Mike

I'd never felt so relieved in my life, and it felt great to be able to share my secrets and thoughts with Sydney. Not all the secrets though. The fact that I had betrayed her made me feel humiliated and frustrated. That was something I couldn't tell her about... No, not yet. Maybe if I had the chance years later, I would apologise to her. Make amends if at all feasible.
I doubt she'd be sitting here sipping coffee with me if she knew what I'd done to her. She'd despise me to death. I'd be free of this load one day. But for the time being, I was desperate, and Sydney was the only one who could help me. As she glanced through the menu, I stared at her wonderful face. We'd taken a seat in a cute little café near the park.

I weighed the situation before asking "I need your help Sydney".

She looked up at me. Her green eyes are slightly wide with curiosity.

"I need to borrow some money from you........in cash. But I am not sure when I can pay you back, but I will surely pay you back someday."

She locked her gaze on me for a long time.

"How much? Are you in some kind of trouble ?" She asked with concern.

"No I am not in any trouble, but I need the money urgently," I was dying of embarrassment, but I couldn't help myself.

"How much do you need?"

"Half a million," I said quietly.

"What? Half a million in cash? Why do you need so much money? You are in trouble, aren't you?" Her voice rose with concern, she looked worried now.

"Trust me, I am not in trouble, not the kind you are assuming, but I need the money urgently, please," I said desperately.

"Mike, I don't have that type of money. I do receive allowance from Aiden, but it isn't much. I can borrow from Aiden, or if you're willing to wait...until the contract expires... I will have more than half a million dollars to give you." She spoke slowly and agitatedly, as if she had just realised she was in a contract marriage.

"No, don't tell Aiden, or anyone else, for that matter. Are you able to arrange that amount of money for me?" I worried that if Aiden found out, I'd be screwed.

"I'll give it a shot; when do you need it?" She inquired, unsure of herself.

I argued, "The sooner the better."

"Give me a week and I'll see what I can come up with. I'm not promising anything, but I'll do everything I can to secure the funds." She gave me a friendly smile.

As a sign of gratitude, I placed my right hand on hers.

"Your hands are icily cold! Are you sure you're okay?" She inquired, her anxious expression intensifying.

"I'm OK, Sydney," I responded wryly. "It's been a really exciting day." I could send Leah, Rob, and his family out of the country, away from Eric and Marilyn's clutches, if Sydney could arrange for the funds. I hated myself for fooling Sydney, but there was no other option.

***************

Aiden

I flipped through the stack of reports on my desk. My watch indicated 9 p.m. when I looked at it. Gosh! I didn't realise I'd been working so late. Sydney had to have gone a long time ago. I had advised her not to wait for me because my schedule was a bit erratic.

Jennifer spoke over the intercom, "Mr Reiner, Clifton, and Mr Micheal are here to see you."

"Send them in, and go home, Jennifer. There is no need to stay late because of me." I admonished Jeniffer.

"Of course, Mr Reiner, I would leave as soon as I order your dinner." She chuckled.

I shook my head, but the fact was. I would be lost without her. My bodyguards had been reporting to me on Sydney's whereabouts for the past three weeks while I was busy trying to fix the sabotage. I wasn't watching her. All I wanted to do was keep her safe. She'd been driving about on her own. Who knows what else that mastermind has up his sleeve. They may attempt to kidnap her. So this was merely a precaution to keep her safe.

"Do you have any information for me, Clifton?" As Clifton walked into my room, I inquired.

"Well, it was a usual day, just that Mrs Reiner met her friend Mike today, had dinner with him and then returned home by 8 pm."

I put down my report and raised my eyes.

"Mike," I folded my hands placing my chin on my knuckles. "Where did they meet?"

"At a park.....near Georgetown."
Clifton went on to describe their dinner encounter, which appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary. I trusted Sydney, but I couldn't shake the feeling of envy that was creeping up on me. When was the last time we had slept together? It had been over two weeks!

"Thank you, Clifton," I said. I walked away from him and returned to my pile of financial reports. Despite the fact that the sabotage did not do any long-term damage to the company's image. Nonetheless, it had caused considerable upheaval during the previous three weeks, driving our stocks even lower, but it appeared that it had finally bottomed out, and investors were gradually restoring confidence in our stocks and buying them again.

"Mr Reiner," Michael's voice broke my reverie.

As he walked in, I looked up and nodded once more.

"I was reading through some reports when one thing in particular struck my eye." He sighed and sat in the chair across from him.

"What did you find?" I inquired, putting the reports aside.

"As you know it's quite common for rich investors to purchase stocks of a certain listed company up to 5% in total and then declared to the SEC as a substantial shareholder. We get weekly reports about our major shareholders."

I nodded, I went through those reports myself.

"I was looking over the most recent report when I saw something unexpected. Typically, our investors come from the United States, the United Kingdom, and a few other European countries. What makes this report unique is that the business that purchased our stocks was AZ Munoz, a Ukrainian corporation. The company was founded twenty years ago, according to the report. They dealt in the clothing line. It's been kind of a sick unit with not much growth."

"And?" I inquired.

"They bought 1% of our stock, which isn't a lot, but it's unusual for a small firm to invest so substantially in our stock when we've never invested in that country. Furthermore, their stocks were in the DJI category, making it prohibitively expensive to buy even 1% of them unless you have a large sum of money. Munoz hasn't even been in business long, and they haven't sold anything. So I'm not sure where these funds are coming from."

"Munoz," I whispered, the word sounding strangely familiar, though I couldn't place it.

Maybe I'll ask Grandpa about this business; he might recall something.

"Did you manage to locate Emily?" I inquired.

"No sir," Michael replied, dismayed, "but on her last working day, that is, the day before she vanished, she went for coffee with Mrs Reiner." He uttered it with a little trepidation.

I put down whatever I was doing and fixed my gaze on Michael.

"With Sydney? Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yes, sir we have it in the CCTV."
Why would Sydney go for coffee with Emily, I wondered? They probably didn't even know each other. Perhaps I should bring it up with her. I had to remind myself.

"Thank you, Michael," I said.

I was ready to leave, tonight I had more important things to attend to. I had missed Sydney a lot and I didn't like the fact that Mike spent time with her, had dinner with her.
They were just friends, I reassured myself. There was nothing more to it, right? Then why did I feel jealous? Did I say jealous? It was perfectly alright to be jealous right? Sydney was my wife, not just a contract wife. I would annul the contract and make this a real marriage. I would get married again if required, but would never let go of Sydney. She was mine. I looked at the time and noted it was 9.50 pm. I would read the rest of the reports later. Tonight I wanted to be with Sydney.