Chapter 3: Rachel Finally Revealed Why She Had Chosen My Side
Chapter 3: Rachel Finally Revealed Why She Had Chosen My Side
Rachel stared at me.
I stared back.
Neither of us spoke.
The warning from my business partner kept replaying inside my head.
“Especially the woman standing beside you.”
Lauren noticed the change in my expression.
“What did he say?”
I slipped my phone into my pocket.
“Nothing important.”
Rachel immediately looked at me.
“You’re lying.”
I frowned.
She stepped closer.
“He warned you about me, didn’t he?”
Lauren looked between us.
“How would you know that?”
Rachel didn’t answer.
Instead, she reached into her purse and pulled out a second phone.
She placed it on the table.
“There.”
The screen was already open.
There were dozens of messages.
All from the same number.
My business partner.
I stared at the conversation.
Rachel had been communicating with him for almost two months.
Lauren gasped.
“You’ve been working with him?”
Rachel shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why are you talking to him?”
“Because he contacted me first.”
She unlocked another message.
It contained a photograph.
It showed Michael entering the hotel.
But the timestamp was different from the one on the receipt.
I leaned closer.
“That’s the same night.”
Rachel nodded.
“Exactly.”
She scrolled down.
Another photograph appeared.
This time, Michael wasn’t alone.
He was standing beside Lauren’s father.
And beside them was my business partner.
I felt something tighten in my chest.
“Why were they together?”
Rachel shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
“You’ve been investigating them for two months and you don’t know?”
Her expression hardened.
“I know enough to understand that Michael isn’t the person controlling this.”
Lauren stepped forward.
“What does that mean?”
Rachel looked at her.
“It means your affair wasn’t the beginning.”
Lauren’s face went pale.
Rachel continued.
“Someone was already moving money through the company before Michael ever became involved.”
I looked at David.
“Did you know?”
David slowly shook his head.
“No.”
Rachel pointed toward the laptop.
“Then check the transactions from six months ago.”
David opened the records.
We waited.
His expression changed almost immediately.
“There.”
I stepped closer.
The same account had been receiving small transfers for months.
Five thousand.
Eight thousand.
Ten thousand.
Never enough to trigger immediate suspicion.
But together, the payments added up to more than two hundred thousand dollars.
Lauren covered her mouth.
“My father…”
Rachel nodded.
“Your father isn’t the mastermind.”
Lauren looked at her.
“Then who is?”
Rachel didn’t answer.
She looked directly at me.
“That’s why I brought you here.”
I frowned.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Rachel pulled another document from her purse.
It was a copy of a contract.
My name appeared on the first page.
I felt my stomach drop.
“What is this?”
“A transfer agreement.”
I read the first paragraph.
Someone had apparently authorized the sale of part of my company.
Without my knowledge.
The signature looked like mine.
But it wasn’t.
I looked at Lauren.
“Did you know about this?”
She shook her head immediately.
“No.”
Michael suddenly stood.
“I can explain.”
Everyone turned toward him.
He looked terrified.
“I wasn’t supposed to be involved in the money.”
David stared at him.
“Then what were you involved in?”
Michael lowered his eyes.
“The meetings.”
“What meetings?”
He swallowed.
“Meetings between your business partner and Lauren’s father.”
I stepped toward him.
“How many?”
“Four.”
“And Lauren?”
“She wasn’t there.”
Lauren closed her eyes.
For the first time that night, she looked genuinely devastated.
Michael continued.
“They wanted access to the company’s private accounts.”
David asked,
“Why?”
Michael hesitated.
Then he looked at me.
“Because your partner wanted to buy you out.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Without telling me?”
Michael nodded.
“He said you would never agree.”
I looked at Rachel.
“And you knew?”
“I suspected.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
Rachel’s expression softened.
“Because I needed proof.”
She picked up the hotel key card.
“This was the first piece.”
Then she placed the receipt beside it.
“This was the second.”
Finally, she placed her phone on the table.
“And this is the third.”
I looked at the screen.
There was a recording.
The audio began playing.
My business partner’s voice filled the room.
“We need Lauren to take the blame.”
Lauren froze.
Another voice responded.
Michael’s.
“And her husband?”
My business partner answered calmly.
“He’ll leave her.”
My blood ran cold.
Michael asked,
“What if he doesn’t?”
A short silence followed.
Then my partner said something that made everyone in the room stop breathing.
“Then we’ll give him a reason.”
The recording ended.
Lauren looked at me.
“What does that mean?”
I didn’t answer.
Because suddenly I remembered something.
Three weeks earlier, my car had been tampered with.
I had assumed it was a mechanical problem.
Then I remembered the strange email I’d received the next morning.
And the anonymous warning telling me to stay away from the company accounts.
I had ignored it.
Rachel looked at me.
“You remember something.”
I nodded slowly.
“My car.”
Her expression changed.
“What happened?”
I told her.
She immediately opened another file.
A security report.
Someone had accessed the parking garage the same night.
The access card belonged to my business partner.
Lauren stared at the report.
“Oh my God.”
David leaned against the table.
“This is much bigger than fraud.”
I looked at Rachel.
“Why are you really helping me?”
She was silent for several seconds.
Then she finally answered.
“Because your business partner ruined my family too.”
I frowned.
“What?”
She looked toward Michael.
“My husband didn’t just cheat on me.”
Michael looked down.
Rachel’s voice trembled.
“He cheated because someone paid him to get close to Lauren.”
Lauren’s face went completely blank.
I stared at Michael.
“You were paid?”
He nodded slowly.
“But not to have an affair.”
Rachel looked at me.
“You were the target.”
Before I could respond, the conference-room door suddenly opened.
My business partner stood outside.
His face was pale.
And behind him were two police officers.
He looked directly at me.
Then he said,
“You need to leave with me.”
I didn’t move.
One of the officers stepped forward.
“Sir, we’re going to need you to come with us.”
I stared at them.
“For what?”
The officer looked at the document on the table.
“Your business partner reported that you stole company funds.”
Rachel immediately stood.
“He’s lying.”
The officer shook his head.
“We have evidence.”
My heart sank.
My business partner smiled faintly.
Then I noticed something in his hand.
My missing company access card.
The one I had reported stolen two weeks ago.
And suddenly I understood.
Someone hadn’t been trying to destroy my marriage.
They had been building a case against me.
