Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO HAD BEEN ERASED|
James ordered the guards to escort Lawrence Fenn to a secure guest suite while Cross began preserving the evidence. No one was to access the estate's security system without authorization.
Maya remained in the security room, staring at the frozen image of Fenn beside her cleaning cart.
She should have felt victorious.
Instead, she felt exposed.
The footage proved that Fenn had framed her, but it also revealed something she had feared since arriving at the Kang estate: the people responsible for destroying her career had reached far beyond Halloran Whitmore.
James noticed her silence.
"You're thinking about leaving."
"I'm thinking about whether staying is worth the risk."
"Someone framed you in my home. Leaving won't necessarily make you safer."
"Staying could make me a target."
"You're already a target."
Maya looked at him.
"That's a comforting way to recruit someone."
James's expression almost softened.
"Tell me what happened at Halloran Whitmore."
Maya folded her hands.
"Two years ago, I was responsible for a forensic audit of a private investment portfolio. The firm had reported exceptional returns, but the numbers didn't match the underlying transactions. Money was moving through companies that existed only on paper."
"How much?"
"At least forty million dollars. Possibly more."
James's eyes narrowed.
"And you reported it."
"First to my supervisor. Then to the firm's compliance department. I followed every internal procedure."
"What happened?"
"Three days later, my system access was suspended. A week after that, I was accused of altering financial records and stealing confidential client information."
"Did you?"
"No."
"Could you prove it?"
"I had copies of the audit logs. They disappeared from the internal server before the investigation began."
James studied her face.
"Why didn't you go to the authorities?"
"I did. My complaint was reviewed, then closed because the evidence was incomplete. The company claimed I'd fabricated the allegations after being disciplined for misconduct."
"And the public?"
"They saw a former auditor accused of theft. Nobody wanted to hire me."
Maya's voice remained controlled, but her fingers had tightened around one another.
"My apartment lease was terminated after the landlord received an anonymous complaint about fraud. My bank froze an account during an investigation that eventually went nowhere. My references stopped answering calls. I sold most of what I owned."
James was silent.
"Why take a cleaning job here?" he asked.
"Because I needed money, and your household contractor hired people without asking for corporate references."
"You deliberately came to my estate."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Maya looked at the security footage.
"Because I believed the money had passed through a company connected to your legitimate investments. I thought someone inside your organization might have records that could prove what happened."
"You could have contacted me."
"I tried."
James frowned.
"What?"
"Three months ago, I sent a letter to your corporate office. I included a summary of the suspicious transfers and asked for a confidential meeting."
"I never saw it."
"I assumed someone intercepted it."
James looked toward Cross.
"Find the correspondence."
Cross nodded and left the room.
James turned back.
"Why didn't you tell me when you were hired?"
"Because I didn't know whether you were involved. And because the last time I trusted the wrong person, I lost everything."
"You think I'm involved?"
"I think you're powerful enough to benefit from not asking questions."
The honesty surprised him.
Most people approached James with flattering words, carefully rehearsed explanations, or fear disguised as respect.
Maya offered none of those things.
James pulled out a chair and sat across from her.
"You're accusing me of negligence."
"I'm asking whether you know where your money goes."
His jaw tightened.
"Every legitimate business has accountants, auditors, and compliance officers."
"And criminals know how to exploit that."
For several seconds, James said nothing.
Then he nodded once.
"Fair."
Maya had expected anger.
She had not expected him to concede the point.
"One condition," he said.
"Which is?"
"From now on, you tell me everything you know, even if you think I'll dislike hearing it."
"And you don't hide evidence because it makes someone important look bad."
James held her gaze.
"Agreed."
She extended her hand.
He shook it.
His grip was firm, but not possessive.
For the first time since she entered the Kang estate, Maya felt that she might have found someone who valued the truth more than his pride.
Then Cross returned with a document in his hand.
"Mr. Kang, we found the letter Maya mentioned."
James took it.
The envelope had been opened, scanned, and marked for internal review.
At the bottom of the page was a handwritten instruction.
Do not forward to Mr. Kang. Route to D. Voss.
James's expression hardened.
May you like
The conspiracy was no longer a theory.
Someone inside his own company had intercepted a warning and delivered it to the man Maya had accused.
