Chapter 7

Elena spent the entire afternoon trying to convince herself that Lucien Vale was not getting inside her head. It wasn't working. Every time she opened the folder he had given her, she found herself remembering the way he had looked at her when she asked about the five hundred thousand dollars, as though he knew the answer but had decided she wasn't ready to hear it. What bothered her even more was the fact that he had refused to tell her who transferred the money, yet somehow seemed certain that whoever had done it wanted her to use it. Elena hated unanswered questions, and lately her entire life had become one enormous unanswered question.

She was sitting alone in a small café several streets away from Vale Tower when her phone rang. She glanced at the screen and immediately frowned. The caller was her father's assistant, Martin. For a moment she considered ignoring it, but curiosity won. She answered.

"Elena, where are you?"

She looked out through the café window. "Why?"

"Your father wants you to come back to the house."

Elena almost laughed. "The house I was thrown out of?"

"He wants to talk."

"Then he can talk to someone who still wants to listen."

There was a pause on the other end. "Elena, this is serious."

"So was accusing me of stealing millions from your company."

"That's exactly why I'm calling. Your father believes there may have been a misunderstanding."

Elena sat upright.

"A misunderstanding?"

"Yes."

"Interesting. Yesterday I was a thief. Today it's a misunderstanding?"

"Please, just come back."

She stared at the folder lying on the table.

"Who told him to call me?"

Martin hesitated.

That hesitation told her everything.

"Was it Adrian?"

"No."

"Vivian?"

"Elena—"

"Martin, I'm asking you a simple question."

Another pause.

"Vivian spoke to your father this morning."

Elena closed her eyes.

Of course she had.

"Tell my father I'll contact him when I'm ready."

She ended the call.

A second later, her phone rang again.

This time it was her father.

Elena watched his name flash across the screen for several seconds before answering.

"What do you want?"

"Come home."

"I don't have a home."

"Elena."

"No, Dad. You made that very clear yesterday."

His voice hardened. "You're being emotional."

"Of course I'm emotional. My husband slept with my stepsister, she announced her pregnancy in front of me, you chose her over me, and then you accused me of stealing from you. I'm supposed to feel what exactly? Gratitude?"

"I never said you stole anything."

"You signed the accusation."

"I signed what my lawyers put in front of me."

Elena went silent.

There it was.

The same excuse everyone had been using.

Adrian had signed what his lawyers prepared. Her father had signed what his lawyers prepared. Everyone seemed to have a lawyer ready to make decisions for them, and somehow every decision happened to destroy her.

"Did you know about the financial investigation before yesterday?"

Her father didn't answer immediately.

"Who told you about it?" Elena pressed.

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"We'll discuss it when you come home."

"No."

"Elena—"

"I said no."

She ended the call.

For several seconds she simply stared at the phone.

Then she opened the folder again.

The financial records Lucien had given her were complicated, but Elena knew the Ashford family's accounting system better than anyone gave her credit for. She had spent years attending business meetings with her father and helping Adrian with several of his company's acquisitions. She knew where money moved, which accounts were legitimate, and which transactions required approval.

One transaction caught her attention.

She pulled out her laptop and searched through the public company records.

The transaction was listed as having been approved by her.

Elena frowned.

That wasn't unusual by itself. She had authorized dozens of transfers when she was still involved with the company.

But the date made her stomach tighten.

She checked it again.

Then again.

"No."

She opened another document.

The authorization carried her digital signature.

Except Elena remembered exactly where she had been that day.

She had been in Paris.

She had flown there with Adrian for a charity event.

She remembered the trip because it had been the same weekend Adrian had insisted on extending their stay by two days. At the time, she had thought he wanted to spend more time with her.

Now she wondered if he had simply needed her away from the office.

Elena immediately called the company's former financial controller.

He answered after several rings.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Bennett, it's Elena."

Silence.

Then his voice became cautious.

"Mrs. Ashford."

"Former Mrs. Ashford."

"Right."

"I need to ask you about a transaction from six weeks ago."

"I can't discuss company matters with you."

"You can if you know I'm being framed."

Another silence.

Elena lowered her voice. "You know something."

"I don't know anything."

"You do."

"Elena, I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

"Did Adrian order you to change the records?"

The line went completely silent.

Elena's heart began pounding.

"Mr. Bennett?"

He finally spoke.

"You should stop asking questions."

The call ended.

Elena stared at the phone.

That wasn't a denial.

It was a warning.

She immediately called again.

This time, the number was unavailable.

Her fingers tightened around the phone.

Someone was scared.

And frightened people usually knew something.

She gathered her things and left the café.

By the time she reached the hotel where she had booked a cheap room for the night, she had already made up her mind.

She wasn't going to ask Adrian for anything.

She wasn't going to beg her father.

And she certainly wasn't going to run back to Lucien every time something became difficult.

She would find the truth herself.

That evening, Elena spread every document across the small hotel desk and began comparing dates.

One by one.

Transaction by transaction.

Authorization by authorization.

Three hours later, she found it.

A discrepancy so small that anyone unfamiliar with the Ashford accounting system would have missed it.

The transfer had been authorized using Elena's digital signature.

But the authorization timestamp was two hours before the transaction had even been created.

She stared at the screen.

"That's impossible."

She checked the server records.

The same result.

The authorization existed before the transaction.

Someone had created the evidence afterward and manipulated the timestamps to make it appear legitimate.

Elena leaned back slowly.

Then she noticed something else.

The IP address associated with the authorization.

Her eyes widened.

It wasn't from her home.

It wasn't from the Ashford headquarters.

It wasn't even from the city.

It came from a private office registered under a company called Vantage Meridian.

The same company whose name appeared on one of the documents Lucien had given her.

Elena's breathing slowed.

For the first time, she understood that Adrian's affair might not have been the reason they wanted her gone.

It might have been the excuse.

Her phone suddenly rang.

She looked at the screen.

Adrian.

She almost ignored him.

Instead, she answered.

"What?"

"Where are you?"

"Why?"

"I heard you went to see Lucien."

Elena's expression changed.

"How do you know that?"

Adrian laughed softly.

"You really think I wouldn't know?"

"Are you having me followed?"

"Don't flatter yourself."

"Then how did you know?"

"I know enough."

Elena stood.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to stop digging."

She stared at the wall.

"Why?"

"Because you're making a mistake."

"Am I?"

"Yes."

His voice became quieter.

"You don't know what you're involving yourself in."

Elena smiled bitterly.

"That's interesting coming from the man who framed me."

"I didn't frame you."

"Then tell me why my signature was used on a transaction two hours before the transaction existed."

Silence.

Elena's smile disappeared.

Adrian hadn't expected that.

"Adrian?"

He finally spoke.

"Where did you get that information?"

Elena's heart began beating faster.

She had her answer.

He knew.

Maybe not everything.

But enough.

"That's what I thought."

She ended the call.

A message arrived almost immediately.

You should have listened to me.

Elena stared at it.

Then another message appeared.

Some doors should stay closed.

She looked at the documents spread across the desk.

For the first time since this nightmare began, fear crept beneath her anger.

Not because Adrian had threatened her.

Because someone had.

Someone who knew what she was investigating.

Someone who had access to information she had never told anyone.

Elena slowly picked up her phone.

There was only one person she could think of who might understand what was happening.

She opened Lucien's contact.

Her thumb hovered over the call button.

Then she stopped.

"No."

She put the phone down.

If Lucien wanted her to prove she wasn't helpless, she would.

She turned back toward the documents.

The name Vantage Meridian stared back at her.

Elena picked up her coat.

Tomorrow morning, she would find out exactly who owned it.

She had no idea that the company had already been expecting her.