Chapter 3: My Name on His Records
Marcus released Chloe’s wrist and looked around at the wedding guests.
“This is a private business matter,” he said.
“There’s no reason to make a spectacle.”
“You made it public when you confronted my wife,” Julian replied.
My cousin stood near the dance floor, her bouquet hanging at her side.
I touched Julian’s arm.
“Not here,” I said.
“Tonight belongs to Rebecca.”
Marcus gave me a thin smile.
“Still running away, Evelyn?”
I handed Emma to Julian and faced him.
“No.
I’m choosing the time and place.”
“You always did confuse silence with strength.”
“And you always mistook cruelty for power.”
Chloe lowered her eyes.
Marcus reached for her again, but she stepped away.
“Don’t touch me,” she said.
His smile vanished.
“You signed those documents willingly.”
“You said they were vendor authorizations.”
Marcus leaned close to her.
“Think carefully before you say another word.”
Julian shifted Emma onto his other hip.
“Was that a warning?”
“It was advice.”
“No,” I said.
“It was the same voice he used whenever he wanted someone frightened enough to obey.”
Marcus turned toward me.
“You should be frightened.
Some of those transfers carry your authorization.”
My fingers went cold.
“That’s impossible.”
“Is it?” He pulled out his phone.
“Your employee number.
Your security credentials.
Your approval code.”
Julian’s jaw tightened.
“Put the phone away.”
Marcus held the screen toward me.
A scanned transfer form filled it, and beneath the amount was a signature shaped like mine.
I took one step closer.
“I never signed that.”
“You’ll have trouble proving it.”
Chloe stared at the screen.
“You told me Evelyn approved the first transfer.”
“And you believed me.”
“You showed me her signature.”
Marcus slipped the phone into his pocket.
“Perhaps she doesn’t remember signing it.”
“I remember every document I approved,” I said.
“That isn’t mine.”
A waiter passed, and Marcus lifted another glass from the tray.
“Then explain it to the regulators when they arrive.”
Julian handed Emma to my aunt and stepped between us.
“If you forged Evelyn’s name—”
“Careful, Julian.
Your company is reviewing mine while your wife possesses confidential records.
That looks less like compliance and more like corporate theft.”
“I copied those records while I was still your wife,” I said.
“They were in our home.”
“They belonged to my company.”
“They documented money leaving accounts without proper authorization.”
Marcus raised his glass.
“And now they document your involvement.”
Chloe’s handbag slipped from her shoulder.
As she caught it, a white hotel key sleeve fell near my shoe.
I bent to pick it up.
“Leave it,” she said too quickly.
Marcus looked down.
Chloe snatched the sleeve from my hand, but not before I saw four words written inside:
ROOM 614.
COME ALONE.
MIDNIGHT.
“What was that?” Marcus demanded.
“Nothing.”
He held out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
Chloe tore the sleeve in half and dropped both pieces into a half-empty champagne glass.
“I said it was nothing.”
Marcus watched the ink bleed through the liquid.
Then he looked at me.
“If you still have that encrypted drive, Evelyn, destroy it.”
“Why?”
“Because by tomorrow morning, every document on it will make you look guiltier than I do.”
He walked away without waiting for Chloe.
She remained beside me for one trembling second.
May you like
“At midnight,” she whispered, “you’ll learn why your signature is there.”
Then she hurried after him.
