Chapter 3 - The Man Who Came Looking for Me
Clara refused to believe the signature.
She stared at it until her eyes hurt.
“That isn't mine.”
Cassian said nothing.
“It isn't.”
“I know.”
“Then why show me?”
“Because someone wants you to believe it is.”
Clara looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
Cassian placed the document on the table.
“Derek forged your signature.”
Relief came first.
Then anger.
Then fear.
“How many people have this?”
“Three.”
“Who?”
“Derek. Viktor. Me.”
“Why?”
“Because Derek used the document to convince Viktor you belonged to him.”
Clara hugged herself.
“My husband was trying to sell me?”
“Yes.”
She looked toward the hallway.
Noah was sleeping peacefully.
Clara lowered her voice.
“Why would anyone want me?”
Cassian studied her.
“Because you know more than you realize.”
“I don't know anything.”
“Your husband believed you did.”
“What?”
Cassian opened another folder.
Photographs spilled onto the table.
Derek.
Bank accounts.
Shipping records.
Names.
Dates.
Clara recognized one company.
It belonged to Derek's construction business.
“He told me the company was failing.”
“It wasn't.”
Cassian pointed to several transfers.
“Money was being moved through your joint account.”
Clara's face went pale.
“I never knew.”
“I believe you.”
She looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because your spending doesn't match the account.”
He pushed another sheet toward her.
The withdrawals had all happened while she was buying groceries, paying daycare, or caring for Noah.
Someone else had been moving the money.
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“I thought I was going crazy.”
Cassian looked at her.
“You weren't.”
She sat down.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Cassian's phone rang.
This time he answered immediately.
“What?”
His expression changed.
“Where?”
He listened.
“Don't move.”
He ended the call.
“What happened?” Clara asked.
“Derek was seen.”
Her heart stopped.
“Where?”
“Two blocks from here.”
Clara stood.
“He knows I'm here.”
“Yes.”
“Then I need to leave.”
“No.”
“Cassian—”
“You leave this building, you become vulnerable.”
“And if I stay?”
His eyes held hers.
“You become my responsibility.”
She didn't know why those words affected her.
Perhaps because nobody had called her a responsibility in years.
Everyone else had called her a burden.
A mistake.
A problem.
Cassian called her something different.
He walked closer.
“I need you to understand something.”
“What?”
“If Viktor comes here, he won't negotiate.”
“What will he do?”
Cassian's voice became quiet.
“He'll take what he believes Derek sold.”
Clara swallowed.
“And what do you believe?”
Cassian looked toward Noah's room.
“I believe no man can sell another human being.”
For the first time, Clara felt safe.
Only for a moment.
Because the elevator chimed.
Cassian immediately turned.
His men moved into position.
The doors opened.
A woman stepped out.
She wore a black dress and carried a leather folder.
Cassian's face became unreadable.
Clara recognized the woman.
She had seen her once before.
At Derek's office.
The woman smiled.
“Hello, Clara.”
Cassian moved between them.
“Who are you?”
The woman ignored him.
She looked directly at Clara.
“I'm the person who can prove what your husband really did.”
May you like
She opened the folder.
And the first photograph inside showed Derek handing Noah to a stranger...
