Sally felt her blood run cold at the revelation, her mind reeling with disbelief. “What... what illegal activities?” she stammered. Aaron’s gaze bore into hers, his eyes burning with a fierce intensity as he delivered his next words like a sledgehammer blow.
“Leonard’s father defrauded his workers,” he explained, hardly able to contain the simmering rage this had evidentially evoked in him. “He underpaid them, lied about profits, and caused countless families to lose their homes and livelihoods. The vintner at his Portuguese vineyard had to take out loan after loan to pay his workers because Leonard’s father told him the wine was not making any profit.”
“Why would he do that?” She could not imagine her father-in-law doing such a thing. Everyone spoke so highly of him and held him in high regard. Although there had been indicators that perhaps he hadn’t been the best of husbands, surely that played no role here.
“For profit, of course. Surely even you can see that, Sally. He told the vintners their wines were subpar and he had to sell them at a loss. In reality he was making huge profits but kept them for himself. The vintners were strung along by him promising a better yield the next year. So they took loans. Eventually, they passed their losses on to their workers, telling them they’d be paid once there was profit - promising it would be soon. He said there’d be bonuses,” he said, all signs of his prior inebriation gone. It was as if his rage had replaced his wine-fueled blood with a raging fire that coursed through him. It burned too bright; Sally could almost feel it. “They lost everything,” he hissed.
A wave of nausea washed over Sally as she absorbed the full weight of Aaron’s accusations. The implications were staggering, the betrayal unfathomable. “But... but what does that have to do with Leonard?” she whispered, her voice barely audible above the pounding of her own heart.
Aaron’s gaze never wavered as he delivered the final, devastating blow. “Your husband’s actions... they’re a continuation of his father’s legacy. He gives them a pittance of the income and placates them with occasional visits but he still keeps most of the funds for himself,” he confessed, his voice raw with pain and anger. “I suppose it’s an improvement but it is still criminal and wrong.” Sally’s lips parted as her thoughts swirled in her mind. “But your father was Leonard’s father’s partner...”
Aaron’s head snapped around. “And my father... he died because of it. He sought justice and paid for it with his life.”
His words were so cold, so harsh, Sally shook. “Died? How?” she didn’t even want to imagine what might have happened to the man.
“He uncovered the truth and demanded that Leonard’s father repay the workers. He refused. Told my father he was a sentimental fool for considering repaying them. Still, he tried. He paid them back out of his own pocket, depleting our family’s funds to do it,” he sneered and looked as if he wanted to spit. “In the end, it killed him.
He had a heart attack. Leonard thought it was funny, he said he died of a broken heart, but he smirked as he said it.” Sally stood there in stunned silence, her mind reeling with the magnitude of Aaron’s revelation. Her Leonard? She could not imagine it. While he had been infuriating on a personal level, he’d always been determined to be a good Duke, and he cared for his tenants.
The Kellers were a perfect example of this. Still, the words made her world seem to tilt on its axis as she struggled to make sense of the unthinkable truth that had been laid bare before her. Had she been wrong about everything? Everything she thought she knew about Leonard, about their life together, was crumbling around her like a house of cards. And as she stood there, paralyzed by the weight of it all, one question echoed in her mind like a relentless drumbeat: What does this mean?
“I can’t believe this,” she whispered. “The Leonard I know would never...he is decent to his workers.” But before she could finish her sentence, Aaron’s laughter cut through the air like a knife.
“Decent?” he scoffed, his eyes flashing with anger.
“Changing his mind every other day, treating you like a pawn in some twisted game... That’s what you call decent?” Sally flinched at his words, her heart aching with the sting of truth. Leonard’s behavior, his constant indecision, and his disregard for her feelings had left scars that ran deep. But even amidst the pain, she couldn’t bring herself to accept the damning accusations against him. “He’s a good man,” she insisted. “He’s just... lost, confused...”
But Aaron shook his head, his expression hardening with resolve. “Enough excuses, Sally,” he said. “You deserve better than this. We all do.”
“What were you doing here?” she finally asked.
He shrugged. “Evidence. I’m looking for evidence. My father told me Leonard’s father kept a separate ledger. He had one he used for taxation with the records faked and one for his own. I know Leonard has to be doing the same, that’s what I was looking for.”
Sally’s resolve hardened as she met Aaron’s gaze head-on.
“This is foolish. I can’t believe any of this is real. I would have know... I ...I’m going to confront him,” she declared. Aaron nodded in silent agreement, his eyes reflecting a mixture of admiration and sympathy.
“Go ahead,” he said. “But remember, Sally... sometimes the hardest truths are the ones we least want to hear.” With a heavy heart and a sense of purpose burning in her chest, Sally turned on her heel and strode out of the room, her mind consumed with thoughts of the confrontation that lay ahead. Whatever the outcome, she knew that she couldn’t continue to turn a blind eye to the painful realities that had been laid bare before her. It was time to confront Leonard and demand the answers she so desperately sought.
CHAPTER35
Sally/Leonard
Sally rushed down the narrow hall, the dimly lit passageway echoing with her hurried footsteps. The flickering lights overhead only added to her growing sense of dread.
How much of what Aaron had told her was true? Was he trying to protect himself by making all of this up so she would not tell Leonard and the rest of the ton that he’d attacked her years ago?
But that didn’t make any sense. Even if what he’d said was true, she’d still tell all of the realms that he’d come after her - and he’d be punished, certainly. Or did he think that telling her this made him a hero somehow?
He is a disgusting man... and if what he told me is true, so are Leonard and his father.
She burst into the ballroom, her eyes scanning the space for any sign of Leonard. The room was alive with laughter and chatter, but Sally no longer felt the pride in arranging the ball as she did earlier. Instead, her mind was consumed with thoughts of her husband’s possible involvement in shady business.
Finally, she spotted Leonard in the corner, still engrossed in conversation with Kenneth. She stormed across the ballroom, pushing past the other guests, her eyes fixed on Leonard. When she reached him, she grabbed his arm and pulled him aside, her tone brooking no argument.
“Leonard, I need to speak with you right now,” she said.
Leonard looked at her with surprise, but Sally could see a hint of concern in his eyes.
