"Sadie is at the riding school with my grandfather for company. It's just you, Miranda and me now. Feel free to state what's on your mind." Ace replied.
Miranda marveled at his composure. He was about to lose everything, yet his demeanor suggested otherwise.
"It's quite simple really. I want my daughter. Miranda insists on having her. I know your dirty little secret. It's only a matter of choice. Give her to me or I go to the old man and tell him all about it. He'll probably offer me a reward for all my trouble." James snapped.
"You're talking blackmail, then?" Ace asked smoothly.
"Call it anything you want," James, snarled, "I'll come out of this a richer man and still get my daughter back."
"You'll get your daughter back … " Ace pronounced.
"No!" Miranda cried in horror
" … after you've paid a fine of $2 million dollars and served a jail sentence of 20 years," Ace finished.
"What?" James spattered. "What the fuck are you talking about?" he asked belligerently.
Ace sneered. Miranda had inkling that this was the face behind the success of Masterson Conglomerate.
"Let me tell you a story before the cops get here. You run a nondescript electronics company back home. Perfectly legit, except beneath all that you also run an elaborate scheme to illegally transport components from America to other countries in violation of export control laws. You've covertly acquired license-controlled electronic components from American manufacturers and shipping them outside the country. I believe that's called criminal profiteering and conspiracy to commit fraud against the government. Two days ago you lost contact with the driver of the truck that hauled your goods. I wouldn't be surprised if you haven't heard from him, since he sung like a canary and confessed to the FBI everything he knew. But here's the best part. Your income goes undetected by the IRS because you siphoned it to your fiancée's bank account. She has a small fortune inherited from her deceased husband. No one will ever notice, except now, she has become your accomplice."
"Th-that's a lie..." James sputtered, looking ashen and scared.
Ace picked a remote from a nearby TV set and flicked the device. The screen came to life and displayed a surveillance tape. "This is a copy the FBI gave me. It's very entertaining."
James watched in horror as the tape showed him with the missing truck driver before he pulled out from the store. The tape segued to the driver as he stopped by the side of the road before a group of plainclothes men entered the cargo hold. The contents of the crates were opened, and the contrabands hidden within displayed for evidence.
James was petrified. The tables had turned against him. The only question that remained was if he could still get himself out of this mess.
"Miranda, I'm sorry. Please. I'll never bother you again. Just help me make this all go away," he pleaded.
Miranda didn't know what to feel except for the huge burden that had been lifted off her chest. She looked at James with pity and said, "It's ironic you were the reason I was desperate enough to ask my supervisor to help me keep my job. I wrote her an email that I accidentally sent to Ace. I actually have you to thank for that. Now I don't ever have to see you again and Sadie doesn't have to know what an asshole her father really was."
She left the study and noted the distinct sound of a police siren in the distance. She ran up to the bedroom, flung herself on the bed and cried.
***
Miranda had lost track of time. She cried tears of joy knowing she was finally free from James and everything negative he represented in her life. At the same time, she felt compassion for him because he was, after all, the father of her daughter. Sadie was his greatest gift to her. It was unfortunate that he only needed her to make his own life complete. She felt no bitterness towards his fiancée even if she was the reason her marriage with James ended.
She rose from the bed and headed for the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. Her eyes were red-rimmed from crying. She heard a soft knock at the door as Ace entered.
"Are you alright," he asked.
She noted the concern in his voice and nodded. "Is he gone?" She asked.
"Yes and I promise you'll never see him again," he replied.
"I know," she answered softly back.
He seemed hesitant to come near. Miranda sat stiffly on the bed. Ace approached and sat next to her. "You must have a lot of questions in your mind right now," he said.
"How did you know about everything you said back there?" Her curiosity was appropriate, since she lived with James for 7 years and never knew. "You had him followed?" she added.
Ace nodded and confessed, "I have a man on my payroll. He used to work for the FBI. His talent lies in looking so ordinary you'd never think him a danger to anyone. He walked into the store and pretended interest in a particularly expensive piece of hardware. It was James who attended to him. James bragged that the item he was interested in was unlicensed but since he had connections, he could get it in a matter of days. And that's how it all started."
"But why?" Miranda persisted.
Ace took a deep breath and answered, "It's all part of who I am. When I enter a business deal, as I did with you, I make sure the future holds no surprises. When I offered you the arrangement to marry me and help me get control of the company, James represented a complication, an obstacle I didn't want."
"So … all this," Miranda waved her hand in the air, "is just an arrangement for you?" Miranda accused. Disappointment welled in her chest. Then she added, "Well … of course it is. I knew that from the start … but I was hoping … I'm so stupid to even think that … " She couldn't finish the rest of the sentence. Her disillusionment was complete.
Ace held her hand and said, "There's more." He reached into his breast pocket, drew out a thick envelope from within, and handed it to her.
"What's this?" Miranda asked curiously.
"Open it and see," Ace replied as Miranda noted his excitement.
It was a document several pages thick transferring all rights, control, and ownership of Masterson's Conglomerate, signed by the old man, sealed and delivered to Ace.
Her hands trembled as she folded the document, slid it back inside the envelope, and handed it over to him. She couldn't blame him for feeling ecstatic and triumphant. But to Miranda it simply spelled that it was over. Her fairy tale life had come to an end.
"It's over, then," she whispered sadly.
"Yes, it's over." Ace assented.
Miranda wanted desperately to save some vestige of pride as she clung desperately to self-control; but it wasn't enough, because tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"I'm happy for you, Ace," she said in a tremulous voice, as she wiped away her tears.
Ace gazed at her intently. He was uncertain if her tears were still the result of the ugly scene with James, or because she was really happy they had finally won.
"Why the tears then?" He asked gently.
"Because we no longer have to pretend," Miranda answered simply. She vowed silently that no matter how much it hurt and how terribly she would miss him, she would manage somehow with Sadie.
Then Ace did a totally unexpected thing. He stood and faced her, then went down on one knee. He held her hands tightly in his, gazed intently into her eyes and said, "Miranda, I know that our marriage started as a farce. But our friendship is real. We have no secrets between us. I never proposed to you or asked you to be my wife. You became one because you signed a contract saying you will. You honored all the terms of our agreement. When I hold you, or kiss you, or make love to you, let it not be because of a piece of paper that you signed. I am asking you now. Please be my wife in every sense of the word because I have fallen totally in love you, Miranda Masterson."
Miranda gulped, like she had difficulty swallowing. She looked comical with her eyes opened wide in amazement and her mouth agape.
"You love me?" she asked foolishly.
"You love me," she repeated the words, lost in disbelief.
"You love me!" It was a shriek of jubilation as she hurled herself at him and threw her arms tightly across his neck. Ace toppled backwards, with her on top of him. They rolled on the floor as their laughter filled the room.
They weren't sure when the seeds of love first sprouted between them, but they were absolutely certain their love would be true till the end of time.
THE END
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