Chapter 5 - The Woman Behind the Glass
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Margaret’s voice came through the conference-room speaker.
Penny could not move.
The woman who had taught her to follow money stood twenty feet away while armed men flooded the corridor.
Roman moved between Penny and the glass.
Margaret smiled.
“Still protective, Roman?”
“Open the door,” Roman said.
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
Then the lights died again.
By the time backup power returned, she was gone.
The next hours became a controlled storm.
Security locked down the building.
Cameras were reviewed.
Exits checked.
The gunshot had been a diversion fired into a ceiling on another floor.
Margaret had entered using executive credentials belonging to Roman’s chief financial officer.
The CFO was missing.
Penny sat alone for several minutes afterward.
Roman eventually found her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
He nodded.
No fake reassurance.
No telling her she was strong.
Just acceptance.
She appreciated that.
“Was Margaret the Widow?” Penny asked.
“We don’t know.”
“She certainly knows enough.”
“Yes.”
Penny looked at him.
“I want the trust documents.”
Roman hesitated.
Then nodded.
It took Adrian three hours to locate them.
Vittorio Valerius had hidden the records inside an old legal archive under Elaine Gallagher’s maiden name.
Penny read every page.
Her mother had received thirty-one percent of Valerius Imports in exchange for building its financial structure during its transition toward legitimate business.
After Elaine’s death, Vittorio placed those shares in an irrevocable trust for Penny.
The trustee’s identity had been sealed.
Penny reached the final page.
“Here.”
Roman leaned over.
The trustee signature had been redacted.
But underneath was a code.
M.V.
Penny stared.
“Margaret Vale.”
Adrian shook his head.
“Or someone wanted us to think that.”
Penny rubbed her eyes.
She had been awake almost thirty hours.
Roman noticed.
“Sleep.”
“I’m fine.”
“That wasn’t a question.”
Her head snapped up.
Roman paused.
“Poor phrasing.”
Adrian laughed from across the room.
Roman glared at him.
Penny surprised herself by laughing too.
It lasted only a second.
But it mattered.
Roman gave her a guest room.
Penny stood in front of the mirror after showering.
For years Bradley had made mirrors into enemies.
Tonight she looked.
Really looked.
Soft stomach.
Round arms.
Full hips.
The body Bradley had pursued and then punished her for possessing.
She touched her reflection.
Nothing about it had changed since yesterday.
Only the voice describing it had.
Her phone buzzed.
Roman.
Food is outside your door. I did not order for you.
Penny stared.
Then laughed.
She opened the door.
A tray held steak, potatoes, salad, bread and cheesecake.
A note sat beside it.
CHOOSE WHAT YOU WANT.
Penny picked up the steak.
The next morning she returned to the financial records.
By noon, she discovered that the trust had been used as collateral.
Without her authorization.
“Someone borrowed against my shares.”
Roman looked at the screen.
“How much?”
“Forty-eight million dollars.”
Adrian swore.
Penny traced the loan.
The funds had passed through six companies.
Then disappeared.
“Where?”
Roman asked.
“I’m finding out.”
Three hours later, Penny had the answer.
Not disappeared.
Converted.
Into ownership stakes.
Warehouses.
Shipping contracts.
Real estate.
Someone was quietly buying infrastructure surrounding Valerius Imports.
“They aren’t stealing from you,” Penny said.
Roman looked up.
“They’re surrounding you.”
She drew the network on a whiteboard.
“Every company receiving money controls something Valerius needs. Storage. Trucks. Port access. Insurance.”
Adrian understood first.
“A hostile takeover.”
“Not exactly.”
Penny circled the trust.
“They don’t need to buy Roman out.”
She pointed to her name.
“They need me.”
Roman’s expression darkened.
Penny continued.
“When I turn thirty-two, whoever controls my shares can trigger governance provisions.”
“And remove me,” Roman said.
“Yes.”
Silence.
Penny looked at him.
“So that’s why Bradley needed my signature.”
Roman nodded.
“And why Margaret has been watching you.”
Penny’s phone rang.
Bradley.
Roman looked at her.
She answered.
“Bradley?”
His voice was frantic.
“Penny, listen to me.”
“Where are you?”
“They moved me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Your boyfriend’s security people—”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
Roman looked away, almost amused.
Bradley continued.
“Someone came into the holding room.”
“Who?”
“A woman.”
“Margaret?”
“No.”
Penny stood.
“Who?”
“I’ve never seen her.”
“What did she want?”
“You.”
Penny’s skin chilled.
Bradley whispered, “She knew your mother.”
“Where are you?”
“I got away.”
A sound came through the phone.
A door closing.
Then Bradley lowered his voice.
“She showed me a photograph.”
“Of what?”
“Your mother.”
Penny gripped the phone.
“And?”
“She wasn’t alone.”
“Bradley.”
“The night she died, someone was in the car with her.”
Penny’s knees weakened.
“Who?”
Bradley breathed.
Then a crash sounded.
“Bradley?”
Nothing.
“Bradley!”
A whisper.
“They found me.”
The call disconnected.
Roman was already moving.
“Trace it.”
Luca began working.
Penny stared at her screen.
A new message arrived from Bradley’s number.
A photograph.
Her mother’s wrecked car.
The passenger door was open.
Underneath:
ASK ROMAN WHO SURVIVED.
Penny slowly looked up.
Roman had gone still.
“You know.”
His silence answered.
“Who was in my mother’s car?”
Roman’s face tightened.
“My mother.”
Penny stared.
Roman continued.
“She survived.”
The room became silent.
Then the private elevator chimed.
Roman’s mother had been dead for fifteen years.
Yet the elevator began rising from the secured garage.
May you like
And Roman whispered:
“That access code belonged to her.”
