Chapter 64 What Neither of Us Want to Say
Noah's POV:
The next two weeks are mostly spent hidden away in Eden's apartment. When we're not at work, we're lost in a pile of paperwork, doing more mathematics than I've done in years. The more we delve into the accounts, the more confused we become. It's hard to imagine that all of this could be going on without Mrs Clancy knowing.
Neither one of us have said it yet and I'm not sure either of us actually will but it's hard not to feel suspicious.
There's been tens billions shaved off the companies profit margins and I'm struggling to believe that that amount of money can just disappear without someone noticing. Especially someone like Mrs Clancy. She's clearly a very intelligent woman. Not the sort of person it's easy to get one over on.
"This is insane," Eden says, getting to her feet and making her way towards me.
Coming to sit on the sofa next to me, she points at a column of figures.
"Noah, this is huge money," Eden says angrily. "How could this go on for so long without..." Her voice dies off. She doesn't want to say it.
One of us is going to have to though. As highly as I think of Mrs Clancy, there's no way she didn't know this was going on. Which leaves only one question, has she been taking a cut?
"How did she miss this?" Eden is muttering next to me.
"I don't think she did, Eden." My voice is resigned, the disappointment clear in my tone. "There's no way she didn't know."
"You think she was involved?" Eden jumps back, away from me on the sofa, her expression suddenly angry.
"I don't know but this doesn't look good. Does it?"
Glancing down at the numbers again, she looks cut up. I still can't understand why this matters so much to her. She's so invested. As if it's a matter of life and death.
"I don't believe that," she says, her voice wavering.
"I don't want to but we're talking about years and years of embezzlement and corruption. This is huge. Someone will go to prison for this... more than one..."
"Mrs Clancy wouldn't," she tells me, shaking her head. "She wouldn't."
"You don't know her."
"And neither do you," she retorts angrily, getting to her feet.
"I know her better than you do," I tell her calmly.
She opens her mouth to argue back but thinks better of it. Turning away from me, she takes a deep breath.
"Eden, I don't want to believe that she did it," I say, coming to stand behind her, placing my hand on her shoulder. "I just don't see how she reasonably could be in the dark. She's not stupid. She's not easily duped. She might be old but..."
I try to encourage her to turn around to face me. I need to see her face. I need to know that she's okay. When she gives in, turning in my arms, she still doesn't meet my eye, choosing to stare at the buttons of my shirt instead. She really is quite short.
"Eden," I say softly, lifting her chin so she has no choice but to meet my gaze.
I'm surprised to find that there are tears in her eyes. Why on earth would this upset her so much? Brushing her tears away with the pad of my thumb, I take a second or two to work out the right thing to say. The last thing I want to do is make it worse.
"I think we've done enough today," I say eventually.
"But..."
"No. No more. We've been at this every day for weeks. It's exhausting."
She doesn't try to argue with me this time. I pull her against my chest, wrapping my arms around her. This isn't the first time I've held Eden like this but it is the first time I've done it intentionally. I feel my own nerves begin to settle. I should release her but I don't want to. I could stand here like this all night.
My hand runs through her hair soothingly but I say nothing. I'm not sure I know what I would say if I were to try to say something but more than that, I don't really want to. Not when I can just stand here holding her.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
