Chapter 6 - The Name on the Screen
Daniela refused to believe it.
“Victor is lying.”
Detective Bennett didn’t argue.
“He may be.”
“He’s trying to destroy my company.”
“Possibly.”
“Rachel found the fraud.”
“Yes.”
“She helped stop the transfer.”
“Yes.”
“Then why would she be involved?”
“That’s what we need to determine.”
Daniela called Rachel.
No answer.
Again.
No answer.
She checked the office.
Rachel had left forty minutes earlier.
Daniela’s pulse raced.
Then Rachel called back.
“Daniela?”
“Where are you?”
“At home.”
“Stay there.”
Silence.
“Why?”
“Detective Bennett is coming.”
Another silence.
Then Rachel said something Daniela did not expect.
“Okay.”
No panic.
No denial.
Just okay.
Daniela arrived with Bennett.
Rachel opened the door.
She looked exhausted.
“Victor gave you my name.”
Daniela stared at her.
“You knew?”
“I expected he might.”
“Why?”
Rachel stepped aside.
“Come in.”
They sat.
Rachel placed an old laptop on the table.
“I contacted Victor six months ago.”
Daniela felt betrayed all over again.
“Why?”
“Because I suspected Adrian was moving money.”
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Remember when I asked why Adrian had administrator access?”
Daniela remembered.
She had defended him.
Rachel continued.
“You told me he was your husband and you trusted him.”
Daniela closed her eyes.
“I needed proof.”
“So you contacted Victor?”
“He was trying to buy Reyes Studio. I thought he might know what Adrian was doing.”
“Did you give him company information?”
“No.”
“Did he pay you?”
“No.”
“Did you help him?”
“No.”
Bennett watched quietly.
Rachel opened the laptop.
“I recorded our conversations.”
Daniela looked up.
“What?”
Rachel clicked a file.
Victor’s voice filled the room.
He discussed Adrian.
The warehouse.
The proposed takeover.
And then he offered Rachel money.
She refused.
Another recording.
Victor threatened her.
Another.
Rachel told him she would go to authorities if he continued.
Bennett leaned forward.
“This is admissible?”
Rachel nodded.
“My attorney checked state law.”
Daniela stared at her friend.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
Rachel’s eyes filled.
“Because you were happy.”
Daniela flinched.
“I thought I could stop it without destroying your marriage.”
There it was again.
Protection.
But this time, Daniela understood the difference.
Rachel had made a mistake.
But she hadn’t taken Daniela’s choice for personal gain.
She had been afraid of hurting her.
It still hurt.
But it wasn’t betrayal.
Bennett took copies of the recordings.
Victor’s cooperation deal collapsed within forty-eight hours.
Instead of becoming a witness, he became a defendant.
The final pieces fell quickly after that.
Caroline testified.
Samuel provided records.
Thomas supplied Richard’s files.
Rachel provided recordings.
Melissa provided Evelyn’s mortgage documents.
And Adrian?
Adrian eventually stopped blaming everyone else.
His attorney negotiated.
He admitted authorizing fraudulent transfers and forging Daniela’s signature.
He admitted conspiring to transfer control of Reyes Studio.
He admitted taking her passport.
He admitted planning to leave after the warehouse transaction.
Daniela read his statement once.
Then closed it.
She didn’t need to read it again.
The divorce became final eleven months after the birthday lunch.
Daniela walked out of the courthouse with Thomas beside her.
No cameras.
No dramatic confrontation.
Just a piece of paper.
Single.
Free.
Her phone buzzed.
A message from Melissa.
IT’S OVER?
Daniela replied.
YES.
Melissa sent back a heart.
Their relationship had changed.
They weren’t sisters.
Maybe they never would be.
But Melissa had testified against her mother and brother.
She had returned the tuition money her mother had given her.
Not because Daniela demanded it.
Because Melissa wanted to.
That mattered.
Evelyn sold her house.
Most of the proceeds went toward restitution.
The grand home she had protected through lies was gone.
Daniela expected to feel satisfaction.
Instead she felt something closer to sadness.
Evelyn had destroyed almost everything she loved because she was terrified of looking unsuccessful.
In the end, the image survived nothing.
Adrian also lost his position at Mercer Holdings.
The company was liquidated.
Employees were paid first.
Creditors followed.
There was almost nothing left afterward.
The Mercer empire ended quietly.
Not with scandalous headlines.
With paperwork.
Daniela turned her attention to Reyes Works.
Construction finished fourteen months after the city vote.
The opening was scheduled for September.
Two weeks before launch, Daniela visited the building alone.
She walked through the main hall.
Sunlight crossed polished concrete floors.
Small offices lined the second level.
The childcare center was nearly ready.
Downstairs, the apprenticeship studio had twenty desks.
Daniela touched one.
At twenty-one, she would have given anything for a place like this.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She almost ignored it.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then Adrian’s voice.
“Daniela.”
She nearly hung up.
“Please. Thirty seconds.”
She looked around the building.
“Thirty.”
“I heard Reyes Works opens next month.”
“Yes.”
“I saw the pictures.”
Daniela said nothing.
“It looks incredible.”
“Twenty seconds.”
He breathed.
“I’m sorry.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know it doesn’t matter.”
“Ten seconds.”
“I was wrong.”
Daniela waited.
Not because she needed the apology.
Because she wanted to hear whether he finally understood what he had done.
“I kept thinking I was protecting my family,” Adrian said. “But I was protecting an image. And every time you challenged it, I treated you like the enemy.”
Daniela looked through the windows.
“You stole from me.”
“I know.”
“You forged my name.”
“I know.”
“You planned to take my company.”
“I know.”
“Then don’t reduce it to an image.”
Silence.
“You chose those things.”
“Yes.”
That was the first honest answer he had given her without qualification.
Daniela exhaled.
“I hope you become someone who never does that again.”
“Daniela—”
“But you won’t become that person with me.”
She ended the call.
No anger.
No shaking.
No grief.
Just an ending.
Opening day arrived.
Hundreds of people filled Reyes Works.
Small-business owners toured offices.
Children played in the childcare center.
Young designers explored the apprenticeship rooms.
Daniela stood near the entrance.
Rachel joined her.
“You did it.”
“We did it.”
Rachel smiled.
“No. This part was you.”
Daniela looked around.
She thought of the Sunday afternoon when Adrian pointed toward a door.
If he hadn’t?
Maybe she would have stayed another year.
Maybe two.
Maybe until there was nothing left of Reyes Studio.
Sometimes cruelty accidentally tells the truth.
Adrian had shown her the door.
And she had finally believed she was allowed to use it.
A young woman approached.
Maybe twenty-two.
Nervous.
“Ms. Reyes?”
“Yes?”
“I’m Maya. I got accepted into the apprenticeship.”
Daniela smiled.
“Congratulations.”
“I wanted to thank you.”
“You earned your place.”
Maya nodded.
“My mom cleans offices. Nobody in my family works in design. I didn’t think people like me got into places like this.”
Daniela felt something tighten in her chest.
“You’re here now.”
Maya smiled.
“Yes.”
Daniela watched her disappear into the crowd.
Rachel nudged her.
“You okay?”
Daniela nodded.
For once, she actually was.
Then Thomas appeared near the entrance.
His expression was serious.
Too serious for opening day.
Daniela immediately knew something was wrong.
“What happened?”
Thomas handed her an envelope.
“No return address.”
“What is it?”
“It was delivered to my office this morning.”
Daniela opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
The apartment.
The old dining table.
The birthday lunch.
Someone had taken the photograph from across the room on the exact afternoon Daniela left.
On the back, six words had been written.
YOU STILL DON’T KNOW WHO CALLED THEM.
Daniela looked at Thomas.
“Called who?”
“I don’t know.”
Her phone vibrated.
A new message.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
ASK MELISSA WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE THE MOVERS ARRIVED.
Daniela slowly raised her eyes.
Across the crowded opening hall, Melissa had just walked through the entrance.
May you like
She saw Daniela holding the photograph.
And stopped.
