Chapter 4 - The Cost of Being Untouchable
By morning, every major newspaper carried the story.
BLACKWELL FOUNDATION FACES FRAUD INVESTIGATION.
PHILANTHROPIST AMBROSE BLACKWELL ACCUSED OF MISUSE OF CHARITABLE FUNDS.
PREGNANT WIFE SUBMITS EVIDENCE AT GALA.
Ambrose’s name appeared beside words he had spent his life avoiding.
Fraud.
Misconduct.
Corruption.
The board suspended him from active leadership pending investigation.
His private accounts were reviewed.
Investors began making calls.
Partners delayed contracts.
And Cassandra stopped answering his messages.
When she finally came to the penthouse, she was no longer wearing red.
She wore jeans, a gray sweater, and the expression of a person already searching for an exit.
“This is too much,” she said.
Ambrose stood near the window, holding a glass of whiskey he had not touched.
“You knew what I did.”
“I knew you moved money around.”
“You knew I had a wife.”
“That is different.”
“Is it?”
Cassandra looked away.
“I did not know she had evidence.”
Ambrose laughed bitterly.
“That is what you are worried about?”
“I am worried about my career.”
He turned toward her.
“Your career?”
“My sponsors have dropped me. The foundation has issued a statement saying I acted independently. My name is everywhere.”
“You came onstage.”
“You let me.”
The truth hit him.
Cassandra had never loved him.
She loved the version of herself beside him.
The cameras.
The invitations.
The access.
And now that the doors were closing, she was leaving.
She picked up her handbag.
“I am sorry,” she said.
Ambrose stared at her.
For years, Jacqueline had said sorry to him.
Sorry for asking questions.
Sorry for needing him home.
Sorry for making him feel guilty.
Now Cassandra said it without meaning it.
Then she walked out.
Ambrose stood alone in the penthouse.
The silence was unbearable.
He looked toward the nursery room at the end of the hall.
Jacqueline had spent months planning it.
A pale blue wall.
A wooden crib.
A bookshelf filled with children’s stories.
Ambrose had barely entered it.
Now the room was empty.
Not unfinished.
May you like
Abandoned.
For the first time, Ambrose understood the difference.
