Reese ignored her, rinsed her hands, and was ready to leave when Leslie called out.
"Reese, how does it feel to be turned in to the cops by your own husband? Is it exciting?"
Reese looked back at her calmly, not saying a word.
"Got nothing to say?" Leslie stepped forward, blocking her way, her voice getting sharper. "Or are you embarrassed? I mean, you''re Mrs. Ratcliff, but now you''re the prime suspect in trying to kill your grandfather-inw. Imagine how ugly the gossip''s going to be."
Maybe Leslie felt bold because the Ratcliff family had filed charges against Reese. Maybe it was because no one suspected her, or maybe she was just feeding off Sebastian''s coldness.
She finally dropped the nice-girl act. "Oh, wait-I almost forgot. Sebastian never even admitted you were his wife. No one else even knows there''s a Mrs. Ratcliff."
Reese could hold her liquor, and instead of making her fuzzy, the drinks only made her mind sharper. She remembered how Leslie had acted after ident, and the security cameras that had mysteriously stopped working.
She stopped and met Leslie''s eyes, her gaze icy. "It''s you who cut the oxygen line in his hospital room, right?"
Leslie''s smile froze, her face twitching for a second, but then she recovered. "So what if I did? So what if I didn''t?"
"As far as the Ratcliffs are concerned, you are the only suspect. What happens to you has nothing to do with me."
She leaned in close, her voice dropping lower, sly and poisonous. "Let me ask you, Reese. Are you sure you don''t want him dead? Not even a little bit?
"If he dies, you get shares in Ratcliff Global, and nobody can stop you from divorcing Sebastian. Isn''t that what you want?"
"I don''t want that," Reese said quietly. "Mr. Ratcliff and I already agreed-no matter what happened, I was leaving Sebastian.
"Even if I divorce him, with the way he treats you now, you really think he''d ever marry you?"
Leslie shrugged, smoothing her hair with a casual smile. "I never wanted to marry him. Not back then, not now."
She looked over at Reese, a wicked little smirk on her lips. "Let me tell you something. I took Mr. Ratcliff''s money and left Sebastian years ago. I wanted him to remember me forever.
"Funny thing is, he med you for it. He''s resented you for seven years.
"Sorry, but honestly, I''m pretty happy with how things turned out.
"Oh, and I bet you didn''t know this. That child you had through IVF? That''s actually mine."
Reese felt a sharp pain in her chest. So it was true. Sebastian had used her to have a baby for Leslie.
But none of that mattered anymore. She wasn''t interested in fighting with Leslie Instead, Reese reached into her bag and pulled out a recorder, waving it in front of Leslie.
Ever since Sebastian had her arrested, George had told her to always keep a recorder on her, to save
y conversation with the
police, just in case he needed to help her fight the chargester
She hadn''t expected it toe in handy now.
Reese hit y and let Leslie''s voice echo in the room: "Oh, and I bet you didn''t
know this. That child you had through IVF? That''s actually mine."
She yed the clip again. And again. Just to make sure Leslie heard it.
Then she smiled sweetly. "Thanks, Leslie. You just made my divorce
with Sebastian a whole lot easier,
and you''ve given me everything
and yotye given p
need to im my share of his money."
Leslie''s face went paper white as she lunged for the recorder, but Reese slipped it
back into her bag and shoved past her, not looking back.
Leslie just stood there, clutching her sore shoulder, her eyes burning with so
much hate she looked like she might explode.
Back at her table, Reese had barely sat down before Millie handed her a phone with a new message.
"Did Sebastian and your son have gic testing done?
"Mypany works with ab overseas. I just got their results.
"They both have a hereditary gene mutation. No one knows when the symptoms
will show up.
"And right now, there''s no cure for it anywhere.
"So the only thing waiting for them is....."