“Until now,” I said.

“Until Marcus revived the legacy key to frame you.”

Alexander took a step back, his boots creaking on the worn linoleum floor.

He stared at the wall, his eyes vacant and dark.

The rain beat a frantic rhythm against the glass.

“He lied to me,” Alexander said.

“He told me the Cranes were vultures.”

“He told me never to trust them, never to let them buy a single share of our stock.”

“Perhaps he regretted what he did,” I offered gently.

“Or perhaps he was trying to hide the evidence from you.”

Alexander did not answer.

He walked over to the small window and looked down at the dark alleyway below.

The streetlights cast a yellow, greasy sheen on the wet asphalt.

“Victoria knows,” he said after a long silence.

“She must,” I said.

“Her family has been holding this over your company’s head for a decade.”

“That is why she wanted the merger,” he said, turning around to face me.

“That is why she agreed to marry me.”

“It wasn’t an alliance of families,” he said.