Chapter 5: Hello, Heartbreaker  

Dana’s POV

I was at the door, ready to leave, but then remembered that we weren't done.

“Regret already?” he says. 

I looked at Remy dead in the eyes before dropping back into the chair across from him.

“No.” I slide the signed contract back. “Terms are set. You get your proof of life on Jade by tonight, or I walk.”

His mouth twitches. Not quite a smile. “You’ll get it.” 

One of the armed men opens the door. The hallway light cuts across Remy’s face. For a second he looks like Mateo. He has the same jaw, but different eyes. They were colder. 

“Driver’s waiting,” Remy says. “Monday. 8 AM. Tovar Group. Don’t be late.” 

I stood up sharply. “I won’t.”

I waited for a few seconds before walking out into the hallway. 

The hallway is still empty. The female CO is gone. A different guard, male, bored, buzzes me through three more doors without a word. 

Then I’m outside. 

Air hits me.

Real air.

It’s October in New York. It bites. 

A black SUV idles at the curb, tinted windows and its engine running. 

“Master Remy sent me,” he said through the rolled-down window before I could ask any question.

The rear door opens before I reach it. 

“Ms. Sosa.” 

The driver doesn’t look at me. He's in his early fifties, ex-military by the posture. He hands me a tablet as soon as I’m inside. The door shuts on its own. 

Everything feels expensive. 

“Remy said you’d want to read.” 

The tablet lights up. The Tovar Group logo came up, then my name. 

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT  

Employee: Dana Sosa  

Position: Executive Assistant to Chief Executive Officer  

Term: Twelve (12) months commencing immediately 

I scroll. 

Compensation: $2,000,000 annually. Housing stipend included.  

Termination Clause 9.2: Should Employee resign or be terminated for cause prior to term completion, Employee’s bail shall be immediately revoked and Employee shall be remanded to Rikers Island to await trial.

“There it is. The leash,” I said, chuckling.

“Does he know?” I ask the driver. 

He meets my eyes in the rearview. “Know what, ma’am?” 

“Does Mateo know I’m coming?” 

“Mr. Tovar is briefed on all executive hires.” 

That’s not an answer. That’s a corporate line. 

I look out the window. Queens blurs past. We’re not going to Midtown. We’re going deeper into Queens. 

“Where are we going?” 

“Address on file is 41st Avenue. Your mother’s residence.” 

Of course Remy knows where my mom lives. 

I turn the tablet off. 

---

Mom's old building hasn’t changed. Same peeling paint in the stairwell. 

She opens the door before I knock. Like she’s been standing there. 

Her hand flies to her mouth. “Dana.” 

And then she pulls me into a hug.

Then I’m inside and she’s holding me. 

I don’t cry. I can’t, because if I start, I won’t be able to stop. 

“Baby, sit. You’re too thin. I made soup.” 

The apartment is smaller than memory. Two rooms. A kitchen that’s also a living room. Boxes stacked in the corner. 

My boxes. 

SOSA DESIGN stamped on the side in my own handwriting. Unopened. 

“You kept them,” I say. 

“Couldn’t throw them away.” She’s moving, already ladling soup. “I didn’t know if… when…” 

“When I’d get out.” 

She nods but doesn’t look at me. 

I sit. The soup is hot. Chicken. Real chicken. I take one spoonful and my throat closes. 

“Who bailed you out?” she asks quietly. “It wasn’t Mateo.” 

“No.” 

“Then who?” 

I set the spoon down. “His stepbrother. Remy.” 

She goes very still. “Why?” 

“To hurt Mateo.” 

She crosses herself. Old habit. “Dana, you can’t. You can’t go near them again. They took everything.” 

“I know.” 

“Then why–” 

“Because they took more than you think.” 

I pull her laptop toward me. It’s ancient and slow. I open a browser. Type Tovar Group Legal Division. 

The site loads after a while.

I click Leadership. 

A page of faces. All men in suits. 

I scroll until I find him. 

VICTOR TOVAR, General Counsel.

Mateo’s uncle.

Ruth leans in. “What?” 

“The estate sale, Mom. You said ‘Tovar something’ on the papers.” 

She squints at the screen. Her finger shakes when she points. “That name… Tovar. That was it.” 

My blood goes cold, then hot. 

It wasn’t Mateo who signed the paperwork. It was never going to be that obvious. 

But his company handled it. His uncle ran legal. 

He didn’t stop it. 

“Baby, what are you–” 

My burner phone buzzes on the table. Unknown number. 

I open it. 

Video file. 

My thumb hovers for one second. Then I tap. 

Jade fills the screen. 

She’s thinner. Hair cut short like mine. Dark circles under her eyes. But she’s alive. 

She holds up a copy of today’s NY Post. Date visible. Then she looks straight at the camera. 

“I’m safe. Don’t come looking yet.” 

One line. Then the video ends. 

Eleven seconds. 

My hands are steady when I set the phone down. Inside, I’m shaking. 

“He has her,” I say. 

“Who?” 

“Remy.” 

Ruth stands up so fast her chair scrapes. “Dana, no. If he has Jade–” 

“He doesn’t have her. He has access to her. There’s a difference.” 

“Is there?” 

“Yes… No... I don’t know.”

I really don't want my mom living in fear.

“I have to take the job,” I say. 

“Dana–” 

“I don’t have a choice, Mom. If I run, I go back inside. If I stay out here with nothing, I’ll never find out who really did this.” 

“You think working for him will help?” 

“I think working inside his building is the only way I get close to their legal files.” I look at her. “Tovar Group sold our house. I’m going to find out who signed off. And why.” 

She sits down hard. “And Jade?” 

“Remy wants me to hurt Mateo. Fine. I’ll play along. But I use him to get to her.” 

She goes quiet for a long time. Then: “You sound like him.” 

“Who?” 

“Your father. When he found out his partner was stealing from the company.” She touches my hand. “He didn’t sleep for a month. He said ‘I won’t strike until I see the whole board.’” 

I turn her hand over. Her knuckles are swollen. Arthritis. Stress. 

“Did he win?” 

“He got the truth.” She smiles, sad. “Cost him everything else.” 

I think about that. 

I take the scissors from the kitchen counter to the bathroom. 

I look in the cracked mirror. The woman from the photo is gone. 

The woman in the orange jumpsuit is gone too. 

I lift the scissors. 

Hair falls in the sink. 

When I come out, my mom doesn’t say anything. 

---

Morning comes too fast. 

8 AM Monday. 

I stand across the street facing the Tovar Group building.

I’m in my blazer and dark red-soled heels.

My badge is in my hand. 

Dana Sosa. Executive Assistant. Floor 50. 

I cross the street and enter the building. 

The lobby is marble and cold. Security looks at my badge, then at me. 

“Floor?” 

“Fifty.” 

Floor 50 dings and I get out of the elevator. 

Everything has changed from the past three years. Including the workers. 

The woman at the front desk looks up. 

“You must be Dana.” She stands. Offers a hand. “I’m Claire. HR. I’ll get you set up.” 

I shake her hand. 

“Mr. Tovar is in a board meeting until 9. He asked to see you after.” 

My heart does something stupid, but I kill it immediately. 

“Of course,” I say, my voice low.

Claire leads me down a hall with glass offices on both sides. 

Then we stop at the eastside wing of the company in what looks like an abandoned corridor.

The nameplate on the door says Mateo Tovar, CEO. 

The door is closed. 

Through the glass I can see the back of his head. He’s standing. Pointing at a chart. Saying something.

He hasn’t seen his surprise yet. 

Claire opens the door to the office next to his. Executive Assistant.

“My desk is here?” 

“Right outside his door. He likes his team close.” 

Of course he does. 

I step inside. The desk is clean. There’s a computer, phone, and a single orchid in a pot. 

A folder on the desk with my name catches my attention and I open it. 

Inside is a sticky note with Remy’s handwriting. 

SHOWTIME.

I look up. 

Mateo’s door is opening. 

The board meeting is over early. 

He steps out into the hall. 

And for the first time in three years, Mateo Tovar sees me. 

He stops dead. 

The folders in his hand hits the carpet. 

His eyes are the same. Gray and sharp. 

They used to look at me like I was the only thing in the room. 

Now they look at me like they’ve seen a ghost. 

My name leaves his mouth before he can stop it. 

“Dana.” 

It’s not a question. It’s a wound. 

I smile. It doesn’t reach my eyes. 

“Hello, Mateo,” I say. “Miss me?” 

His assistant, a man I don’t know, rushes over. “Sir? Your 9:15–” 

Mateo doesn’t hear him. He’s still staring at me. 

Then his phone rings. 

He blinks. Looks down at it. 

His face changes. All the color drops out. 

He answers. “What?” 

I can’t hear the other side. But I can see his knuckles go white around the phone. 

He looks up at me, shocked. 

And he says three words that make the entire floor go silent: 

“She’s not dead?”