Chapter 3 - The Numbers Nobody Was Supposed to See
Claire stood frozen in the doorway.
The file was exactly where she had left it.
Except she knew she had locked it inside a drawer.
She entered slowly.
Every instinct told her to leave.
Instead, she walked toward the table.
The file was open.
One page had been removed.
Claire's stomach tightened.
The missing page contained the original shareholder structure of Whitmore Freight & Marine.
She picked up the remaining documents.
There was something else.
A handwritten note.
Five words.
YOU WERE NEVER SUPPOSED TO KNOW.
Claire sat down.
For nine years, she had believed her father's cruelty was personal.
Now she wasn't sure.
She opened her laptop.
The company records appeared on screen.
She searched for the transaction.
The $900,000 transfer had been approved using her credentials.
But the system log showed something strange.
The approval happened at 2:14 a.m.
Claire had been asleep.
She checked another transaction.
$286,000.
Another.
$410,000.
Another.
$1.1 million.
All moved through accounts she had never seen.
Someone had been using her identity for months.
But why?
At 2:30 a.m., Claire received another call.
Dominic.
She stared at his name.
Then answered.
“You're awake.”
“So are you.”
A pause.
“I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“Did you discover financial irregularities before tonight?”
Claire looked at the file.
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Three months.”
“Why didn't you tell your father?”
“I did.”
“What happened?”
“He told me to stop looking.”
Dominic was silent.
Claire continued.
“He said I was becoming paranoid.”
“Were you?”
“No.”
Dominic's voice softened.
“I didn't think you were.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Nobody had said that to her in years.
“Why do you believe me?”
“Because the numbers don't lie.”
She almost laughed.
“My father would disagree.”
“Your father isn't the one I trust.”
Claire looked at the phone.
“Then who do you trust?”
“You.”
Her heart skipped.
Not because she believed him.
Because she wasn't used to hearing it.
Dominic asked, “Where are you?”
“My apartment.”
“Lock the door.”
“It is locked.”
“Check again.”
She did.
Then she heard a sound downstairs.
A car door slammed.
Claire looked through the blinds.
A man stood outside.
She couldn't see his face.
Dominic's voice became sharper.
“Claire?”
“I think someone is outside.”
“Don't open the door.”
“I won't.”
“I'm sending someone.”
Claire hesitated.
“Dominic.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you helping me?”
There was silence.
Then he answered.
“Because someone is trying to destroy a company I may be investing in.”
She smiled faintly.
“That sounds very businesslike.”
“It is.”
“Only business?”
Another pause.
“No.”
Claire's smile disappeared.
Before she could answer, someone knocked on her door.
Three slow knocks.
Claire froze.
Dominic said, “Stay away from it.”
The knocking came again.
Then a voice.
“Claire?”
Her father's voice.
Claire stared at the door.
“Why is my father here?”
Dominic's voice turned cold.
“Because I never told him where you live.”
Claire's breath caught.
The man outside knocked again.
“Claire, open the door.”
She stepped backward.
Then her phone vibrated.
A new message.
DON'T TRUST CHARLES.
Claire looked toward the door.
Her father's voice came again.
May you like
“Claire, I know you're in there.”
Then the doorknob slowly began to turn...
