Chapter 3 - Someone Was Inside My Company
“Call the police,” Daniela said.
Adrian lunged for her phone.
She stepped back.
Thomas blocked him.
“What did you see?” Thomas asked.
Daniela kept watching the security feed.
A woman crossed the hallway inside Reyes Studio.
Elegant coat.
Blonde-gray hair.
But Evelyn was standing ten feet away.
So it wasn’t her.
The woman turned toward the camera.
Daniela’s stomach dropped.
“Caroline.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
Daniela looked at him.
“You know she’s there.”
He didn’t answer.
Caroline Price had been Reyes Studio’s finance director for eighteen months.
Daniela had trusted her with payroll, vendor contracts, internal budgets.
More importantly, Caroline had access to financial records.
Rachel had never liked her.
Daniela had defended her.
Now Caroline was entering the records room on a Sunday.
Daniela called building security.
“This is Daniela Reyes, owner of Reyes Studio. Lock the seventh floor immediately. Nobody leaves.”
Adrian stepped toward her.
“You’re overreacting.”
Daniela stared at him.
“Why?”
He stopped.
She continued.
“If Caroline is supposed to be there, why are you afraid I’ll stop her?”
No answer.
Daniela called the police.
Twenty minutes later, she was in Thomas’s car heading downtown.
Rachel met them outside the building.
Caroline had been detained by security before reaching the elevator.
Inside her bag were three external drives and a stack of corporate documents.
Documents she had no authorization to remove.
Daniela entered the office she had built.
The place felt different now.
Not because anything had physically changed.
Because trust had.
Rachel hurried toward her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
Daniela almost smiled.
Rachel hugged her.
It was the first genuine kindness Daniela had felt all afternoon.
“What did she take?”
“We don’t know yet.”
Police officers were speaking to Caroline inside the conference room.
Daniela could see her through the glass.
Caroline looked furious.
Not ashamed.
Furious.
Rachel lowered her voice.
“She’s asking for an attorney.”
“Fine.”
“She also said Adrian authorized her access.”
Daniela looked at Thomas.
Thomas sighed.
“That’s going to matter.”
Daniela entered her office.
Her desk sat beneath the window.
On the wall hung the first dollar she had earned from design work.
Not because the dollar mattered.
Because she remembered the woman who paid it.
Mrs. Patterson.
A bakery owner who needed a logo and had only fifty dollars.
Daniela had spent fourteen hours creating it.
That tiny project led to another.
Then another.
Then an agency contract.
Then employees.
Then this office.
Adrian had walked into her life after all of that.
And somehow, over four years, he had convinced her to believe he was the successful one.
Daniela sat.
Rachel placed a laptop in front of her.
“I traced the transfers.”
“Tell me.”
“Most went to Evelyn’s account. From there, money moved to Mercer Holdings.”
“Most?”
Rachel nodded.
“About seventy thousand went somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“I’m still tracing it.”
Daniela looked through the glass at Caroline.
“Her?”
“Maybe.”
Thomas entered.
“The police want to know whether you intend to pursue charges.”
Daniela looked at him.
“For Caroline?”
“And potentially Adrian.”
There it was.
A decision.
For years, Daniela had softened every consequence for Adrian.
When he forgot anniversaries, she told people he was busy.
When he insulted her work, she called it stress.
When Evelyn humiliated her, Daniela kept quiet to protect Adrian’s relationship with his mother.
Protection had become permission.
“Yes,” Daniela said.
Thomas studied her.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“For everything?”
Daniela looked toward Caroline.
“For everything they can prove.”
Thomas nodded.
“Then I’ll make some calls.”
That evening Daniela checked into a hotel.
She could have stayed with friends.
But she wanted silence.
Marcus delivered her suitcases.
Rachel brought dinner.
Daniela barely ate.
At 9:14 p.m., Adrian called.
She declined.
9:16.
Again.
Declined.
9:22.
A text.
PLEASE LET ME EXPLAIN.
Daniela stared at it.
Another arrived.
MOM PUSHED THIS TOO FAR.
Daniela laughed bitterly.
There it was.
Evelyn.
The universal explanation for every failure in Adrian’s life.
Another message.
I NEVER WANTED TO HURT YOU.
Daniela typed a response.
Then deleted it.
At 10:03, Melissa called.
Daniela almost ignored it.
Then remembered the document carrying Melissa’s name.
She answered.
“Daniela?”
Melissa sounded like she had been crying.
“What do you want?”
“I didn’t know.”
Daniela waited.
“I swear.”
“About what?”
“The company transfer. The loan. Your signature.”
“Did you know about the money?”
Silence.
That was enough.
Daniela closed her eyes.
“How much did you know?”
“Mom said you were helping.”
“Helping with what?”
“Mercer Holdings.”
“Did she tell you I agreed?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ever ask me?”
“No.”
Daniela looked out at the city.
“Why?”
Melissa’s voice broke.
“Because I wanted to believe her.”
That answer hurt because it was probably true.
“What did the money pay for?”
“Some company debt.”
“Some?”
Melissa hesitated.
“And Mom’s house.”
Daniela sat straighter.
“What about Evelyn’s house?”
“The mortgage.”
Daniela felt sick.
Evelyn had spent years criticizing Daniela for being “too focused on money.”
Meanwhile Daniela had apparently been paying Evelyn’s mortgage.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
“Daniela—”
“If you want me to believe you didn’t participate, find out.”
Melissa went quiet.
Then said, “Okay.”
The call ended.
Daniela lay awake until nearly two.
At 2:13, an email arrived from Caroline.
No subject.
One sentence.
YOU THINK ADRIAN IS THE ONE YOU SHOULD BE AFRAID OF.
Attached was a photograph.
Daniela opened it.
Adrian sat in a restaurant booth.
Across from him was a man Daniela recognized from business news.
Victor Lang.
Owner of Lang Development.
A competitor who had tried twice to acquire Reyes Studio.
Daniela enlarged the image.
The timestamp was six months earlier.
Another attachment followed.
A contract.
Daniela opened it.
The first paragraph made her sit upright.
Victor Lang had agreed to purchase specific Reyes Studio client accounts after a corporate restructuring.
The payment?
$1.4 million.
The seller?
Mercer Creative Group.
A company that did not yet own Reyes Studio.
Because Adrian had apparently expected it would.
Daniela kept reading.
Then she found a handwritten note.
If D resists, use marital claim.
She knew the handwriting.
Adrian’s.
Daniela immediately called Rachel.
Rachel answered on the second ring.
“Daniela?”
“Caroline sent me something.”
“Forward it.”
Daniela did.
Silence.
Then Rachel swore.
“I’ll call Thomas.”
“Wait.”
“What?”
“Why would Caroline send this?”
Rachel paused.
“Insurance.”
“Exactly.”
Caroline wasn’t confessing.
She was bargaining.
Daniela opened the email again.
A second message arrived.
I HAVE THE ORIGINAL AGREEMENT.
MEET ME TOMORROW.
ALONE.
Rachel said, “Absolutely not.”
Daniela agreed.
“I’m not going alone.”
“Good.”
“But I’m going.”
“Daniela.”
“She has evidence.”
“She may also be setting you up.”
Daniela looked at the contract again.
“I know.”
The next morning, Thomas arranged for Caroline’s attorney to attend any meeting.
Caroline chose a private conference room in a downtown law office.
At eleven, Daniela arrived with Thomas.
Caroline was already there.
She looked exhausted.
Her confidence from the previous day was gone.
Daniela sat opposite her.
“You have five minutes.”
Caroline placed an envelope on the table.
“Adrian is going to blame everything on me.”
“Shouldn’t he?”
“No.”
“You entered my office and tried to remove company records.”
“Because those records prove what he did.”
“You could have told me.”
Caroline laughed bitterly.
“Would you have believed me six months ago?”
Daniela didn’t answer.
Probably not.
Caroline pushed the envelope toward her.
“Your husband offered me seventy thousand dollars.”
Daniela remembered Rachel’s missing money.
“For what?”
“To create financial projections showing Reyes Studio was failing.”
Daniela stared at her.
“Why?”
“So he could argue that restructuring was necessary.”
“And transfer control.”
“Yes.”
“Did you do it?”
Caroline looked down.
“Yes.”
Daniela’s jaw tightened.
“So you stole from me.”
“I helped him.”
“That’s not better.”
“I know.”
Caroline swallowed.
“I thought it was just business. Then I saw the signatures.”
“The forgeries?”
“Yes.”
“Who signed them?”
Caroline looked toward her attorney.
He nodded.
“Evelyn.”
Daniela sat completely still.
“Evelyn forged my signature?”
“Some of them.”
“Some?”
Caroline pushed another paper across the table.
“Adrian forged the rest.”
Daniela stared at the two people she had once called family, represented now only by handwriting on paper.
“What do you want?”
“Protection.”
“From Adrian?”
Caroline shook her head.
“From Victor Lang.”
Thomas leaned forward.
“Why?”
“Because Adrian owes him money.”
“How much?”
“More than Mercer Holdings can pay.”
Daniela’s pulse quickened.
“And he promised Victor my company.”
Caroline nodded.
“But that’s not the worst part.”
Daniela hated those words now.
“What is?”
Caroline looked directly at her.
“Victor wasn’t buying your company for the clients.”
“Then why?”
“He wanted one specific property.”
Daniela frowned.
“I don’t own property.”
Caroline slowly slid a deed across the table.
Daniela looked at it.
Reyes Studio owned a warehouse on the east side.
Except Daniela had never purchased a warehouse.
She checked the acquisition date.
Nine years earlier.
Before she met Adrian.
The buyer listed was Reyes Studio LLC.
Her signature appeared.
This one was real.
Daniela stared at it.
Then remembered.
Nine years earlier, an elderly client had been unable to pay a large design bill.
He had offered Daniela a small percentage of an old industrial property instead.
Daniela had signed documents and forgotten about it.
“What’s it worth?”
Caroline answered.
“Not much when you acquired it.”
“And now?”
“Victor knows something you don’t.”
She placed a city planning document on top of the deed.
A proposed transit redevelopment zone.
Daniela read the projected valuation.
Her mouth went dry.
“Twenty-eight million?”
Caroline nodded.
“If the project is approved.”
Thomas leaned back slowly.
Now everything made sense.
The forged ownership papers.
The fake restructuring.
The desperate loan.
Adrian wasn’t trying to save Mercer Holdings.
He was trying to gain control of an asset worth potentially twenty-eight million dollars.
Daniela looked at Caroline.
“When is the city vote?”
“Thursday.”
Three days.
Daniela picked up the deed.
Then Thomas’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed immediately.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at Daniela.
“We have a problem.”
“What?”
“The apartment.”
“What about it?”
“Adrian just reported several items stolen.”
Daniela stared at him.
“What items?”
Thomas listened again.
Then his face hardened.
“He reported the television, artwork, jewelry, and financial documents.”
Daniela almost laughed.
“He told the police I stole my own property?”
Thomas ended the call.
“Not exactly.”
“What did he tell them?”
“He told them you took property belonging to Evelyn.”
Daniela stood.
“That’s absurd.”
Thomas nodded.
“But there’s more.”
He turned his phone toward her.
A photograph had been sent from the apartment.
The thick folder Daniela had left on the dining table was open.
One document had been placed on top.
A purchase agreement.
It appeared to show Evelyn as owner of nearly everything Daniela had removed.
Daniela stared at the signature.
Hers.
Forged again.
Then she noticed the date.
It was dated two years before she had even purchased the television.
Someone had made a mistake.
A huge one.
Daniela smiled for the first time since Sunday.
Thomas noticed.
“What?”
“They got greedy.”
Before she could explain, her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
A woman spoke.
“Ms. Reyes?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Detective Laura Bennett.”
Daniela’s smile disappeared.
“We’ve detained Adrian Mercer.”
Daniela stood.
“Why?”
There was a pause.
“Because someone tried to destroy evidence last night.”
Daniela gripped the phone.
“And, Ms. Reyes?”
“Yes?”
“We found something in his car.”
“What?”
The detective lowered her voice.
“Your passport.”
Daniela stopped breathing.
“And a one-way airline ticket.”
The destination appeared in a message seconds later.
Daniela looked at the city name.
Then at Thomas.
Adrian had been preparing to run.
But he hadn’t been preparing to run alone.
May you like
A second passenger’s name was printed beneath his.
Daniela knew exactly who it was.
