan could see she was on the verge of collapse. Her wide, terrified eyes brimmed with panic, the rims red and raw, bloodshot and swollen from crying. She looked like she hadn’t slept in days.
The moment Marina saw Jonathan, tears sprang up again, unstoppable.
She rushed over and threw her arms around him.
Jonathan felt her shaking from head to toe.
“Jonathan… please… help me… I can’t do this without you… I can’t survive
1/3
without your help…”
Her voice broke, choked with sobs.
I
“Jonathan, I’m begging you… don’t turn your back on me… I have nothing left-no one but you…”
Clinging to his arm, she buried her face in his chest and wept.
Only Marina’s muffled sobs filled the office, the silence growing heavier
around them.
At last, Jonathan spoke.
“Was it you who put Susy Fraser in touch with Jasper York?”
Marina flinched violently.
With her face still pressed to his chest, Jonathan couldn’t see her eyes-couldn’t gauge her guilt. But her reaction was answer enough.
“Jonathan, you’re accusing me!” she cried, shoving him away, her eyes
wide with disbelief.
“How could you just assume it was me without even asking?”
“Then why did Susy name you, and no one else?”
“Jonathan…”
She gasped for air behind the mask, her breathing ragged.
Jonathan waited, silently hoping she’d offer an explanation that might
make him believe her.
But Marina suddenly lost control, shouting, “Even the police couldn’t find any evidence-what right do you have to accuse me? And even if it was me, so what? Susy’s the one who actually killed someone! And Niamh-she deserved what she got!”
Her voice echoed through the office, then faded, leaving a dead silence in its wake.
213
23-19
Jonathan and Marina stood face-to-face.
She saw it clearly-the disappointment growing deeper and colder in his eyes.
“Do you remember what I told you before?” Jonathan finally said, his voice soft but icy.
Marina trembled.
“I said… whatever you wanted, I could make it up to you. One last time…”
The entire $1.5 billion in emergency funds-that had been Jonathan’s way of trying to make things right.
But in the end, he’d broken his promise.
The vow he’d made to Rina all those years ago at the Juvenile Rehabilitation Center-he hadn’t kept it after all.
3/3
23:201
