Chapter 1 - THE PHONE CALL THAT BROKE THERESA
Theresa stood in the middle of my private dining room with thirty-eight women watching her.
For years, she had walked into Aura as though she owned the place.
For years, I had allowed it.
But now she looked different.
Smaller.
Older.
Afraid.
Her phone was still pressed against her ear.
“Mark,” she whispered. “Say that again.”
Whatever my husband said on the other end made her face lose what little color remained.
“No,” she said.
A pause.
“That can't be true.”
Another pause.
Theresa looked directly at me.
Her lips parted.
“But you told me—”
She stopped.
Her eyes moved around the room.
Thirty-eight women were staring at her.
The expensive wine sat untouched.
The $14,800 check lay on the table.
And suddenly, the woman who had spent years bragging about her son's wealth seemed desperate to disappear.
“What did he say?” one of her friends asked.
Theresa ignored her.
“Mark,” she whispered into the phone. “What do you mean Chloe has the documents?”
My stomach tightened.
Chloe.
There it was.
The name that had been hiding behind every lie.
I stepped closer.
“Put him on speaker.”
Theresa's eyes snapped toward me.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand perfectly.”
She shook her head.
“You don't.”
I held out my hand.
“Give me the phone.”
She pulled it away.
Then Mark's voice came through the speaker accidentally.
“Mom, don't give her the phone.”
Silence.
I looked at Theresa.
She looked at me.
And for the first time, neither of us pretended.
“Mark,” I said.
His voice immediately changed.
“Elena?”
“Yes.”
Silence.
“Where are you?”
“At Aura.”
Another pause.
“With Mom?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the women surrounding her.
“She brought thirty-eight guests.”
“I know.”
“She ordered $14,800 worth of food and wine.”
“I know.”
“And she says the restaurant belongs to you.”
Mark exhaled.
“Elena, listen to me.”
“No.”
My voice was calm.
“You listen to me.”
Everyone in the room went silent.
“I built Aura.”
“I know.”
“I funded Aura.”
“I know.”
“I own Aura.”
“I know.”
Theresa's eyes widened.
I continued.
“And you have been stealing from it.”
Mark didn't answer.
That silence told me everything.
Theresa slowly lowered herself into a chair.
“You knew?” she whispered.
Mark said nothing.
She looked at me.
“You knew he was taking money?”
I stared at her.
“You knew he was sleeping with Chloe.”
Her mouth opened.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I didn't know.”
“You just told thirty-eight women that he was seeing her.”
Theresa's face twisted.
“I thought it was harmless.”
“Harmless?”
My voice cracked for the first time.
“You helped him lie to me.”
She shook her head.
“I never told him to steal.”
“But you benefited from it.”
Silence.
One of the women slowly reached for her purse.
Another stood.
Then another.
Within seconds, the room became chaos.
“Theresa, I'm leaving.”
“Me too.”
“This is insane.”
“I thought your son owned this place.”
“I thought you said it was family property.”
Theresa tried to regain control.
“Ladies, please.”
Nobody listened.
I watched them leave one by one.
Thirty-eight women.
Thirty-eight expensive handbags.
Thirty-eight shocked faces.
And one enormous unpaid bill.
When the last woman disappeared through the door, Theresa remained seated.
I walked toward her.
“Your bill.”
She looked at me.
“Elena…”
“You said this restaurant was practically yours.”
She swallowed.
“I was wrong.”
“No.”
I placed the check in front of her.
“You weren't wrong.”
“You were lying.”
She stared at the number.
$14,800.
Her hands trembled.
“I don't have that kind of money with me.”
“You don't need cash.”
“I'll pay later.”
“When?”
She looked away.
“Mark will handle it.”
I smiled.
“No.”
She looked up.
“Mark won't handle anything anymore.”
Her phone buzzed.
She looked at the screen.
Then froze.
A message from Mark.
DO NOT GO HOME.
Her face went white.
I noticed.
“What happened?”
She didn't answer.
I reached for my phone.
“Should I call the police?”
“No!”
The answer came too quickly.
I stopped.
Theresa stared at me.
Then whispered,
“Mark said someone is waiting at the house.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What did he mean?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I looked at David.
“Lock the front doors.”
Theresa's head snapped up.
“What?”
“Until we understand what's happening.”
Then my attorney called.
I answered.
“Elena.”
“I'm here.”
“Did you confront Mark?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
There was urgency in his voice.
“But don't go home.”
My stomach dropped.
“Why?”
“Because I found the original corporate filing.”
“What did you find?”
“A second transfer document.”
I closed my eyes.
“What transfer?”
“The first one was forged.”
“I know.”
“No.”
He paused.
“The first document was designed to make you think Mark was trying to steal Aura.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“The second document is much worse.”
“How?”
“It doesn't transfer Aura to Mark.”
“Then who?”
His voice dropped.
“An LLC.”
“Whose?”
“That's what I'm trying to determine.”
I looked at Theresa.
She was listening now.
“What is the LLC called?”
My attorney answered.
“Crown Harbor Holdings.”
Theresa suddenly stood.
Her chair scraped loudly across the floor.
“What?”
I looked at her.
“You know that name?”
She didn't answer.
My attorney heard her reaction.
“Elena?”
I said nothing.
Theresa backed away.
“That company doesn't exist.”
I stared at her.
“It does.”
“No.”
She shook her head violently.
“It was dissolved years ago.”
My attorney said,
“That's impossible.”
Theresa whispered,
“Because it belonged to Mark's father.”
Silence.
My heart stopped.
Mark's father had been dead for eleven years.
And as far as I knew, he had never owned Aura.
Theresa looked at me.
Then said the words that changed everything.
“Your restaurant wasn't supposed to belong to Mark.”
“Then who was it supposed to belong to?”
She stared at me.
“I don't know.”
Her phone buzzed again.
This time, she looked at the message.
And screamed.
I grabbed the phone from her hand.
The message contained one sentence.
YOU HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT TO RETURN WHAT YOU STOLE.
Underneath it was a photograph.
A photograph of me.
Standing outside Aura.
Taken that morning.
May you like
Someone had been watching me.
And they knew exactly where I was.
