Chapter 106: The Partner's Dilemma

The weight of the truth pounded in Alex's pocket like a stone, heavy and insistent. It was not something he could just ignore. Pacing the apartment, floorboards creaking beneath restless feet, Alex felt the weight of knowledge upon him, demanding action. Olivia's laughter drifted from the bedroom while she talked to her mother on the phone. The balm to his soul that sound usually was is now twisted in his gut like a knife. How could he go on smiling, pretending everything was normal, when he carried such a huge secret? Alex's mind raced to Nathan's verbal unraveling, replaying every word and every revelation. The guy hadn't stopped working on funding research; the behind-the-scenes machinations to get Olivia into cutting-edge trials were so huge compared to what Alex had imagined. Now he shouldered this burden of knowledge alone. "Alex?" He could hear Olivia's voice pierce him from above the defiant din of his thoughts. She was in the doorway, a soft concern marked on her countenanc