The Years Between Signing and Seeing novel Chapter 213

She collected herself and continued, her voice trembling slightly, “Stella, Jamie has me under house arrest at the Baylor Manor. I don’t know if he’s trying to investigate what happened or if he has other plans. But the immediate problem is that I destroyed that multi-million dollar piece of equipment before I was arrested. Harrison Young must have told you, right? Jamie said if I try to run, he’ll press criminal charges. Stella, what do I do?”

Suzie fell silent, waiting for Stella's response.

After a few seconds of silence, Stella’s voice crackled back, furious. “That bastard is threatening you over money? Of course he would. Okay, here’s what you do. Don’t confront him directly. Pretend you’re willing to stay at the manor, but then make up an excuse about wanting to go shopping so we can meet at the mall.”

Suzie asked nervously, “What if he won’t let me go out?”

“Just say you’re fine with having his bodyguards follow you,” Stella shot back. “I’ll figure out the rest. And don’t you worry about the equipment. You’re an employee of Mirage Studio; Harrison will handle anything that happens on the job. Besides, we’ve got Oliver. We’ll all figure something out. We’re not going to let you be sold to that son of a bitch over some money. That asshole, he’s such a piece of…”

True to her nature, once Stella started cursing, she couldn’t stop, her rant carrying on.

Suzie was a nervous wreck, one eye on the clock, terrified Jamie would return unexpectedly, and the other worried Ruby would come looking for her and the maids would overhear something. Her heart was in her throat. Most of all, she was terrified of dragging Stella into her mess.

Suzie asked weakly, “Are you planning to just… take me away? But where would we go? We’re talking about millions of dollars. If Jamie loses it, he really will send me to jail. And you guys… he would really…”

Suzie’s biggest fear was dragging Stella down with her. As for the debt, she didn't care. If she couldn't pay, even if it became a criminal matter, she probably wouldn't be locked up for long.

Besides, she was pregnant; they wouldn’t throw her in a cell, at worst her credit would be ruined. That was still better than living here in constant fear, never knowing when Jamie might snap and drag her back to a hospital.