A/N: Thank you all for your reviews and support! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 18: The Truths We Hold

Once Christian had stormed out of the office, Ana, Max, and Mr. Kavanaugh stood there in silence. Ana was feeling utterly confused and angry, and she turned an appealing look to Max.

"Max, I'm sure there's been some sort of mistake," she said insistently. "I really don't think Christian would do something like this…"

"Unfortunately, Miss Steele, it's not up for you to decide what Mr. Grey would or would not do," Mr. Kavanaugh pointed out to her rather coldly, and Ana went quiet. "Now I'm sorry you had to see that, but it's Kavanaugh Media policy that any employee being investigated for crimes against the company is suspended immediately without pay pending further investigation."

"So if there's going to be an investigation, this could all just turn out to be a big misunderstanding?" Ana asked, trying to control the fear and worry in her voice.

"That's certainly possible," Max said to her reassuringly.

"Indeed," Mr. Kavanaugh said, his voice stiff. "Though, in my experience, that usually isn't the case. Max, you and I need to meet with Randall in IT right now to do a more thorough search of Christian's computer files."

"Yes sir," Max nodded. Mr. Kavanaugh stepped out of the office, and Max was about to follow when Ana put her hand on his arm, stopping him.

"Max, you don't actually believe Christian would try to steal from the company, do you?" Ana asked dubiously. Max glanced at Mr. Kavanaugh's retreating figure through the window before looking back at Ana.

"I'm afraid I don't know," he said to her honestly. "I don't want to believe Christian would do something like this, Ana, but it's really out of my hands. I'll let you know once there's any updates."

Ana had to tamp down her emotions as she simply nodded, not trusting herself to say anything else. Max left the office, and soon after Jessica entered.

"So what was that all about?" she asked, her voice low as she watched Max walk away. "I saw Christian storming out, but I didn't get a chance to ask what happened."

Ana's heart pounded in her chest. She felt numb. "Apparently, IT found evidence suggesting Christian might have been the one overbilling clients."

Jessica's mouth dropped open in shock. "What?!" she yelped loudly, and Ana had to quickly shush her.

"Not so loud," she insisted, glancing out the window of her office to make sure there weren't other people nearby. "I don't want that rumor to get out in case it turns out to not be true. I just don't think Christian would do something like this."

"It sounds pretty crazy," Jessica admitted, thankfully in a quieter voice. "But you never know, Christian might be capable of doing something like that. What do any of us really know about him?"

Ana clenched her jaw, desperately wanting to cry out that she knew Christian better than anyone; that he was a good, kind, and honest person who she knew in her heart would never do something like this. But Jessica didn't know about the true nature of her relationship with Christian, so she had to keep her mouth shut.

"But, y'know, there might be a bright side to this," Jessica said to Ana encouragingly, nudging her with her elbow. "You'll get your office to yourself again, at least for a little while. Isn't that great?"

Ana had to swallow down the sick feeling in her gut as she forced a fake smile on her face. "Yeah… great."

~/~

Despite Ana asking Jessica not to spread the rumor of Christian's suspension around the office, other people had still witnessed the incident, and they had no qualms about telling everyone they could about it. By the end of the day, pretty much everybody seemed to know some version of what had happened – Ana had heard a whole range of ridiculous rumors, so much so that she wondered how anybody even knew the truth.

Ana tried not to listen to the rude things people were saying about Christian, but it was hard. She knew deep down in her heart that Christian would never try to steal from the company. He had gone through so much when he had left his father's business back in Seattle, there was no way in hell he would take such a crazy risk like stealing from customers. Even if he wasn't desperate to keep this job, she knew he would never in a million years do something like this.

Later that afternoon, Max pulled Ana in for a one-on-one meeting regarding Christian's clients. Since they had previously been her clients, she would be the one to take over their accounts again, at least until Christian's name was cleared or other accommodations could be made. Ana didn't complain, even though she knew she would likely have to stay a few extra hours at the office everyday for the foreseeable future in order to coordinate everything.

Ana couldn't help but wonder if someone was trying to frame Christian for all of this. While Ana knew the corporate world could be cutthroat sometimes, the idea that someone was framing Christian seemed so outlandish to her. The only conclusion she could come up with was that this was all some terrible misunderstanding.

Once back in her office, Ana tried calling Christian, only for it to be sent to voicemail. She had expected as much, so she shot him a text:

Ana: Can you talk right now?

There was about thirty seconds before he responded.

Christian: No I'm with my lawyer. I'll call you when I can.

Ana grimaced, unsatisfied with that answer. She texted him back:

Ana: Is our date off then?

Christian: I don't know. I promise to call you later

Ana sighed to herself, placing her phone on her desk and feeling worse than ever. She got the impression that Christian was distancing himself from her, but she was too nervous and worried about him to focus on that. However, she forced herself to try to check her emails and get a little work done anyway. She had to at least appear productive to the rest of the office, despite being completely thrown off kilter by Christian's sudden suspension.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the end of the work day came. Ana gathered up all her things and left as quickly and quietly as possible, not even stopping to say goodbye to Nadia and Jessica.

Once outside, Ana decided to hail a cab to take her home. She had barely gotten in the backseat and the driver had pulled into traffic when her phone buzzed with an incoming call. It was Christian.

Ana answered immediately. "Christian?" she asked, unable to hide the eagerness in her voice.

There was a short pause on the other end. "Hey Ana," he said, his voice listless.

Ana swallowed, her heart clenching with pain for him. "How are you?" she asked, that question feeling utterly insufficient.

Christian let out a humorless laugh. "Fantastic," he said sardonically. "Where are you right now?"

"I'm in a cab, heading home," Ana said. "How was your meeting with your lawyer?"

"It was okay. Very long," Christian sighed. "Listen, it would probably be safer if we talked when you're alone. Can you call me once you get to your place?"

Ana frowned. "Why don't I just come over?" she asked honestly.

There was a brief silence on the other end. "Considering the circumstances, I don't think that's a good idea. I'm already caught up in all this bullshit, and I don't want to risk people at work knowing about the two of us."

Ana felt indignation build up inside of her. "So that means you should be forced to deal with this all by yourself? I don't think so. I'm coming over."

"Ana," Christian let out a frustrated sigh. "I care about you a lot, and the last thing I want is for you to get wrapped up in any of this. My lawyer made it extremely clear that I can't be in communication with anyone from Kavanaugh Media right now, and that includes you. I'm taking a huge risk just by calling you on the phone right now."

"And if I were the one in your position, would you be content to just stay away?" Ana asked angrily. Christian's silence on the other end was very telling. "I promise I won't stay for too long, but I just want to come over to see you. Please let me do that, at least."

Christian let out another sigh. "Alright fine, you can stop by. But only because I'm so desperate to see you right now."

Ana couldn't help but grin. "Ditto, Mr. Grey. Now text me your address, I'll be over as soon as I can."

"Sure thing, Miss Steele," Christian said, and Ana could almost hear a small smile in his voice.

They hung up, and a moment later Christian sent her a text containing his address. Ana quickly got her cab driver's attention and gave him the new address she wanted him to take her to: it was in the opposite direction of where they were heading, and while the cab driver looked annoyed having to change course, the meter was still running, so he knew he would get paid either way.

Soon, they arrived at Christian's apartment building, which was a nice-looking highrise called The Avalon. Once Ana paid the cab driver, she got out and walked toward the front doors of the building. Before she could get close enough to buzz Christian's apartment number, however, the front doors opened and Christian himself stood in the doorway. He looked casual and handsome in a black long-sleeve tee and dark wash jeans, and Ana had to fight the urge not to run up and throw her arms around him.

"Hey," she greeted him with a smile when she approached.

"Hey yourself," Christian smiled back at her. Once Ana was through the doorway, she barely got a glimpse of a beautiful atrium and a reception desk at the opposite wall near the elevators when Christian suddenly closed the door behind her and pushed her up against it. He then swooped in for a kiss like he hadn't seen her in months, and Ana immediately kissed him back, feeling almost relieved by his affection.

After the day they'd both had, this was definitely needed.

After a few moments of them making out against the door, Ana heard a throat being cleared, and the two of them broke apart. Ana suddenly noticed a middle-aged woman sitting behind the receptionist desk, clearly having watched their PDA, and she glared at them. Ana blushed, looking away.

"Sorry," Christian said to the receptionist insincerely as he took Ana's hand and led her toward the elevators. Thankfully, the elevator doors slid open right away, and no one else was on when they stepped inside.

Once the doors closed behind them, Ana let out a giggle. "I didn't realize there was someone else there."

Christian grinned. "Sorry, baby. I just couldn't wait to kiss you."

"You're forgiven," Ana moved forward to wrap her arms around Christian's neck, and Christian pulled her in for a hug. Ana rested her head against his shoulder, and they stayed like that for a few seconds. "How are you?" she asked quietly.

Christian sighed, pressing a kiss to her hair. "Better now," he said quietly, honestly. Ana couldn't help but smile.

They arrived on Christian's floor, and they stepped out of the elevator to make their way to his apartment at the end of the hallway. "After you," Christian opened his door and gestured for Ana to walk in first.

Christian's apartment was a clean, upscale open concept space with gray, white, and blue coloring. A large sectional was in the middle of the living room, and several floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the city. It was beautiful, and it definitely felt like him. "I like your place."

"Thanks," Christian closed the door behind him and walked into the kitchen area. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Sure. Water would be great," Ana said, setting her purse down on the couch before slipping off her coat. She noticed two half-empty Scotch glasses on the coffee table. "So did you meet with your lawyer here?"

"Yeah, I did. Mr. Whalen has been an old friend of my family for a long time, and his firm is out here in Manhattan," Christian said, walking into the living room with two glasses of water, handing her one. "I knew he was the right guy to call after all that shit at Kavanaugh Media went down."

"So what did he say? Anything helpful?" Ana asked as they both sat down on the couch.

"He mostly advised me not to speak to anyone at Kavanaugh Media for the time being, which was pretty much what I expected," Christian sighed. "If this ends up going to court, I don't want to have said anything that might implicate myself."

Ana's stomach felt like a lead brick. "Do you really think this is gonna end up in court?"

Christian scowled. "If Kavanaugh is hell-bent on blaming me for something I didn't do, then yes it absolutely will." He got up from his seat to start pacing around the area in front of the couch. "I've never stolen so much as a paper clip from the company, and if they somehow manage to find 'evidence' on my computer that I was behind the whole overbilling fiasco, then it was almost certainly planted there."

"Do you know what evidence they found?" Ana asked tentatively. "Or if there even was any evidence?"

"I honestly have no idea," Christian finally stopped to look at her. "Mr. Whalen tried to get some intel from Kavanaugh Media's IT department, but he was unsuccessful. I was sort of hoping you had heard something at work after I left."

Ana shook her head. "Not really. There were a lot of crazy rumors flying around about you after you'd left, but nothing I could verify. I'll be sure to keep an ear out tomorrow."

Christian let out a sigh, walking back over to the couch and sitting down beside Ana again. "No, Ana – I don't want you to have to do that for me. This is my problem, and you shouldn't have to be involved. I shouldn't have even invited you over tonight, this was clearly a mistake…"

"No Christian. I know that you weren't the one to overbill those clients," Ana said firmly, looking him in the eye. "Everything that's happening right now is not your fault."

Christian frowned at her, the expression on his face an odd mixture of dubiousness and admiration. "How can you have so much faith in me? For all you know, I could be the one who was overbilling clients. God knows, three weeks ago you would have believed I was the culprit without a moment's hesitation."

Ana couldn't help but blush, knowing he was right. "Perhaps, but you and I both know a lot has changed since then. I've gotten to know you, and you've opened up to me about GEH and the huge risk you took leaving your family in Seattle to come work here. I know you well enough to know you would never put your career at risk like that."

Christian gazed at her, pain and some other emotion clouding his features. "Ana, you know how I feel about you. I care about you so much, and the last thing I want is for you to get more involved with any of this. I would feel awful if you went and got yourself fired trying to defend me."

"I'm not going to put my job at risk," Ana said firmly, and she couldn't resist giving him a smile. "I like you, Grey, but I'm not about to give up my career for you. Sorry to disappoint."

Christian smiled, clearly appreciating that bit of levity in their heavy conversation. "I'm just worried about you, Ana."

"And I'm worried about you," Ana insisted. "Whatever is going on, the answer has to be at Kavanaugh Media. Even if you can't be there, I can still find out what's going on."

"I seriously doubt this is all some plot somebody cooked up just to frame me," Christian said dubiously. "Most likely, this is some employee looking to make me the scapegoat for their illegal activities. Best case scenario, the true culprit gets found out and my name gets cleared."

"And I won't rest until the actual dirtbag who's framing you is found and arrested," Ana said firmly. With that she got up from her seat and slid into Christian's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. His arms automatically went around her waist, pulling her close. "That's what I'm doing, and there's nothing you can do about it. Got it?"

Christian let out an exasperated chuckle before pressing his face in the crook of her neck, breathing in her scent. "You really are too much sometimes, Miss Steele. I never know if I want to yell at you or make love to you."

Ana giggled, her stomach fluttering. "The latter, I should hope."

Christian smirked, and he brought his face up so he was looking directly at her. Ana felt a powerful emotion course through her body as she gazed back at him; three little words were at the tip of her tongue, almost ready to be spoken aloud, but she held herself back. The expression on Christian's face said something similar, but he simply leaned forward and captured her lips with his own, conveying his feelings without words.

Ana didn't hesitate to kiss him back, and for right now, that was enough.

~The next morning~

Ana headed into work the following day about an hour earlier than she normally would have. Part of the reason was out of necessity – with Christian being suspended for the foreseeable future, she now had all of his clients to deal with in addition to her own, and it was going to take some time to sort through everything. However, more importantly, she also wanted to start trying to figure out who was behind framing Christian for overbilling clients. Being at the office this early meant she could snoop around without anyone getting suspicious.

She just hoped nobody else decided to come in early too.

She arrived at the marketing floor, and sure enough, it was completely deserted – not even Nadia was in yet. Ana made her way to her and Christian's office (or rather, just her office now) and dropped her things off before stepping out and starting to walk around the whole floor.

It was odd being here with no one else around. There was usually some sort of bustle or activity going on around here, but right now it was completely silent. The sound of her heels were muffled by the carpet as she walked around the floor: she was heading toward IT, feeling that whatever evidence against Christian would be found there.

How she would find it, though, she had no idea.

She made her way down the hallway toward the IT department when suddenly she heard a voice in the distance. She stopped in her tracks, frowning as she tried to listen.

Is someone else here?

She followed where the voice was coming from, wondering idly if someone had come in while she wasn't looking. She turned the corner where all the executive offices were, and the voice became a bit clearer: it was definitely a male's voice, and she was able to make out some of the words he was speaking:

" –forty million just last year! You can't make that stuff up, Jason."

Ana frowned as she listened. The voice was coming from Mr. Kavanaugh's office, though it didn't sound like Mr. Kavanaugh speaking. She edged a bit closer.

"…Did she really?" the guy let out a laugh. "Well, I can't say I'm surprised. The fact of the matter is that the deal I'm offering you guys is far better than anything Eamon could have offered you. Kavanaugh Media has been ripping off companies like yours since before you were even in business…"

The door to the office was slightly ajar, and Ana snuck a bit closer so she could try to peer inside: someone was sitting at Mr. Kavanaugh's desk, though it wasn't Mr. Kavanaugh, that much Ana could tell. His face was mostly blocked by the large computer monitor in front of him, so Ana couldn't see who it was.

"Precisely," the guy said emphatically, and Ana realized he was likely on a Zoom call with his headphones in, which was why she couldn't hear the other person speaking. "That type of lowballing stunt is something Kavanaugh Media has been doing to innocent people for years, and frankly, we're all sick of it. That's why I'm fighting back against billionaire jackasses who take advantage of regular people like you or me. I can assure you you're making the right move leaving them behind."

There was another brief silence, and Ana frowned as she strained her ears, trying her hardest to listen. This guy's voice sounded very familiar, though she was having a difficult time trying to place it.

"…Alright, sounds good," he said after a minute or so. "Send me whatever revisions you have for the marketing plan, and we can move on from there. Have a great day, Jason, and call me if you have any questions."

Ana heard a mouse click, and before she could sneak away, the guy stood up from behind the desk while slipping out his earbuds.

Jack Hyde glanced up and froze upon seeing Ana standing in the doorway, obviously realizing his call had been overheard.

A/N: Sorry to leave you guys like this, but are any of you really surprised? ;)

Please review! Next chapter, Ana starts putting the pieces together.