Chapter 6

ALEX

I didn't waste time rushing out of my office. Tony didn't need to be told. He got up and rushed after me.

I stepped out of my office like a man possessed, storming past my secretary’s desk. She looked up, startled, coffee in one hand, tablet in the other.

“Cancel all my meetings,” I barked.

Her eyes widened. “Sir, but the meeting with the CEO of C—”

“Reschedule,” I cut her off without slowing down. “And if he doesn’t like it, I’ll deal with him myself.”

I was already at the elevator, pressing the button like my life depended on it. Everything inside me felt weird. My hands wouldn’t stop clenching. My jaw was tight. My heart was pounding like I’d just run a mile in just a minute.

Emma’s face wouldn’t leave my mind. Those tears. That broken expression when I accused her. The sound of her voice begging me to believe her.

Fuck.

Tony caught up with me, panting slightly. It felt like the elevator took forever to arrive at the reception. I hurried out, ignoring the curious looks my employees were sending my way.

Soon we got to the parking lot, and I sloped into the driver's seat of my car while Tony took the front passenger seat.

“Where are we going?” Tony questioned. 

“To the bar.” I answered, immediately starting the car and driving.

He nodded in understanding but curiously asked, “What did you do to that waiter? Is he in jail!”

I shook my head.

He blinked. “Wait. You didn’t have him arrested?”

I let out a sharp breath. “I couldn’t. If I pressed charges, Emma would’ve been implicated too. Her name would’ve come up in the investigation. If the press caught wind of it…”

Tony nodded slowly. “It’d be a scandal.”

“I made sure he got fired,” I added, my jaw clenched. “And I was going to make damn sure he never gets hired again. Not even as a toilet cleaner. But if he lied to me, then he'd better prepare himself.”

We pulled up in front of the club ten minutes later. Getting out of the car, we walked straight in. The mingled smell of alcohol and smoke wafted over us.

Since it was the afternoon, the place wasn't open yet. We headed straight towards the manager's office.

An employee tried to stop us. “Excuse me, you guys can’t go in there just like—”

I brushed past her and pushed open the office door without knocking. I was met with a sight I'd rather not see.

The manager, a sleazy bastard named Patrick, had some girl in his lap. His hand was between her legs and she had her head thrown back in pleasure. Alex recognised the girl as one of the club dancers.

They both jumped like guilty kids caught by their parents. The girl scrambled to pull her skirt down while Patrick buttoned up his shirt.

“Mr. Miller!” he said, forcing a smile. “Well, this is a surprise.”

He shoved the girl off his lap. She finally straightened her dress and ran out the door without a word.

“Mr. Miller.” Patrick stood and extended his hand to me. The same hand that had been in places I'd rather not think of.

I just stared at him until he lowered his hand awkwardly.

“What can I help you with?” he asked.

“I need access to the security cameras,” I said, cutting right to the point. “All of them. From six nights ago.”

His smile faded. “Is this about that damn waiter?”

“Yes.”

He sighed and scratched his neck. “I assure you that I already fired that disgraceful scoundrel. I sent out his info to every decent place in town. He’s blacklisted, Mr. Miller. You don’t have to worry.”

“I said I need access,” I repeated, my voice sharp.

Patrick shifted. “That’s… complicated. We can’t just give that kind of access to anyone. Company policy. Security reasons.”

I took a step forward, my muscles bunching with tension. His eyes widened, but before I could get to him, Tony grabbed my arm. 

“Easy,” he muttered.

Then he stepped in front of me and faced Patrick. “Listen, man. Just give us the info. You know who this is. If you want to avoid trouble, don’t be stupid.”

Patrick looked between the two of us, clearly weighing his options. His face turned pale.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll take you into the CCTV room,” he said quickly, raising his hands. “Just… please, assure me your discretion. If this turns into a scandal, I’m screwed. My bosses—”

“Save it,” I said coldly.

Patrick instantly stopped talking and nodded. “Please come with me.”

He moved to the door in a rush, practically tripping over himself. I followed close behind, my heart hammering harder with each step.

I didn’t know what we’d find on those tapes, but it could change everything.

After taking the elevator, we arrived at a steel door at the end of the hallway with a fingerprint scanner. He placed his thumb on it and the lock clicked open with a soft beep.

We stepped inside.

Two security guards were seated at a wide desk filled with monitors. One of them was slumped to the side, snoring lightly.

The manager marched over and shook his chair hard. “Wake the hell up!”

The guy jerked upright, blinking in confusion. “I wasn’t asleep—”

“Don’t even start,” the manager snapped.

I didn’t wait for their little drama to play out. I stepped forward and demanded, “Pull all the footage from six nights ago.”

Both guards turned to look at the manager, confused.

Patrick glared at them. “Do it. Just do what the gentleman says.”

The two guards exchanged a look before going to work, tapping quickly at their keyboards.

One of them asked, “Which camera angle are we pulling?”

“Every angle,” I said.

Tony glanced at me, puzzled. “What exactly are we looking for?”

I didn’t look at him. My eyes were fixed on the screens as the footages started loading. “That night… I saw the bracelet on Emma’s wrist. I even complimented her and told her it still looked good after all these years.” 

I swallowed. “The waiter told me that they agreed that she would give it to him before she left the club.”

I turned to the guard. “Pull the VIP lounge cameras. Between 9 and 10 p.m.”

They scrolled through timestamps, clicking through several footages. The lighting in the VIP section was low, but I could still make it out. I was sitting at one of the booths.

The waiter came and delivered the whiskey I had asked for. Not even a minute passed before Emma appeared, beautiful as always in black dress.

She walked past my VIP booth, pretending not to see me. I knew she was pretending because the footage showed that she had her eyes on me even at the entrance.

I had called out to her, and she had come to sit with me. She had told me she didn't know I was already at the club and I had teasingly called her a liar because I knew she didn't like such places. 

On the monitor, we talked and laughed while reminiscing some memories. I drank, but Emma only took small sips of a martini she ordered. 

A few minutes later, I began to feel dizzy which was unusual because it usually took more alcohol to get me even tipsy. I initially tried to ignore and continued talking with her, but after a while, I could barely keep my body upright.

All that time, the bracelet was still on her wrist.

Emma noticed my state and stood up, moving beside me. She insisted on taking me home and I finally agreed. I threw an arm around her shoulder and we headed for the door.

We disappeared from that camera angle and reappeared in the hallway footage, the one leading to the elevator.

The waiter came out of nowhere, crashing into us. He said something to Emma who said something back, smiling at him. 

When he walked away, the bracelet was gone from Emma's wrist.

“Go back,” I said quickly. “And set it to normal speed.”

The guard did as I asked, reversing the footage and slowing it down.

Initially, it looked like Emma took off her bracelet and gave it to him during the collision.

But something felt off.

“Another angle,” I said. “Give me another fucking angle.”

The guard scrolled and pulled another angle of the footage. We watched it play out again. I leaned closer to the screen, squinting. Then I realized.

Emma didn't give the bracelet to the waiter. He removed it from her wrist while she was trying to keep me from falling down. He stole it from her.

My mouth went dry. My chest felt tight like someone had shoved a fist between my ribs and twisted it hard.

Emma had told me the truth.