A man in a suit approached as soon as David stepped out of the car.
“Mr. David?”
“Yes.”
“I’m a representative of the bank.”
He handed over a thick set of papers.
“Because your company has a large loan approaching maturity, and because your accounts have been frozen, the bank is beginning the asset inventory process.”
“Inventory?”
“It is mandatory under the terms of your loan.”
Megan erupted at once.
“You have no right.”
The man remained polite.
“We are acting in accordance with the contract.”
David looked down at the papers. Every line cut.
A three-million-dollar loan. Maturity risk. Asset confiscation in the event of nonpayment.
Megan scanned the document and turned pale.
“My God. Why would you take out a loan this large?”
David said nothing. He knew where the money had gone: expansion, growth, ambition. But with contracts canceled and accounts frozen, that loan had turned into a bomb with a burning fuse.
“We begin inventory tomorrow,” the bank representative said. “We expect your cooperation.”
Then he walked away.
Inside the office, the lights were on, but no real work was being done. Several employees stood whispering in a corner. When David entered, silence fell around him.
Andrew rushed over.
“Two more employees just resigned.”
“Who?”
“The head of sales and the lead project engineer.”
David gave a bleak smile.
“Good for them.”
Megan muttered, “Rats leaving a sinking ship.”
David walked into his office and sat down. The room that had once filled him with pride now felt hollow and cold. He pulled out his phone and opened his contacts.
There was my name.
Kate.
His finger hovered above the screen.
Memory pulled him backward. The first years of our marriage. A cramped apartment. Too little money. Dinners eaten late because I waited for him to come home. Nights I stayed awake until he returned from meetings. I had never complained.
For the first time in his life, a feeling he didn’t know how to carry rose in him.
Remorse.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ocean, the evening in our backyard was quiet and soft. Nick helped Aiden water the flower beds. Chloe chased a butterfly through the grass. Their laughter rang through the little garden.
Nick looked at me.
“How do you like it here, kiddo?”
“Peaceful,” I said.
He nodded.
“Your father always said you were strong.”
I watched my children and answered honestly.
“I don’t know if I’m strong. I just knew I didn’t want my children growing up inside a house full of lies.”
Nick gave a quiet nod.
“You did the right thing.”
I looked up at the darkening sky.
There are doors in life that, once closed, you should never force open again. And one truth remains simple no matter how long people try to deny it: happiness cannot be built on betrayal.
That night David barely slept. He stayed in his office long after the building went dark. Outside the windows, the city glittered, but inside him there was only exhaustion.
Then Andrew came in carrying a folder.
“Look at this.”
Inside was the preliminary financial report following the cancellation of the major contracts. The red numbers on the page were almost painful to read.
“A one-point-five-million-dollar deficit,” Megan whispered after glancing over his shoulder.
Andrew nodded.
“And that’s before adding the contract penalties.”
David leaned back and closed his eyes. A million and a half in deficit. Another million in potential penalties. The bank loan on top of that. The sum had already outgrown the company’s ability to survive it.
“There’s no way out?” Megan asked quietly.
Andrew shook his head.
“If there’s no fresh capital, the company has maybe a month.”
Silence filled the office.
A month can sound like a long time in ordinary life. In business, it’s nothing at all.
Megan broke the silence first.
“Do you remember how it all started?”
David opened his eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“When the company was just getting off the ground, Kate helped you a lot.”
He said nothing.
Megan pressed on.
“You didn’t even have an accountant back then. She kept the books for you.”
David gave a bitter smile.
“Why bring up the past?”
“Because without Kate,” Megan said bluntly, “this company might not even exist.”
He couldn’t argue with that. In the early days, Catherine had studied accounting, stayed up late doing balance sheets, gone to meetings, filled in where he was too busy or too overwhelmed. But once the business turned profitable, he hired staff, managers, professionals.
