Chapter 11- The Forgotten Documents

Jasmine walked down the quiet hallway of Ashford Estate toward Rafe’s home office, the soft carpet muffling her steps. Afternoon light came through the tall windows, and the house felt calm the way it often did when Ethan napped upstairs.

She carried the small list Rafe had given her that morning, the one with the name of the document he needed for the next board review.

Rafe’s voice called from the sitting room as she passed. “Jasmine, did you find it yet?”

She paused and turned toward him. Rafe stood near the window, broad shoulders straight under his white shirt, dark hair neat, gray eyes watching her with the familiar mix of warmth and quiet intensity he always carried when he wasn't at the company. “Not yet. I was just heading into your office now. You said it was the summary from last quarter, correct?”

Rafe nodded. “Yes. The one with the subsidiary totals. I left it on the left side of the desk, near the blue folder. I need it before the call this evening.”

Jasmine smiled, she couldn't help herself from staring at him. He always looked so sexy when he grew focused on work. “I will bring it right to you. Ethan is still asleep, so the house is quiet enough for me to search without waking him.” She said as she broke herself from the trance he had unknowingly cast on her. She wasn't ready for another child, and he sure had no idea what he did to her head. She was so glad to have him in her life.

Rafe stepped closer and brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Thank you. I would look myself, but the numbers from the city office keep changing. I trust your eyes more than mine today.”

“You always say that,” she answered softly. “Then you check everything twice after I hand it to you.”

A small smile touched his mouth. “Only because I like watching you find things I somehow miss. Go on. I will wait here.”

Jasmine continued to the office. The door stood half open, the way Rafe usually left it when he expected to return soon. Inside, the large desk sat in the center of the room, papers stacked in neat piles, the leather chair pushed back slightly.

The scent of his cologne still lingered in the air, mixed with the faint smell of polished wood. She took a second to inhale his scent and let it wrap all over her. He scent made her feel so safe and secured, she didn't want to let a simple scent go. "Ok, stop being a weirdo Jas, he's your husband. It's time to do what you're here for" She mused to herself.

She moved to the left side of the desk first, just as he had said. Her fingers sifted through the top layer of files. “Blue folder… blue folder,” she murmured to herself, then called toward the hallway in case he could still hear. “Rafe, is the blue folder the thick one or the thin one?”

His voice came back from the sitting room. “The thin one. It should have the Ashford Holdings stamp on the corner.”

“I see several with the stamp,” she answered. “Give me a moment.”

She lifted the first stack carefully. Underneath sat an unfamiliar folder, thicker than the others, the edges slightly worn as if it had been handled often but never left in plain sight. Jasmine paused. Rafe had not mentioned this one. She opened it only far enough to check whether the summary he needed might have slipped inside.

Financial statements filled the pages. Columns of numbers. Lists of transfers. Company accounts all carrying the Ashford Holdings name. Some of the figures did not line up the way she expected from the reports Rafe usually shared with her in the evenings. A few transfers sat without clear notes beside them. The totals on one page seemed higher than the matching entries on the next.

Jasmine frowned slightly but kept her voice light when she called out again. “Rafe, I think I found something extra in here. There is a thicker folder with more statements. Do you need any of these as well?”

Rafe’s reply came quickly. “No. Leave that one. It is only background material Victor sent over last month. The summary I need is separate. Keep looking on the left side.”

“All right,” she said. “I will put it back exactly where it was.”

She studied the pages a moment longer. The inconsistencies caught her eye once more—numbers that did not quite match, transfers that lacked the usual explanations Rafe preferred. Yet she assumed they were ordinary business matters, the kind of detailed records that always filled his desk. Rafe handled so many accounts. Victor handled even more as Chairman. It was not her place to question every line.

Jasmine closed the folder and returned it to its place beneath the other papers. She resumed her search, lifting each file with care so nothing would shift out of order. “I still do not see the thin blue one,” she called. “Could it have been moved to the drawer?”

Rafe appeared in the doorway then, broad shoulders filling the frame, gray eyes scanning the desk. “It should not be in the drawer. Let me look with you.”

He crossed the room and stood beside her. Their arms brushed as he reached for a stack near the lamp. Jasmine felt the familiar warmth of his presence and leaned slightly into it.

“You always make the search feel shorter,” she said.

Rafe glanced at her, the intensity in his eyes softening. “That is because you are the one who keeps this house running while I bury myself in numbers. I should not have asked you to dig through this mess.”

“You know I don't mind,” Jasmine answered. “I like helping you. And Ethan will sleep another hour at least. We have time.”

Rafe’s hand rested briefly on the small of her back. “Still. Next time I will mark the files better. I know how much you dislike disorder.”

She laughed quietly. “I dislike it only when it keeps you from coming upstairs to read with Ethan before bed. That is the real problem.”

“Point taken,” he said. “We will finish early tonight. I promise.”

Together they moved through the remaining stacks. Jasmine’s fingers brushed a corner of blue cardboard near the back edge of the desk. “Here. I think this is it.”

She pulled the thin folder free and opened it just enough to confirm the subsidiary totals. Rafe took it from her hands, his gray eyes checking the first page.

“Yes. This is the one. Thank you.” He leaned down and pressed a brief kiss to her temple. “You always find what I need.”

Jasmine smiled up at him. “That is because I know how you organize—or how you do not organize.”

Rafe chuckled, the sound low and warm. “Fair. I will try to improve. For you.”

He turned toward the door with the folder in hand. “I will be in the sitting room if you need me. Do not stay in here too long. The light is better by the windows.”

“I will only tidy the edges so nothing falls,” she said. “Then I will join you.”

Rafe nodded and left. Jasmine remained at the desk a moment longer, smoothing the stacks back into neat order the way she preferred them. She checked once more that the thicker folder sat exactly where she had found it. The inconsistencies she had noticed still lingered in her mind, but she pushed the thought aside. Ordinary business. Nothing more.

She stepped away from the desk and started toward the door. Her shoe caught the edge of a single sheet that had slipped free during the search. The paper rested half-hidden beneath the desk, almost out of sight.

Jasmine bent down and retrieved it. Her eyes moved across the page for only a s

econd. Victor’s signature sat clearly beside a transaction worth millions.