Chapter 9 - Blood Is Not Loyalty
Bridget arrived at Sabrina’s apartment furious.
Security stopped her downstairs.
Sabrina agreed to speak with her only with Claire present.
“You're destroying our family!” Bridget shouted.
Sabrina remained seated.
“No. I'm documenting what your family did.”
“My brother loved you.”
Sabrina looked at her.
“Is that why he threatened me?”
Bridget faltered.
“You manipulated him.”
“By doing what?”
No answer.
“By existing while Charlotte lied?”
Bridget changed direction.
“You have no idea what you've started.”
Sabrina leaned forward.
“Then explain account 7714.”
Bridget went still.
That was enough.
Claire immediately intervened.
“This conversation is over.”
Bridget stood.
“You think you're better than us because your father is rich?”
Sabrina shook her head.
“No. I think money made all of you believe consequences were optional.”
Bridget left.
Within forty-eight hours, investigators learned why she had panicked.
The account was connected to transactions Mason had routed through entities controlled by relatives.
Some money eventually returned to ventures benefiting Mason and Bridget.
Gavin had signed documents associated with portions of the structure, but evidence increasingly suggested Mason had concealed the full picture from him.
That did not absolve Gavin.
But it complicated the story.
Sabrina wanted truth, not a convenient villain.
Then Gavin requested a meeting.
This time, she accepted.
Public place.
Attorneys present.
No negotiation about the marriage.
He arrived looking ten years older.
“I came to apologize.”
Sabrina waited.
“I was wrong.”
“Yes.”
“I believed Charlotte.”
“Yes.”
“I let Mason convince me you were trying to take what I'd built.”
“Yes.”
Gavin swallowed.
“And none of that excuses what I did.”
For the first time, Sabrina’s expression changed.
That was the first sentence he had spoken that sounded like accountability.
He continued.
“I don't expect forgiveness.”
“Good.”
His eyes filled.
“I loved you.”
Sabrina answered quietly.
“Maybe you did. But eventually you loved being powerful more.”
Gavin looked down.
She stood.
“Sabrina?”
She paused.
“I gave investigators everything I know.”
“That's what you should do.”
“And if it costs me SwiftFreight?”
She looked at him.
“Then you'll finally understand something I had to learn.”
“What?”
May you like
“You can survive losing things.”
Then she walked away.
