The Truth of Never (The Never Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  "No, I don't. We didn't really speak much, and when we did it was in person."

  "Well, there might be some form of contact soon so I advise that you do make a record of it."

  "Okay, but isn’t there any other way to prove that the letters were forged?"

  "There probably is, but it will be difficult because Damian was able to thoroughly forge your handwriting. Anything short of a testimony from Stacy however might not be enough to blow this case out of the water, but it will be enough to sway the court in our favor. From your examination of the letters, was there anything out of the ordinary that wouldn't normally be in a letter that you would write?"

  "I'll go through them again. I didn't pay complete attention to them the first time because it all seemed too ridiculous to me."

  "Do you have any particular habits when writing, like a particular type of pen you use, or the way you append your signature? Look out for things like that. And also think back to if there has been anytime in the past when you've communicated through letters. We can use that as a comparison to disprove his."

  "I only use a dark blue felt tip pen, and that has been in place for the last five years or so. My assistant can attest to this. Then as for my signature I usually pen it as A.N. Roque, but since I was supposedly communicating with my mother then I would have been more informal and just used ‘Alexandre’.

  "Hmm, the letters were signed Nathan. Damian got it wrong. And also I think he wrote it in black ink instead of your standard dark blue. These are not enough to guarantee a win but they will plant doubts towards Damian’s claims."

  We pulled up in front of my building then. "Where is Lenora?” I asked. “Have you heard from her?"

  "I have. She's at Damian's, and I think she'll be staying there for a little while just to let things cool down."

  That angered me but I chose not to comment on it. "I'll get to work on Stacy and see if I can persuade her. Thank you for your help Peter."

  "You're welcome." He said, and I got out of the car.

  "Remember to call her." He reminded me. “She’s worried about you.”

  “I will.” I said and headed into my building.

  Lenora

  I slept most of the day away. It had little to do with the fact that I was exhausted, but more to do with the need for me to shut my brain down and find a total escape from the tragedy that was my present reality. I kept on waking up, and then falling right back to sleep until I glanced at the window, and saw that life had moved on quite well without me.

  It was nightfall again and almost a day had passed, quite nonchalantly as if the last time I had woken up in the dark, the love of my life hadn't been arrested and taken away like a criminal.

  Nathan.

  His name rang in my heart, and instantly I got up. Switching on my bedside lamp, I found my phone and pressed the home button to see that I had missed eighteen calls. Most of them were from Peter while the rest were from my friends, but none from Nathan. Immediately I returned Peter’s call and listened as he spent the next few minutes informing me of the details of Nathan's release. When he was done, I ended the call and started to dial Nathan's number but his call intercepted mine. I instantly picked it up.

  "How are you?" I asked, my tone simultaneously filled with worry and relief.

  "I'm okay sweetheart." He said, and just the cool sound of his voice soothed my agitated nerves.

  "I just spoke with Peter.”

  "Okay." He replied. "When will you be returning to your apartment?"

  "I-I’m not sure.” I stuttered. “I think I’m going to be remaining here for a while."

  He was quiet for a while and it grieved me. Eventually he spoke. “I don’t want you there.”

  “I know, Nathan. I don’t want to be here either but I think it’s the best thing for me to do for now, until we’re able to get things under control.”

  “Did he threaten you?"

  "He didn’t. I just want the focus to be away from me so that Peter can concentrate on you. Sincerely I don't mind being here, and moreover it could present some opportunities for me to look around that might help with your case."

  "Okay, but the instant you can't stand it anymore I want you out of there."

  "Definitely.”

  "Keep your distance from him."

  "I will."

  "Alright then.”

  "Do I get to see you tomorrow?"

  "Sure, what do you have in my mind?"

  "I don't know yet, but I will have figured it out by noon. Please take care of yourself. I wish I was there to see how you were doing"

  "I'm more worried about you."

  "I know." I said. "But don't be. Damian isn't completely insane, at least not yet. All I have to do is stay out of his way and I'll be fine."

  "That's part of why I'm concerned. You're like a loaded gun with the safety off. The tiniest provocation can set you off."

  My eyebrows came together in a frown. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

  "You know what I mean."

  "Well yes, I do but its common courtesy not to point out people's flaws."

  "It's not a flaw." He calmly said, unmoved by my defensive tone.

  "So what is it then?"

  "Are we seriously doing this?"

  "Yes we are."

  "It's a character trait."

  "Really, Nathan." I said dryly, and it pulled a small laugh out of him.

  "Well you have flaws too. For instance you ignore things that make you feel even the slightest bit of discomfort, and that is a flaw."

  "Really?"

  "Yes, and I have no idea where this conversation is going."

  "I think it's going pretty well. Now let me ask you; what other flaws do I have?"

  "Well you're.... a snob."

  "What?"

  "And you act you like you know everything."

  "I don't think that's true. More than half the time I'm the guy in the room not saying anything."

  "My point exactly. Your silence is condescending. Anyway, you also act like you always have your shit together."

  "Well, I do have my shit together... most of the time."

  "See what I mean- you’re snobby, and condescending."

  "Why do I feel like you just said what you thought about me when we first met in boarding school?"

  "Hm, I think I just did."

  "What about now?" He asked, and the smile on my face grew wide enough to pull a muscle.

  "You're too neat. I'm telling you now that you might not be able to handle my messiness." As the words left my mouth, the weight on my chest at the fact that I was currently married to someone else instantly stole my smile.

  He continued, oblivious to my depression. "We’ll work around it. What else?"

  "You can only cook a few decent meals, and they all involve pasta."

  "Now that’s just unfair." He said. "I haven't had enough opportunities to showcase my skills."

  "Of course." I said sarcastically, and he laughed.

  "So, what do you like about me?"

  "Hm,’ I thought. “The fact that you seem like a snob, because it makes you seem more mysterious than you actually are. What was the next flaw I mentioned?"

  "My silence is condescending."

  "Yes! That.” I narrowed my eyes.” I don't think I like it. It's a flaw."

  "Okay, I thought though that we were talking about things you actually like about me."

  "Hmm." I pretended to think. "I guess that's all of it."

  “Really, just one thing, extracted from a flaw.”

  "Yup, just the one. Why? Did you expect something more?"

  "Nope." he replied, his tone as high as it would probably ever get. I covered my mouth with my hand to stifle my amusement.

  "So what about me?" I asked.

  "What are you asking about? Flaws, or things I like."

  "Both."

  "Okay. Um, to me you have no flaws. I love everything about you."

  "Nathan.” I complained. �
��I'm serious. I want to know.”

  "Okay, fine. I'll think about it and get back to you.”

  "You don't have it off the top of your head?"

  "Uh... I don’t think I do."

  I knew that he was intentionally trying to bait me into taking offense, but I couldn’t stop myself from falling for it. "You know what..." I began, but a knock on the door interrupted me. Instantly, the bubble of carefree banter that we'd escaped into burst.

  “Excuse me.” I said, and pulled the phone away from my ear. "Who is it?"

  "It's Damian." came the depressing reply.

  "I'll talk to you later." I told him. "I'm busy now."

  "It's just for a few minutes.” He insisted, so with a sigh, I lifted the phone back to my ear and said to Nathan. "Hey. I need to go."

  "Is something wrong?"

  "No, Damian just wants to talk. Speak to you later?"

  "Okay sweetie." He said, so I hung up.

  “Come in." Damian walked in, dressed in his usual outfit of jeans and a dark t-shirt.

  “Hey.” He began. “I know this has been a tough weekend for you but tomorrow's Monday and life continues. I know you've still not embraced the idea of being my wife but we have time so I'm not too concerned. However I don't want you to mock me or this union, so please keep your distance from him. I'm staying at the hospital with my mother tonight, so call for my housekeeper if you need anything. Goodnight."

  "What about the charges?" I asked, just as he turned to leave.

  "It's being handled," he said. "You'll know when it's done."

  « CHAPTER 15 »

  Nathan

  For the most part of the following day, I was occupied with meetings with my team in preparation for the resumption of our show, so it was late in the evening before I eventually had the chance to speak with Stacy. Thankfully, she was in her office and alone when I found her, but the moment I walked in, she instantly rose to her feet.

  "Hi, do you have a minute?" I asked.

  "Hey, um, not really. I'm rushing out."

  I suspected that she was trying to avoid me because she had a pen in her hand, and had been casually going through some documents.

  "Okay, so when will be a good time? I want to talk to you."

  She thought for a few seconds, and then sighed. "Take a seat."

  "Thank you." I said, and walked forward to take the seat in front of her desk. "I wanted to talk to you about the incidents of the past week."

  "Nathan..." She interrupted. "I know what you're going to say, but I just want you to know that I didn't agree to do it because I wanted to hurt you. I would never do that. I know you might not believe that now but just wait and see- you'll be fine, and this whole prosecution thing will be behind you in no time."

  I eyed her as she unconsciously wrung her hands. She was nervous, but it was obvious as she stared pointedly at me that she felt very little remorse for all that she had done, and believed her claim that her actions were not to hurt me.

  "Stacy, I won't ask you why you've done what you have, but I want to give you a chance to rectify it. I want to remember you as someone that I had a good relationship with, and not as the person that falsely accused me of killing my own mother."

  "Nathan it's not like that. I didn't intend to..."

  "What exactly do you mean by it's not like that?" I interrupted.

  "I didn't do it to help him." She said quietly. "I did it to help us- to give us the chance that you never allowed us to have.”

  "Stacy, do you realize that your actions have brought jeopardy to all our lives? You might have thought you helped Damian by supporting the validity of those fraudulent letters he created, but you didn't. If all of this blows up, he's going to be ruined and you along with him."

  "Nathan, if that happens, I’m prepared to deal with it.”

  “Then what about Lenora? Does her life matter so little to you that you felt absolutely no qualms about forcing her to make a decision that would haunt her forever?”

  “Lenora is not in hell Nathan. Damian loves her and she loves him too. But with you around she managed to convince herself that the attraction she had to you in the past was better, and all that was, is wishful thinking. He needed a chance to get his fiancé back, and she needed to see why she had fallen in love with him in the first place. All I did was help put things back in their right place."

  "So essentially, you’ve deluded yourself into seeing absolutely nothing wrong with what you’ve done. You don't know Lenora, you don’t know Damian, and neither do you know me. But despite this you've managed to plant yourself in the midst of us, and made decisions that could cause irrevocable damage to all our lives. I can't even begin to express how disappointed I am in you." I rose to my feet.

  "Is that why you came?" She asked quietly, her gaze away from mine. "To tell me how terrible a person I am?"

  "Truthfully, I'm not sure why I came. What I want is for you to end your agreement with Damian, and help me instead to prove that he orchestrated all this, but I don't know how you can do that without going down with him, and I’m not entirely certain that I want that to happen. So I'm not sure why I came, but it's time to leave. Goodbye Stacy." I said, and walked out of the office.

  My phone started ringing on my way back to my office so I pulled it out of my pocket and answered it.

  "Nathan, its Peter. I just received a call from the District Attorney’s office; the charges against you have been dropped."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah, just like expected, but this is where our own battle begins. Have you spoken to Miss Washington?”

  "I just did."

  "And?”

  I sighed. "I'll respond in person."

  "Alright then, we can speak later this evening. I don’t know if you’ve heard from Lenora but the girls want us to have dinner together."

  "I haven’t. Are we having it at your place?"

  "I'm not sure yet. Elisa mentioned something about Carlie though."

  "Okay, I’ll just call Lenora to ask.”

  “Alright.” He said and hung up. Just then, Lenora’s call came through.

  "Hey Nathan." She greeted.

  “Hey.” I replied.

  "I wanted to ask if you’d mind having dinner with us tonight."

  "I was just speaking with Peter and he told me about it."

  "Oh, okay. We were supposed to have it at Elisa's but Carlie started complaining that we ignored her too much because she was single. Then we said to have it at her place, but she complained again that she would have to cook and she didn't have time for that. So we’re all going to Wendy's diner."

  "How long did it take for you three to reach this agreement?

  "About an hour... give or take." She replied, and it made me laugh. I could only imagine how repetitive the conversation would have been.

  "So will you be able to make it? Plus Wendy wants to see you."

  "I will, but I’m going to stop by the hospital to see my mother first. When do you want me at Wendy’s? Is 8:30 okay?"

  "It is. Can't wait to see you."

  "Me too."

  Lenora

  Elisa, Carlie, and I were the first to arrive at Wendy’s diner. Decorated with checkered floors, dark pink seats and glitter accents, the diner’s ambience was as pleasant and as peculiar as Wendy was. She set us up in a secluded booth situated at the far end of the diner, and placed a bowl of mixed nuts on our table for us to start munching on.

  As we waited for Peter and Nathan, we used the opportunity to work through the catalogue of designs that Carlie had brought with her from the office. Half an hour later, we were all exhausted so Carlie put the folder away and went in search of Wendy. With a heavy sigh, Elisa leaned back in her seat, and folded her arms against her chest.

  "Are you alright?" I asked, when I saw how dull she looked.

  "I am. I'm just mad at Peter."

  "Why? What did he do?"

  "It's our anniversary today, and guess who’s forgotten about it.
I don’t want to say anything because he's been so busy these days, but I don't want us to start being complacent, you know."

  "I do sweetie." I said, and rested my hand on top of hers.

  "For instance this morning, I woke up a little later than I normally would, hoping and almost praying that he would treat me to breakfast in bed just like he always does on our special days. He's pretty lazy with housework so I don't expect much, but on these kind of days, he usually puts in the effort. But guess who went to work hungry today?"

  I suspected the question was rhetorical but I answered anyway. “The both of you?”

  She glared at me and I tried my damnedest to control my amusement. "We did have a pretty early lunch though." I reminded her.

  "Just shut up and listen to me complain. I've been doing it for you for years."

  "Yes ma'am."

  She sighed again. "Five years together and this is what I get; celebrating my anniversary in some diner."

  "What did you just say?" Wendy asked. She had just reached our table and was holding two martini glasses. “Did you just call my diner- some diner?”

  Elisa instantly sat up. "No! I mean, n-nno.” She stuttered, and then looked to me for help.

  "She was uh, talking about the one down the street." I said, and Wendy narrowed her eyes at me. "There's no diner down the street."

  "We love your diner Wendy.” Elisa said in an effort to placate her.

  "Love and respect." I added.

  "Love and respect.” Elisa affirmed. “It's like home to us. It's just that today is my anniversary so I sort of expected a more...” she paused to carefully consider her next words. “formal restaurant."

  Wendy refused to be appeased. With her eyes narrowed at Elisa, she set down one of the martinis in front of me.

  "No cocktail for you,” She said to Elisa. “I'll bring you a glass of coke instead.” Then she walked away with Elisa's martini. Amused, I took a sip from mine and offered some to Elisa. She immediately accepted it.

  "You do know that the only way you're going to appease her is to leave a huge tip for her right?" I said.

  "Is she the one serving us today?" Elisa asked.