Hawk tried to keep up with her rushed rant. He remembered Ella explaining something similar after she’d come up here with him, before their dance. Before their first kiss. Pris’s attack had been the reason Ella had left the ball.
“Then when Ella didn’t show up to the job Mom assigned her to do on Christmas Eve, it pushed Mom and Pris over the edge. They snuck in here in the middle of the night, using their keys. Mom has some experience with video—she had some footage of Ella’s face and photo-shopped it over Pris’s, to make it look like it was Ella in those offices instead.”
Charlotte hung her head. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Hawk rose and offered her the box of tissues in the drawer of his desk. She yanked one and dabbed her face.
“They saw me in the hall and swore me to secrecy, but this is so serious, Mr. Danielson. I couldn’t keep it to myself. It’s not fair, not to your company, not to the people who work here and rely on your guarantee of security. To your good name. It’s not fair to Ella’s. She’s a good person. I may not have always gotten along with her either, but she’s always been kind to me.
“She’s a kind person, Mr. Danielson. She wouldn’t have done this.”
She tore another Kleenex from the box on the table beside her and blew her nose into it.
Hawk’s thoughts jumbled. Charlotte couldn’t have come at a better time. His chest expanded with sheer relief. After Ethan’s discovery downstairs, this was exactly what he needed to hear.
“Charlotte,” he began, trying to word things carefully. “I can’t tell you what this means to me, to know the truth. I appreciate your honesty and integrity. Thank you.”
Her cheeks were flushed, but her shoulders were still. She inhaled a long, slow breath, as if thankful to finally have it off her mind.
Hawk stepped toward her and offered a hand. Tentatively, she slid hers into his, and he pulled her to her feet. He couldn’t hug her, though he wanted to. Instead, he kept her hand in his and clasped it.
“You did the right thing. It will be okay. I think you should know, I have to call the police. I can’t let this slide, not when, as you said, my company’s reputation is on the line. And they need to know they can’t get away with this kind of criminal action.”
She stared at a distant spot on the floor. “I understand. I knew you would. I knew what I was doing, but I had to.”
“I’m glad you did,” he said, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “If you’re worried about your safety—”
Charlotte shook her head. “I’ll be fine. Just do what you have to do, Mr. Danielson.”
“Thank you,” he said again, walking her to the door. Hawk opened it for her and didn’t allow himself to completely process everything until she’d gone.
The minute he closed the door behind her, he sagged against the wall and let his head fall back. Hawk stared up at the ceiling, swimming in waves of gratitude. This was it. Ella was innocent.
Now he had to find her and tell her how sorry he was for ever thinking otherwise.
CHAPTER TWENTY
It seemed as though time had stopped. Ella’s muscles were sore, her stomach burbling with disgrace. She was in a constant state of motion, unable to settle in one place. If she held still too long, her thoughts would catch up with her, and so she busied herself in the only way she could.
Scrubbing. Cleaning. Washing.
Everything.
She emptied every dish from its cupboard and wiped every surface. She scrubbed the grout in her bathroom with a toothbrush. She even vacuumed the windowsills and wiped the glass, which hadn’t been done since either she and Chloe had moved in.
It all needed to be done. What better time than now?
Kneeling in front of the pantry door, Ella scrubbed at a stubborn black streak on the wood. She wasn’t sure when or how it had gotten there. Just that it had to go. If only she could scrub away her own black spots as easily.
Footsteps shuffled in the confined kitchen behind her.
“I can’t stand seeing you like this,” Chloe said.
Though Ella couldn’t see her, she heard the arm-folded displeasure in Chloe’s tone. She peered over her shoulder to find her roommate in that exact pose. Arms folded, hip slumped against the counter, grimacing down at her.
“Like what?” Ella said, pausing and resting her hand on her knee.
“Like—this busy. You’ve been cleaning for days. Exerting yourself, wiping baseboards and walls, cleaning drains. We can even see out of our windows now,” she added with a laugh. “I don’t think you’ve held still since I got back from Springville.”
Ella hung her head. She hadn’t had the heart to tell Chloe what had happened, even though Chloe had asked several times. How could she admit the horrible truth?
Chloe shuffled forward and crouched before Ella, resting her hand on the wall for balance. Her high cheekbones were rosy, and her dark eyes met Ella’s with insistent openness.
The fist in Ella’s chest loosened just enough under that look. She sank onto her feet.
“They accused me of stealing. At Ever After.”
Chloe scoffed. “You’re joking, right?”
Ella shook her head. “Before Christmas, there was an incident, and then Christmas Eve, they supposedly caught me on camera.” She sniffed. Speaking the words made her hollow inside, and yet it was its own sense of cleansing. She needed to get this off her chest to someone she could trust. Someone who wouldn’t rub it in her face or make her feel worse about everything.
Chloe settled onto the teal and white checkered linoleum. “Clearly, they don’t know you at all.”
“You believe I didn’t do it?”
“Of course I do. You’re the most giving person I know. All of your extra
