Chapter 6 - The Blue Folder
I did not trust Lena Vale.
That needs to be understood.
A frightened mistress is still a mistress.
A woman who kisses your husband does not become your ally because she starts crying afterward.
So I did what my father taught me.
I listened.
Lena sat across from me.
“Grant told me you were separated.”
“We ate breakfast together this morning.”
Her eyes closed.
“He said you were staying together publicly until after the baby.”
“He lied.”
“I know that now.”
“How?”
“Because Martin showed me documents.”
“The CFO?”
She nodded.
“Grant has been moving money.”
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
“Where?”
“Northstar.”
My stomach tightened.
Lena continued.
“I met Grant through Victoria.”
“You know his mother?”
“I worked for her.”
Doing what?”
“Investor relations.”
Pieces began moving.
“When did the affair start?”
“Four months ago.”
Five months after Northstar was formed.
“Did Victoria know?”
Lena hesitated.
That was answer enough.
“She introduced us.”
I stared at her.
“My mother-in-law introduced my husband to his mistress?”
“Not like that.”
“Then explain it.”
“She wanted me close to him.”
“Why?”
“To keep him focused.”
I laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
“Apparently you were very effective.”
Lena flinched.
Good.
Some part of me wanted her to.
Then she said, “The ring wasn't an engagement ring.”
I remembered the diamond.
“What was it?”
“Payment.”
“For?”
She reached into her bag.
I tensed.
She pulled out a flash drive.
“For keeping quiet.”
The room became very still.
“What is that?”
“Copies.”
“Of what?”
“Transactions. Emails. Draft agreements.”
“Why do you have them?”
“Insurance.”
Against Grant.
Against Victoria.
Maybe against me.
“Why give them to me?”
“Because yesterday Grant told me he was leaving after you signed.”
“With you.”
“No.”
That stopped me.
“He booked a hotel room.”
“I know.”
“You're on the reservation.”
“He told me to meet him there.”
“But?”
“Martin found a flight itinerary.”
“Where?”
“Switzerland.”
“When?”
“Tonight.”
My skin went cold.
“One ticket?”
She nodded.
“Grant's.”
I understood.
Lena had thought she was the new woman.
She was another person Grant intended to use.
“What does he have overseas?”
“I don't know.”
I took out my phone.
“I'm calling Rachel.”
Lena panicked.
“No police.”
“I said my attorney.”
“No one can know I gave you this.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because I'm scared.”
“So am I.”
She looked at my stomach.
“I know.”
I hated that she looked ashamed.
It would have been easier if she were cruel.
Rachel arrived twenty-eight minutes later.
She took one look at Lena and said, “Absolutely not.”
I handed her the drive.
“Look first.”
Rachel did.
Ten minutes later, her face changed.
“Where did you get these?”
Lena explained.
Rachel opened spreadsheet after spreadsheet.
Transfers.
Entities.
Loan agreements.
Consulting fees.
Then she stopped.
“Emma.”
“What?”
“Come here.”
A transfer authorization filled the screen.
Northstar Holdings.
Seven figures.
The originating entity was a family investment vehicle.
My name appeared beside it.
I stared.
“I never authorized that.”
“I know.”
Rachel enlarged the signature.
It looked like mine.
Almost perfectly.
But I knew how I signed my middle initial.
This was wrong.
“That's forged.”
Rachel nodded.
Lena whispered, “That's what Martin said.”
My heart hammered.
The blue folder no longer mattered.
Grant had wanted my signature because he needed to legitimize things he had already done.
The amendment wasn't merely about future control.
It was camouflage for the past.
Rachel kept searching.
Then she found an email.
From Grant to Victoria.
Subject:
SUNDAY
Rachel read silently.
“What?”
She looked at me.
“Grant told Victoria that once you signed, prior transfers could be ratified under the new authority structure.”
I sat down.
“So my signature would clean it up.”
“Potentially.”
“And if I discovered it afterward?”
“He'd argue you approved the restructuring with knowledge of the underlying transactions.”
Lena covered her mouth.
I felt strangely calm.
“How much?”
Rachel began adding figures.
It took several minutes.
When she finally looked up, she didn't need to say anything.
“Tell me.”
“Preliminary total?”
“Yes.”
“Forty-eight million dollars.”
The room tilted.
Forty-eight million.
Not Grant's money.
Not Victoria's.
Assets connected to me.
My father.
My daughter's future.
Grant hadn't simply betrayed me.
He had robbed me.
And he needed me to sign a document that could make the robbery look legitimate.
My phone rang.
Grant.
All three of us stared at it.
I answered.
“Hi.”
“Where are you?”
“Walking.”
“Where?”
“Why?”
A pause.
“No reason.”
He knew something.
“I'm heading home.”
“Good.”
His voice softened.
“I don't like us fighting.”
“Neither do I.”
“I love you.”
I looked at Lena.
Her face crumpled.
“I'll see you soon,” I said.
I ended the call.
Rachel stared at me.
“He's suspicious.”
“Yes.”
“We need to move now.”
“Do what?”
“Freeze what we can. Notify the trustees. Preserve evidence.”
“And Grant?”
“Don't confront him.”
I looked at the flash drive.
“No.”
Rachel frowned.
“No?”
“Grant thinks Sunday failed.”
“Yes.”
“He'll change plans.”
“Probably.”
“So we need him to believe he can still win.”
Lena whispered, “How?”
I looked at the dark screen of my phone.
Then at the theater below us.
The building Grant didn't know I owned.
“I tell him I've reconsidered.”
Rachel's expression hardened.
“Emma.”
“I don't sign.”
“Then what?”
“I make him explain everything.”
“He won't.”
“Not to me.”
I looked at Lena.
“But he might explain it to someone he thinks is still on his side.”
Lena stared at me.
“No.”
I said nothing.
“No,” she repeated.
Then her phone vibrated.
A message from Grant.
She read it.
Her face went white.
“What does it say?” I asked.
She turned the screen toward us.
Did Emma contact you?
Grant knew.
May you like
Or suspected.
And suddenly our time had become very short.
