Chapter 9 - THE BOYFRIEND AT THE GATE
By the following afternoon, Bellhaven’s front gate had become a boundary between Emily’s old life and everything that came after it. Reporters had not arrived, and Emily was grateful for that, but rumors from the pool party were already moving through private social circles. Two videos had appeared online before being deleted. One showed Emily falling when Vanessa pulled the chair. Another showed Richard striking Jake and Vanessa falling into the pool. Neither showed enough context to explain the whole event.
Emily learned how fast partial truth could become a story.
One post called Richard an out-of-control millionaire assaulting young guests. Another claimed Emily had inherited a mansion and staged the confrontation to embarrass her stepsister. A third suggested Vanessa had been defending her late mother’s property from a hostile takeover. None of the people writing these things had spoken to Emily.
She sat with Helen in the library as they discussed whether to release a statement.
“Anything public becomes permanent,” Helen warned. “You don’t owe strangers a full account while there’s an active investigation.”
Emily looked at her damaged phone, now powered down beside the desk. “If I say nothing, Vanessa looks like the victim in half the clips.”
“If you say too much, you may compromise evidence.”
Richard stood near the fireplace. “We can release the complete security footage of the patio.”
Emily shook her head. “No.”
He looked surprised.
“I don’t want sixty guests’ faces online because of what happened to me. And I don’t want to win by humiliating Vanessa the way she humiliated me.”
Helen nodded approvingly. “Then a short factual statement is enough if necessary.”
Before they finished, Marcus entered. “Jake Mercer is at the front gate.”
Richard’s expression darkened instantly. “Tell him to leave.”
Marcus looked at Emily. “He says he’ll leave if Emily tells him directly.”
Richard started toward the door.
Emily stood. “I’ll do it.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know.”
She walked with Marcus to the security building near the entrance. She did not invite Jake onto the property. Instead, she spoke to him through the intercom camera while Marcus remained a few feet away.
Jake stood outside the gate in jeans and a wrinkled shirt, looking nothing like the confident young man who had thrown cash at her forty-eight hours earlier. He had a bruise along his cheek and a bandage over one eyebrow.
“Emily,” he said when her voice came through the speaker. “Please.”
“What do you want?”
“To explain.”
“Then explain.”
He looked toward the camera. “Not like this.”
“This is the only way you’re speaking to me.”
Jake exhaled. “My dad knew about Bellhaven before I met you. That’s true.”
Emily said nothing.
“He told me your family might be sitting on land worth a lot of money. Vanessa told me you were the beneficiary. At first, yeah, I was curious. I thought getting close to you might help my dad understand what you planned to do.”
The honesty made Emily feel sick.
“But that changed,” Jake said quickly. “I really did fall for you.”
Emily closed her eyes for one second.
He continued. “You have to believe me.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Emily—”
“You threw money at me.”
His face tightened. “I know.”
“In front of people. While Vanessa poured ice over me.”
“I was angry.”
“At what?”
Jake looked away. “Vanessa told me you’d been using me. She said you knew who my father was and were planning to embarrass us once the transfer happened.”
Emily almost laughed. “So your defense is that you thought I was doing to you what you were actually doing to me?”
Jake had no answer.
She leaned closer to the intercom. “Did you access the trust portal?”
His expression changed.
That was enough.
“Jake.”
“My lawyer told me not to talk about that.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I don’t want the last thing between us to be that party.”
Emily felt anger rise, but beneath it was grief. There had been real moments between them, at least for her. Late-night drives. Bad movies. Coffee before class. His hand in hers at the pier. The possibility that some of those moments had been genuine only made the betrayal more complicated.
“You don’t get to choose the last thing between us,” she said. “Your choices did.”
Jake pressed both hands against the bars of the gate. “I can help you against my dad.”
Emily stared at him.
Marcus shifted slightly behind her.
“What does that mean?” she asked.
Jake lowered his voice. “My father knew Vanessa wanted the transfer delayed. He told me not to do anything illegal. He was very careful about saying that. But he also said if a problem appeared naturally, Mercer Ridge would be ready with a solution.”
“Naturally.”
“You know what I mean.”
“I actually don’t.”
Jake’s face twisted with frustration. “He never told me to hack anything. The portal thing was my idea.”
Emily’s breath caught.
There it was.
“You used my security answers.”
Jake looked down.
“Where did you get them?”
“Some from Vanessa. Some from things you told me while we were dating.”
Emily felt violated in a way the pool humiliation had not touched. Private memories she had shared because she trusted him had become keys used against her.
“Did you submit the review request?”
“I drafted it. I didn’t send it.”
“Why?”
Jake swallowed. “Because I got scared.”
Emily was silent.
“I realized if it worked, you could lose control of everything for months. Maybe longer. I deleted the recovery email and backed out.”
“You still broke in.”
“I know.”
“Did your father know?”
“Not the details.”
Emily studied his face. She could not tell whether that was truth, protection, or both.
Jake reached into his pocket slowly and held up a small USB drive. “I copied emails between Vanessa and me, and messages with my dad about the property. My lawyer has a copy too. I’ll give them to Detective Ramirez.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m done protecting anyone.”
Emily almost told him that choosing honesty after being caught was not heroism. But she was tired of speeches.
“Give it to your lawyer,” she said. “Do not give it to me. Do not come back here.”
Jake’s eyes filled. “Was any of it real to you?”
The question hurt because he had no right to ask it.
“Yes,” Emily said. “That’s why this is unforgivable right now.”
She ended the intercom connection.
When she turned, Richard was standing farther down the path. He had followed but kept his distance.
“You heard?” Emily asked.
“Some.”
She nodded.
Richard approached slowly. “Do you want me to say something fatherly and threatening?”
Despite everything, Emily gave a small laugh.
“No.”
“Good. I’m running out of original material.”
For the first time since the party, they shared a moment that felt almost like their old relationship.
Then Marcus’s phone rang.
He listened, thanked the caller, and looked at Emily.
“Detective Ramirez wants to meet. Jake’s attorney contacted her this morning. He’s cooperating.”
Emily looked back toward the gate. Jake was walking toward his car without turning around.
Marcus continued. “There’s more. The investigators found a payment from a Mercer Ridge consulting account to a digital security contractor two days before the trust login.”
Richard frowned. “For what?”
“They don’t know yet.”
Emily felt the fragile ground shift again.
May you like
Jake might have acted alone.
Or someone older and more careful had made sure he had help.
