Chapter 5 - The Wrong Person to Ignore
By Friday morning, Olivia had slept eleven hours in three days.
Her staff noticed.
Nobody asked.
That was one advantage of being chief executive.
People became experts at pretending not to notice when you looked terrible.
At nine, Olivia sat through a board strategy call while watching Charles Wexler's face in a square on her laptop.
Sixty-three.
White hair.
Expensive glasses.
Perfectly measured voice.
Charles had chaired Hayes Capital's board for four years.
He had supported Olivia during Martin's departure.
At least Olivia had believed he had.
“We need to address Prescott,” Charles said.
Olivia kept her expression neutral.
“We are.”
“The market will interpret withdrawal negatively.”
“The transaction was private.”
Charles smiled slightly.
“Nothing stays private forever.”
Olivia felt the words differently now.
She wondered whether he meant them differently.
After the call, Rachel arrived with Daniel.
They used Olivia's private office.
Daniel placed a folder on her desk.
“Martin met Charles yesterday for forty-three minutes.”
“Inside my building.”
“Yes.”
“Who authorized entry?”
“Charles.”
Olivia looked at Rachel.
“Can I fire him?”
“No.”
“I dislike you.”
“I've heard.”
Daniel opened the folder.
“There is more.”
He showed photographs.
Martin leaving Hayes Capital.
Martin meeting another board member at a restaurant.
Martin entering a hotel where a third board member was attending a conference.
Rachel crossed her arms.
“He's campaigning.”
“For what?”
“You already know.”
Olivia did.
Her removal.
The failed Prescott deal was ammunition.
Maybe Martin had helped make it fail.
If he could convince enough directors that Olivia had become reckless, distracted or unreliable, he could force leadership changes.
But there was still a missing piece.
Why Evelyn?
Money alone was too simple.
That afternoon, Olivia found out.
She met Evelyn at a café near Lafayette Park.
Rachel had argued against it.
Olivia insisted.
Not to confront her.
To listen.
Evelyn arrived ten minutes early.
“I'm glad you called.”
Olivia smiled.
“I wanted to apologize.”
Evelyn blinked.
“For what?”
“The situation with Jordan.”
That was the first test.
Evelyn looked down at her coffee.
“He frightened me.”
“I imagine.”
“I've taken care of Grace for three years. To have some stranger suggest—”
“I know.”
Evelyn relaxed slightly.
Olivia continued.
“Grace misses you.”
“I miss her.”
“She asked when you're coming back.”
“I can come Monday.”
“Maybe.”
Evelyn's fingers tightened around the cup.
Olivia noticed.
“What were you doing near the school Wednesday?”
Evelyn looked up.
“I told you. I was nearby.”
“Meeting someone?”
There.
The change.
Tiny.
A stiffening around the eyes.
“Why would you ask that?”
“Grace said you sometimes meet a friend.”
“Grace says lots of things.”
“She mentioned a man named Martin.”
Evelyn went pale.
Olivia nearly stopped.
Nearly.
Instead, she gave a puzzled smile.
“Do you know a Martin?”
Evelyn laughed too quickly.
“I probably know five.”
“So do I.”
Olivia sipped her coffee.
Then let the silence stretch.
People rushed to fill silence.
Evelyn did.
“I sometimes meet my brother-in-law near the school.”
“His name is Martin?”
“No.”
“Then why mention him?”
Evelyn froze.
Olivia had her.
Not proof.
But something.
Evelyn looked toward the window.
“Olivia, is this an interrogation?”
“No.”
“It feels like one.”
“I'm asking why my daughter knows you meet a man while you're responsible for her.”
Evelyn's eyes filled with sudden tears.
Olivia had not expected that.
“I needed money.”
Olivia's pulse jumped.
“For what?”
Evelyn wiped her cheek.
“My husband left debts.”
Olivia knew Evelyn had divorced two years earlier.
“He took out loans without telling me. Credit cards. Gambling.”
The words came faster.
“My sister needed surgery last year. I helped her. Then my landlord raised the rent. I was drowning.”
Olivia listened.
“He offered me money.”
“Who?”
Evelyn stared at her.
She knew there was no point pretending anymore.
“Martin Sloan.”
Olivia kept her voice quiet.
“For what?”
“Your schedule.”
The answer still hurt, even though she knew.
“How long?”
“Eight months.”
Eight.
Olivia had guessed four.
“What did you give him?”
“Nothing important.”
“Do not insult me.”
Evelyn flinched.
“I never gave him passwords.”
“What did you give him?”
“Trips. Meetings. Sometimes who you were having dinner with.”
“Grace's schedule?”
Evelyn looked away.
“Only because it explained yours.”
Olivia's stomach turned.
“You sold information about my daughter.”
“No. Not like that.”
“You told a man who hates me where my six-year-old child would be.”
“He wasn't interested in Grace.”
“You don't get to decide what he was interested in.”
People at nearby tables looked over.
Olivia lowered her voice.
“How much?”
Evelyn whispered, “Thirty-eight thousand.”
Olivia stared.
Evelyn cried harder.
“I was going to stop.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“When?”
“I don't know.”
“You met him Wednesday.”
“He demanded it.”
“What did you give him?”
Evelyn's lips trembled.
“Your board materials.”
Olivia's blood went cold.
“What materials?”
“A printout.”
“From where?”
“Your home office.”
“You went through my office?”
“You left them on the desk.”
That somehow made it worse.
Olivia had trusted her so completely that Evelyn hadn't needed to break into anything.
“What was in them?”
“I don't know. Forecasts. Prescott projections.”
Olivia stood.
Evelyn grabbed her wrist.
“Please.”
Olivia looked down at the hand.
Evelyn released her.
“Olivia, I never wanted anyone hurt.”
“Then you should have stopped before someone was.”
“Who?”
Olivia almost told her about Prescott.
About the board.
About Jordan.
Instead she asked, “Who lost the phone?”
Evelyn's face changed.
Olivia had her answer.
“Martin?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Me.”
“You used it.”
“He gave it to me.”
“Why?”
“So we wouldn't use our normal phones.”
“And you dropped it.”
“I realized the next morning.”
“What did you do?”
“I went back.”
“And?”
“It was gone.”
Olivia stared.
“You saw Jordan.”
Evelyn looked away.
“You knew he picked it up.”
“I wasn't sure.”
“You sent those messages to his mother's phone.”
Evelyn said nothing.
That was enough.
Olivia leaned closer.
“He is twelve.”
“I only wanted to scare him.”
Olivia felt something inside her snap.
“You don't get to say only.”
Evelyn began crying again.
This time Olivia felt nothing.
She picked up her bag.
“Do not contact Grace.”
“Olivia—”
“Do not contact Jordan.”
“I never meant—”
“Do not come to my home.”
Evelyn whispered, “Please don't ruin my life.”
Olivia stopped.
She looked at the woman she had trusted with her daughter.
Then she thought of Melissa Reed worrying that missing one restaurant shift could cost her family their place on a housing list.
“You made thirty-eight thousand dollars selling my family's movements to a man who wanted to destroy me.”
Evelyn lowered her head.
“You don't get to ask me to protect you from what comes next.”
Outside the café, Rachel waited in a parked car.
Olivia climbed in.
“Well?” Rachel asked.
“She confessed.”
Rachel's eyes widened.
“To everything?”
“Enough.”
Olivia repeated the conversation.
Rachel swore quietly.
Then she asked the question Olivia had avoided.
“Did you record it?”
Olivia smiled for the first time all day.
She removed her phone from her coat pocket.
“Yes.”
Rachel stared at her.
“I take back approximately fifteen percent of the terrible things I've said about you.”
“Generous.”
They drove toward Hayes Capital.
Halfway there, Olivia's phone rang.
Natalie.
Olivia answered instantly.
“Is Grace okay?”
“Yes, but she said something weird.”
Olivia straightened.
“What?”
“She asked why Mr. Martin knows where you sleep.”
Olivia felt the entire car go silent.
“What did she say?”
“She said Evelyn once told the silver-haired man, ‘Olivia will be at the Fairmont tonight, not home.’ Then Grace asked why the man needed to know.”
Rachel turned toward her.
Olivia closed her eyes.
The Fairmont.
Three months ago.
The night someone had entered Olivia's house.
Nothing had been stolen.
Police had assumed an attempted burglary interrupted by the alarm.
Olivia had believed them.
Now she remembered something else.
Her home office had been disturbed.
One drawer left slightly open.
A document moved.
She had dismissed it.
Housekeeper.
Grace.
Evelyn.
Someone.
Rachel whispered, “Olivia.”
Olivia already understood.
Martin had not been using Evelyn merely to influence business negotiations.
He had known exactly when Olivia's home would be empty.
May you like
And somebody had gone inside.
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