Chapter 6 - Sloan Wants Immunity
Merritt did not call Sloan.
She told Sloan to come to her condo without Blythe or Judson.
Sloan arrived wearing oversized sunglasses despite the gray afternoon.
She stopped when she saw Thatcher’s car parked outside.
“He’s here?”
“No.”
“Then whose—”
“He left it because he took a rideshare after staying last night.”
Sloan’s face tightened.
“You two spent the night together?”
Merritt stared at her.
“I was injured.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Merritt almost shut the door.
Then she remembered the text.
“They’re going to blame me?”
Sloan’s expression changed.
“Can I come in?”
Merritt stepped aside.
Sloan entered and immediately noticed the crutches.
For the first time since the fall, she looked genuinely uncomfortable.
“How’s your knee?”
“You didn’t come here to ask that.”
“I can care.”
“Apparently only after the wedding is canceled.”
Sloan flinched.
Merritt closed the door.
“Talk.”
Sloan removed her sunglasses.
Her eyes were swollen.
“Dad is losing it.”
“About what?”
“The money.”
“What money?”
“I don’t know all of it.”
Merritt laughed softly.
“Of course.”
“I’m serious.”
“You knew there was something wrong.”
“I knew they were covering the venue.”
“With stolen company funds.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Camille heard you ask if I would find out.”
Sloan went pale.
“Who?”
“The photographer who recorded you kicking me.”
Sloan looked toward the floor.
Merritt continued.
“You said you didn’t care where the money came from.”
“I meant my parents’ money.”
“No. You meant you knew there was a secret.”
“I knew Dad was borrowing.”
“From whom?”
Sloan was silent.
Merritt waited.
Finally Sloan said, “You.”
The word landed quietly.
“What?”
“Dad said you had agreed to help.”
“I agreed to nothing.”
“I know that now.”
“You believed I gave forty-two thousand five hundred dollars to your wedding without ever mentioning it?”
Sloan looked defensive.
“You’ve helped before.”
Merritt stared.
“With what?”
Sloan’s eyes shifted.
Merritt felt dread grow.
“What have I helped with, Sloan?”
“Mom said you covered part of my graduate school.”
“I paid eight thousand dollars when you lost your scholarship.”
Sloan swallowed.
“She said it was more.”
“How much more?”
“I don’t know.”
“Answer.”
“Thirty.”
Merritt’s chest tightened.
“Thirty thousand?”
Sloan nodded.
“No.”
“Well, that’s what they told me.”
“They lied.”
Sloan looked shaken.
Merritt moved carefully toward a chair.
“What else?”
“Don’t do this.”
“What else did they say I paid for?”
“My apartment deposit.”
“No.”
“The Range Rover down payment.”
“No.”
Sloan stared.
Merritt’s voice sharpened.
“I gave you five thousand when your old car died. That was it.”
Sloan’s mouth opened but no words came.
For the first time, both sisters seemed to see the same invisible structure surrounding them.
Money Merritt supposedly provided.
Gratitude Sloan had never expressed because she thought it was automatic.
Resentment Merritt had carried because she believed Sloan never asked for anything directly.
Their parents had stood between them, translating one sister into a resource and the other into a beneficiary.
“Why?” Sloan whispered.
Merritt’s laugh was brittle.
“I’m starting to think we’re about to find out.”
Sloan sank onto the couch.
“Dad’s business is in trouble.”
“What business?”
“Whitmore Advisory.”
Merritt frowned.
Judson had spent years presenting his consulting firm as quietly successful.
“He said a client lawsuit froze a big account.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“Why didn’t I know?”
“Because you always ask questions.”
The answer came too quickly.
Merritt looked at her.
Sloan realized what she had said.
“Mom said that. Not me.”
“But you repeated it.”
Silence.
Merritt leaned back.
“Tell me what they’re planning.”
Sloan twisted her engagement ring.
“Dad said ArcLight might decide you misused your own card.”
“Why would they?”
“Because the fake paperwork came from your laptop.”
Merritt froze.
“How do you know about the paperwork?”
Sloan’s hand stopped moving.
There it was.
The mistake.
Merritt’s voice became very quiet.
“Sloan.”
Sloan’s eyes filled.
“Mom told me this morning.”
“What exactly did she tell you?”
“That there was an authorization document.”
“She shouldn’t know Corporate Security found that unless she created it.”
Sloan stood.
“I need to go.”
Merritt blocked nothing.
She only said, “If you walk out now, I will assume you’re protecting them.”
Sloan stopped.
“You think I’m the criminal?”
“I think you kicked me down stairs because you wanted prettier pictures.”
Tears rolled down Sloan’s face.
“I didn’t think you’d fall.”
“You aimed at the only part of my body everyone knew was unstable.”
“I was angry.”
“You were entitled.”
Sloan wiped her face.
“I’m sorry.”
Merritt felt nothing yet.
Maybe apology needed time before it could become real.
“Did Mom use my laptop?”
Sloan whispered, “I saw her at your desk.”
“When?”
“Nine days ago.”
Merritt’s heart pounded.
“She told me she was printing directions.”
“So did she.”
“But she wasn’t.”
Sloan shook her head.
“She had Dad on speakerphone. He was telling her where to find a file.”
Merritt stared.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Sloan looked at her with naked shame.
“Because I thought whatever they were doing was paying for my wedding.”
Merritt understood then.
Sloan had not designed the fraud.
She had simply chosen not to look at it.
And sometimes that was how families committed terrible things together.
One person crossed the line.
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Another opened the door.
A third decided not to ask why everyone was whispering.
