Chapter 6 - THE FRIEND WHO INTRODUCED US
Claire cried before I accused her.
That told me enough.
We met the next morning in a private conference room at Arden Global.
Corporate counsel sat beside me.
Security sat by the door.
Claire looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
I felt nothing.
Not yet.
“How much did they pay you?”
Her eyes dropped.
“Twenty thousand.”
I almost admired the insult.
“You sold access to contracts worth millions for twenty thousand dollars?”
“I had debt.”
“So did I.”
“I panicked.”
“So did I.”
“I didn’t think they were hurting you.”
I leaned forward.
“You introduced me to Brandon.”
She covered her face.
That answered the real question.
“How long?”
“Two years.”
My stomach twisted.
“You were involved from the beginning.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“I knew Derek wanted someone at Arden.”
“That someone was me.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“You were single. You managed procurement finance. You had good credit.”
I laughed once.
“A romantic résumé.”
She started crying harder.
“Brandon liked you.”
“Did you rehearse that line?”
“No.”
“Because everybody keeps telling me his feelings somehow matter more than his decisions.”
She flinched.
Good.
I continued.
“Did he know when you introduced us?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?”
“Derek told him to meet you.”
“And then?”
“He genuinely fell for you.”
I leaned back.
“There’s that word again.”
“What?”
“Genuinely.”
I looked through the glass wall at the Chicago skyline.
People loved using love as an eraser.
It wasn’t one.
“Who forged my signature?”
Claire’s face changed.
I turned back.
“You know.”
“No.”
“You know something.”
She looked toward corporate counsel.
“Can I get immunity?”
Counsel answered.
“No promises.”
Claire swallowed.
Then looked at me.
“Brandon didn’t forge it.”
“I know.”
“Neither did Gertrude.”
My eyebrows rose.
“Then who?”
“Derek had someone at a document service create the signature.”
“Who?”
“His assistant.”
“Name.”
“Melissa Crane.”
I wrote it down.
Claire continued.
“But the information used to make it convincing came from somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“Your wedding planner.”
I stared.
“What?”
“She had copies of your passport, license, signatures, banking forms, everything.”
My stomach dropped.
Our wedding planner, Renee Wallace, had requested identification for venue contracts and travel bookings.
“Was she involved?”
Claire shook her head.
“I don’t think willingly.”
“What happened?”
“Derek’s people copied her files.”
“How?”
“Gertrude hired the planner.”
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
Nothing about this wedding had been random.
Then Claire whispered:
“There’s something else.”
I looked at her.
“Brandon’s proposal.”
“What about it?”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen when it did.”
I frowned.
“Derek planned for him to propose after another six months.”
“Why?”
“They wanted you promoted first.”
My pulse changed.
I had received my promotion four months after the engagement.
“You’re saying they expected it?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
Claire looked terrified.
“Because someone promised it.”
“Who?”
She whispered the name of my division director.
Martin Keane.
The man who controlled my promotion.
The man who had congratulated me at my engagement party.
Corporate counsel went still.
Claire continued.
“Martin was supposed to become a silent investor in Derek’s redevelopment company after the Arden contracts were awarded.”
I stared.
My career advancement.
My relationship.
My wedding.
All had been pieces on the same board.
Then my phone buzzed.
A text from Brandon.
I found something in Derek’s office. You need to see it.
Attached was a photograph of a handwritten list.
At the top:
MORGAN PLAN
Underneath were dates.
Promotion.
Engagement.
Wedding.
Trust.
And one final line scheduled for six months after marriage:
Savannah transfer to Grand Rapids office.
I felt cold.
Noah, standing outside the conference room, looked through the glass at me.
I walked out.
“What?”
I handed him the phone.
He read the plan.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
He pointed at the final note beneath the transfer.
Replace S.M. after access complete.
I stared.
“What does replace mean?”
Noah looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
May you like
But his expression told me exactly what he feared.
Neither of us believed they meant a new employee.
