Chapter 3 - The Secret Trevor Was Hiding
The next morning, Trevor appeared outside Sadi and Roman’s townhouse.
He looked nothing like the polished man from the mall.
His suit jacket was wrinkled. His hair was uncombed. Dark circles sat beneath his eyes. He stood near the security gate with both hands raised, pleading with the guard to let him through.
Sadi watched from the second-floor window.
Roman stood behind her.
“Do you want him removed?” he asked.
Sadi’s first instinct was yes.
Then she saw the fear on Trevor’s face.
Not remorse.
Fear.
“Let him speak,” she said.
Roman looked at her carefully. “From the gate. Dominic will be beside you.”
Ten minutes later, Sadi stood behind the locked iron gate while Trevor faced her from the sidewalk.
“You have five minutes,” she said.
Trevor swallowed.
“I need your help.”
Sadi almost laughed.
“My help?”
“Please. I know I don’t deserve it.”
“No, you do not.”
He nodded quickly. “I know. I know I was terrible to you. I know what I did at the mall was wrong. But this is bigger than us.”
“Then tell me.”
Trevor glanced at the security cameras.
“Huxley Meridian is using my firm to move documents. Fake permits. Property transfers. Shell companies. They want Roman’s harbor project to fail.”
Roman’s expression did not change behind her.
Trevor continued.
“I thought it was just aggressive business. I thought they were trying to pressure investors. But after yesterday, Malcolm called me. He said if I didn’t make this problem disappear, he would destroy me.”
Sadi’s stomach tightened.
“What problem?”
“You.”
Roman stepped forward.
Trevor immediately went silent.
Roman’s voice was even. “Explain.”
Trevor looked at him, then away.
“Huxley knows Sadi is your wife now. He thinks she is your weakness.”
Roman’s eyes turned cold.
Trevor rushed on. “I didn’t tell him anything. I swear. But he has people everywhere. He knows where she shops, where she goes, what car she drives.”
Sadi’s hand tightened around the gate.
“Why did you kick me?” she asked.
Trevor blinked.
“What?”
“At the mall. Why did you do it?”
For once, he had no clever answer.
Finally, he said, “Because I saw you standing there, and I thought you had come back for me.”
Sadi stared at him.
“I thought you were still poor,” he whispered. “I thought you were still the girl who would forgive anything.”
The truth was uglier than she expected.
Trevor had not attacked her because she threatened him.
He attacked her because he believed she was powerless.
Sadi stepped closer to the gate.
“You were wrong,” she said.
Trevor nodded, tears rising in his eyes.
“Yes.”
Roman spoke to Dominic. “Take his statement. Then hand him to the financial-crimes investigators.”
Trevor looked panicked. “Wait. You said you would help.”
Roman met his eyes.
“I will help stop Huxley,” he said. “That does not mean you escape responsibility.”
Trevor’s shoulders collapsed.
As Dominic escorted him away, Trevor looked back at Sadi one last time.
“I am sorry,” he said.
She believed he was sorry.
But not enough to trust him.
Not enough to undo what he had done.
The information Trevor provided exposed a wider plan. Huxley Meridian had bribed city officials, manipulated zoning reports, and created fake environmental concerns around Roman’s harbor project. They intended to delay construction long enough to force Roman’s investors to withdraw.
Then they would buy the land cheaply.
But the more dangerous part involved Sadi.
Huxley believed Roman would sacrifice everything to protect her.
And he was right.
That evening, Sadi found Roman alone in his office, standing before a city map covered in files.
“You should cancel your public appearance tomorrow,” he said without turning around.
“What appearance?”
“The South Harbor community meeting.”
“I was invited because I helped design the women’s employment center.”
“You should not go.”
Sadi stood quietly.
Roman turned toward her.
“There may be a threat.”
“And you think hiding me will solve it?”
“I think keeping you alive matters more than a meeting.”
She walked toward him.
“Roman, I spent years being afraid. I will not go back to living like that.”
His jaw tightened.
“You do not understand what Huxley is capable of.”
“Then tell me.”
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Then Roman looked away.
“When I was younger,” he said, “I made choices I am not proud of. I survived in a world where men like Huxley believed fear was currency. I got out. I built legitimate businesses. But people do not always let you leave your past behind.”
Sadi touched his hand.
“I did not marry your past,” she said. “I married you.”
Roman looked at her.
“And I did not marry you because you needed rescuing,” he replied. “I married you because you reminded me there was still a life worth protecting.”
The next day, Sadi attended the community meeting.
Not as Roman Vale’s wife.
Not as Trevor’s poor ex.
But as Sadi Hart, director of the new workforce center planned for South Harbor.
And when Malcolm Huxley walked into the room, smiling like a man who believed fear still controlled everyone around him, Sadi finally understood why he had come.
May you like
He was not there to threaten Roman.
He was there to test her.
