“The important part was that, once you saw the truth, you believed it.”
Paige shook her head.
“No.
The important part was that you protected me even after I helped him humiliate you.”
I did not tell her that anyone would have done the same.
That was not true.
Some people would have enjoyed watching her learn the lesson.
Some would have waited until the money vanished so their warning would feel more powerful.
Some would have valued being right more than preventing the damage.
I had been angry.
I was still hurt.
But the moment I saw Graham’s name in that public record, the choice had become simple.
He thought restraint meant weakness.
He thought silence meant ignorance.
He thought the least impressive man in the room would be the easiest one to dismiss.
He never understood that I had spent my career following what men like him tried to hide.
Until dessert.
