Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED DRESS|
The invitation arrived on a Friday.
Adrian was hosting a private dinner for investors, foundation trustees, and several influential figures whose public reputations were considerably cleaner than their private histories.
Sera intended to spend the evening working from home.
Then Adrian informed her that the foundation's missing funds had been connected to a company whose director would attend the dinner.
“You want me to investigate him?”
“I want you to observe him.”
“That's the same thing with better manners.”
“Wear something appropriate.”
She stared at him.
“Do you have any idea how that sounds?”
He looked genuinely confused.
“Like a reasonable request?”
“Like something a man says before expecting a woman to become a decorative object.”
Adrian sighed.
“Wear whatever makes you comfortable. I need someone who notices when people lie.”
That evening, Sera arrived in a simple midnight-blue dress borrowed from Tessa. She wore her hair loose and carried a small notebook in her handbag.
Adrian was waiting near the entrance.
When he saw her, he stopped speaking.
It was only for a second, but she noticed.
“You're staring,” she said.
“I'm assessing the situation.”
“Is that what we're calling it?”
His eyes warmed.
“You look beautiful, Sera.”
The sincerity of the words unsettled her more than a flirtatious remark would have.
Before she could respond, a woman approached them.
Vivian Cross was elegant, wealthy, and famous for appearing beside powerful men at exactly the moments when photographs mattered most.
She kissed Adrian's cheek.
“Darling. I wondered when you'd finally introduce me to your new employee.”
Sera felt Adrian's posture stiffen.
“Vivian, this is Sera Walsh. She works with the foundation.”
“How lovely.”
Vivian's smile never reached her eyes.
“Tell me, Sera, is it difficult working for a man who rarely notices women?”
“Not particularly.”
Vivian laughed.
“Then perhaps you've discovered a talent nobody else possesses.”
Adrian's expression hardened.
“That's enough.”
But Sera answered before he could continue.
“Actually, I think people notice more than they admit. Sometimes they're simply waiting for a reason to look away.”
Vivian's smile faltered.
For the next hour, Sera watched the guests carefully. One man repeatedly checked his phone whenever the foundation's finances were mentioned. Another avoided the chairman of the charitable board.
Then Sera saw Vivian pass a folded note to a silver-haired guest.
The man read it and immediately left the room.
Sera followed him into the corridor.
She didn't hear his phone conversation, but she caught three words before he ended the call.
“Walsh. The daughter.”
Her blood turned cold.
When she returned to the ballroom, Adrian immediately recognized that something had happened.
“What did you hear?”
Sera looked across the room at Vivian.
“I think someone here knows my father.”
Adrian's face changed.
“Your father is dead?”
“No one ever proved that.”
For the first time that evening, Adrian looked genuinely afraid.
Because he knew something Sera didn't.
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Her father's disappearance might have been connected to the same people who had destroyed his family.
And Vivian Cross might be the person who had brought them together.
