Chapter 3 The truth must stay buried

Spencer's POV   My phone buzzed against my thigh for the third time in five minutes. I ignored it because the board members could wait. Everything could wait except the numbers on that monitor, and I had already memorized them an hour ago. Olivia slept with her face turned slightly toward the window. Pale and thinner than she'd been two years ago.   Her eyes opened.   "How long have you been here?" she asked, voice rough with sleep.   "Not long." I lied.   She gave me that look-the one that said she knew I was lying and was too tired to call me on it.    She was quiet for a long moment. Then: "I know why you married Ruby."   The words landed right between my ribs.   I didn't flinch. I'd been hit harder.   "Then, you know I'd do anything to keep you alive," I said. "So let's skip the part where you guilt me, and tell me what you actually want to say."   Olivia's eyes glistened. "Let her go, Spencer. She's not a walking blood bag. She's a person. A real person with a life and dreams and-"   I leaned forward. My voice dropped below a whisper.   "Her blood is the only thing keeping you alive. I don't care if she is a real person or an alien or a robot. Nothing else matters. Not her dreams. Not her feelings. Not the marriage. Only you."   "You're sacrificing too much for me," she said. Her voice stayed light, but tears slipped down the sides of her face into her hair. "You should live your life. Be happy. Stop building everything around keeping me here."   I reached out and brushed the tears from her cheek. "I'm not asking for your permission to save you, Olivia. It's my duty."     A soft knock cut the moment. I turned my head just enough. Vincent stepped in and closed the door. I read the tension in his shoulders before he spoke. "Sir. It's about your wife."   I turned back to Olivia. "What about her?"   "She's gone."   I didn't turn. I kept my hand on Olivia's face. "When?" "About five minutes ago. The men took her shopping like you asked."   I paused. Then, I smiled. Yesterday, she had given blood, and Olivia had stabilized within hours. The doctors had been optimistic for the first time in two years. So I had done something I never did.   I had been kind. I let Ruby leave the house for a few hours. Just my way of acknowledging that she had done something.   And the moment she stepped outside, she ran.   I should have known. Women like Ruby-they always mistake kindness for weakness. They think a gesture means you've softened.    They never learn.     "Vincent," I said, still not looking at him. "You have thirty minutes. If my wife is not in my bedroom by then, you and the rest of the team will wish you never met me. Every person who shares your last name will regret the day they were born. Am I clear?"   Vincent's throat moved. He nodded once. "Yes, sir."     "And if she thinks she's going to outrun me, I want her to learn something today."   I finally turned.   "There are very few things in this world I can not control. She is about to discover that she is not one of them."   Vincent nodded and left.   I looked back at Olivia. Her face was tired, resigned, and unimpressed.   "You've gotten worse," she said quietly.   "No," I said, straightening my jacket. "I've just stopped pretending I'm not who I always was. And as for Ruby, she can never outrun me. Even if she runs to the devil and makes her bed in hell. I'll drag her back a thousand and one times. You want to call that villainy? Fine. Then I'm the villain. But I'm the villain who gets to keep you alive."   I pulled out my phone and called Johnson Mayfield. He answered on the second ring.   "Spencer-"   "Your daughter ran." Silence on the other end.   I leaned back in my chair. "Johnson, I'm going to ask you something. I want you to think very carefully before you answer."   "Go ahead."   "Did you know she was planning this?"   "No," he said. "I wouldn't lie to you."   "I don't care if you're lying or not. Here's what matters. Your daughter signed a contract. Your entire family signed that contract.  Your firm was three months from bankruptcy when I stepped in. I poured millions into your dying company. I saved your legacy. I saved your name. And in exchange, your daughter  belongs here until Olivia no longer needs her."     "Spencer, I can explain-"   "You can explain by bringing her back. Find her. Bring her to me. Do it now, and I'll pretend this never happened. Fail, and I dismantle everything you've built-your business and your reputation. I'll take it all, and I'll do it in a way that makes you regret the day you climbed into bed with your wife and put Ruby in her ovaries."   He made a sound like I'd hit him.   "You're a monster," he whispered.   "I'm a monster who keeps promises. Find her. You have thirty minutes."   I hung up. Olivia was staring at me. The look in her eyes said she wasn't sure whether she was looking at her brother or something else wearing his face. I hated that look. I didn't care enough to change it.   My phone rang again almost immediately. Andrew. My lawyer.   I answered sharply. "Talk to me, Andrew."   "It's about Jeremiah. The one in the county."   My neck tightened. I walked away from Olivia's bed, away from her face. I didn't want her to see me handle this.   "What about him?"   "The victim's daughter went to see him again today. She asked a lot of questions. She's been connecting the accident to your family."   He paused and then spoke carefully.    "Spencer... she mentioned your name."   I understood what that meant. The truth about that night was closer than it had been in two years.   I walked to the window and stood there.  My reflection stared back at me. The brother sitting beside Olivia was gone. The man who handled problems remained.   "Listen carefully," I said quietly. "I don't care if I end up in jail for the rest of my life. But the  truth about that night must not come out."   A thought rose up in my head without permission-the victim's family deserved answers. I knew that. For a second, I almost let myself feel the weight of what I was burying. The people who would never get closure. Then, I pushed it down hard. Some truths needed to stay buried. And I was going to bury this.   "Handle it quietly," I said. "I don't care about the method. Just make sure this ends before it grows."   "I understand," Andrew said.   I hung up.     I walked back to Olivia's bed. Her eyes were closed, but I knew she wasn't asleep. The tears had stopped, but the tracks were still there.   I smoothed the blanket again.   "I'll be back," I said.   I turned toward the door.   "Spencer."   I stopped immediately. The sound of her voice-thin, breaking-held me in place.   I turned.   Her eyes were wet.    "What If saving me gradually turns you into someone you can't come back from?"