I Told My Roommate My Date Rejected Me… Her Next Words Left Me Speechless
Chapter 9
We spent the next two days investigating my father.
Every document suggested something different.
Some showed him working with Thomas.
Others showed payments connected to Olivia.
Then we found something that changed everything.
A hidden bank account.
My father’s name.
But the account had never received money.
It had only transferred it.
To victims.
Families who had lost everything because of the fraud.
Medical accounts.
Education funds.
Emergency support.
I stared at the records.
“He wasn’t stealing.”
Claire nodded.
“He was returning the money.”
“But why hide it?”
“To protect the victims from retaliation.”
There was a note attached.
Thomas knows. Olivia doesn’t.
My father and Thomas had been working together from the beginning.
Olivia had planted evidence suggesting my father was part of the theft.
Then she used that evidence to pressure him.
The truth was uglier.
My father knew Olivia was watching him.
He created false transactions to make her believe he was still loyal.
Thomas continued investigating.
Together, they built a case.
Then Thomas died.
My father kept the ledger hidden.
And eventually, he disappeared from public life.
I looked at Claire.
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because you were sixteen.”
“He could have.”
“Maybe he thought you deserved a normal life.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Instead, I got a normal life with a secret room.”
Claire smiled despite everything.
“You did.”
Then we found the most important document.
A letter.
From Ryan.
To Olivia.
The children are together. The plan worked.
I stared.
“What plan?”
Claire read the next page.
If they ever find the ledger, pressure Daniel first. Claire will follow if he does. Their attachment will make them easier to control.
My heart dropped.
“Our entire relationship?”
“No.”
Claire shook her head.
“They’re saying the apartment was arranged to bring us together.”
I felt sick.
“Were you placed here?”
“No.”
“Was I?”
“No.”
“But someone expected we might find each other.”
Claire stepped closer.
“That doesn’t make what happened between us fake.”
I looked at her.
She was right.
The late-night talks.
The jokes.
The arguments over dishes.
The times I’d waited outside her office.
The way she always knew when I was upset.
None of that had been planned.
Then another letter appeared.
From Thomas.
If Daniel and Claire ever find each other, don’t separate them. They will trust one another when they stop trusting everyone else.
Claire stared at me.
“Your father knew.”
I shook my head.
“Maybe they both did.”
We sat together in silence.
Then I asked,
“When did you start liking me?”
She laughed.
“That isn’t what we’re discussing.”
“It matters.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
She looked away.
“A long time ago.”
“How long?”
She smiled sadly.
“Before I knew you were connected to my father.”
I stared.
“How long?”
“About a year.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“You’ve liked me for a year?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because you talked about other women.”
I laughed.
“That’s your reason?”
“No.”
She became quiet.
“You were my safe person.”
My chest tightened.
“I didn’t want to risk losing that.”
I reached for her hand.
“You were mine too.”
She looked at me.
Then her eyes filled.
“But there’s something I still haven’t told you.”
“What?”
“That date I said rejected me?”
“Yes.”
She took a breath.
“It wasn’t a date.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“I told you that because I was afraid you’d ask why I was crying.”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“It wasn’t another man.”
“Then who?”
Her voice dropped.
“It was me.”
