Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH|
Clara didn't sleep.
By sunrise, every document Mr. Ferraro had brought was spread across her kitchen table. She read each page twice, checking account numbers, transaction dates, authorization codes, and corporate registrations.
The deeper she looked, the worse the situation became.
Three shell companies had received money from Bellara Atlantic. Two were registered under false identities. The third was connected to a private investment firm owned by the Marchetti family.
Her name appeared on the final authorization.
But she hadn't signed it.
Someone had used her credentials to approve a transfer worth $18.6 million.
At eight in the morning, she called her former supervisor, Daniel Reeves.
Daniel answered on the fourth ring.
"Clara? It's been a while."
"I need you to check something."
"What's wrong?"
"Do you remember the Bellara account I worked on before leaving your firm?"
He went quiet.
"Why are you asking?"
"Someone is using my old authorization."
Daniel lowered his voice.
"Clara, where are you?"
"At home."
"Don't discuss this over the phone. Come to my office."
She arrived forty minutes later.
Daniel was waiting in a conference room with two cups of coffee and a laptop.
When she showed him the documents, his expression became increasingly serious.
"This isn't just identity theft," he said.
"What is it?"
"Someone is constructing a financial trail."
"To me?"
"Possibly. Your name is attached to the transactions, but the money doesn't enter any account you own. That's deliberate."
Clara stared at the screen.
"Why would they do that?"
Daniel turned the laptop toward her.
"Because when investigators follow the money, they'll find your authorization first. They won't necessarily find the people who benefited from it."
"Who benefits?"
Daniel opened another file.
The answer appeared in a corporate ownership chart.
The final beneficiary was a company called Northbridge Holdings.
Clara recognized the address.
It belonged to Aurelio's private office.
She felt suddenly cold.
"Does he know?"
Daniel hesitated.
"I can't tell you what he knows. But I can tell you this: someone wanted you connected to the entire operation."
Clara gathered the documents.
"I need copies of everything."
"Clara, listen to me. Don't confront anyone involved until you have legal protection."
"I won't."
She was halfway to the door when Daniel spoke again.
"One more thing."
She turned.
"Your old employee access was reactivated last month."
"What?"
"Someone accessed the Bellara archive using your credentials. The login came from a device registered to the Marchetti estate."
Clara gripped the folder.
She had spent two years believing Aurelio loved her because he saw something different in her.
Now she wondered whether he had approached her because he saw something useful.
That afternoon, she received a message from an unknown number.
You need to stop looking into Bellara.
She deleted it.
Another message arrived.
Your engagement is not the only thing that can disappear.
Clara photographed the screen and forwarded it to Daniel.
Then her apartment buzzer rang.
She looked through the security camera.
Valentina Sardo stood outside.
The woman wore a cream coat, dark sunglasses, and a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
Clara didn't unlock the door.
"What do you want?"
Valentina removed her sunglasses.
"To talk."
"About what?"
"Your fiancé."
Clara laughed bitterly.
"He's your problem now."
Valentina leaned toward the camera.
"You still don't understand, do you? Aurelio didn't put me beside him because he wanted to humiliate you."
"Then why did he?"
"Because he needed everyone to believe our engagement was still possible."
Clara frowned.
Valentina stepped closer.
"Your name is on a transaction that could put Aurelio in prison. And if you think he intends to protect you, you should ask yourself why he let you leave that dinner without telling you the truth."
Before Clara could answer, Valentina slipped a photograph under the door.
It showed Aurelio standing outside a courthouse.
Beside him was a woman Clara had never seen.
May you like
On the back was a date.
The day Aurelio proposed to you.
