Chapter 3 - CHLOE'S REAL REASON
The next morning, Chloe called me.
Not Mark.
Not Theresa.
Chloe.
Her number appeared on my screen at 7:13 a.m.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
“Elena.”
“How did you get my number?”
“You're married to Mark.”
“That doesn't answer my question.”
She laughed softly.
“You really don't know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“Why Mark married you.”
My stomach tightened.
“Tell me.”
“He didn't marry you for love.”
I said nothing.
“He married you because of Aura.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
“What do you want?”
There was a pause.
“I want what's mine.”
“Nothing in Aura belongs to you.”
“You're wrong.”
“Then prove it.”
She laughed again.
“You'll see.”
The call ended.
I immediately called Daniel.
He answered.
“Tell me Chloe called.”
“How did you know?”
“Because she called me five minutes ago.”
“What did she say?”
“She demanded a meeting.”
“Where?”
“She chose the location.”
“Where?”
“An old warehouse near the river.”
“No.”
I stood up.
“I'm going.”
“Elena—”
“I want answers.”
Daniel sighed.
“Then I'm coming with you.”
Two hours later, we arrived.
Chloe was waiting.
She wasn't dressed like the woman I'd seen in Mark's photographs.
No designer dress.
No expensive jewelry.
She wore jeans, boots, and a gray coat.
She looked exhausted.
“Sit,” she said.
I remained standing.
“Why did you marry my husband?”
She looked at me.
“I didn't.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“I never wanted to marry Mark.”
“Then why were you sleeping with him?”
“Because he had something I needed.”
“What?”
She looked toward Daniel.
“The truth.”
“About what?”
“My father.”
Silence.
Chloe took a folder from her bag.
“My father was Richard Miller.”
“We know.”
“He was killed twenty-one years ago.”
Theresa had told us he had been dangerous.
But Chloe's expression made the story darker.
“My father didn't die in an accident.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What happened?”
“He was murdered.”
“By whom?”
Chloe looked at me.
“I don't know.”
“Then why blame Mark?”
“I don't.”
She opened the folder.
Inside were photographs.
A younger Mark.
A younger Theresa.
A man I recognized from old newspaper clippings.
Richard Miller.
And another man.
Mark's father.
They were standing outside the building that eventually became Aura.
I stared at the photograph.
“What is this?”
“My father and Mark's father were business partners.”
“We know.”
“No.”
Chloe shook her head.
“They weren't just partners.”
She placed another photograph on the table.
A little girl stood between them.
She was perhaps five years old.
I stared at her face.
I felt something strange.
“Who is she?”
Chloe whispered,
“Amelia.”
I looked at Daniel.
“She looks familiar.”
Daniel said nothing.
Chloe leaned closer.
“Because you've met her.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“She works in Austin.”
“Who?”
Chloe smiled sadly.
“Your accountant.”
I froze.
“Mrs. Helen Carter?”
Chloe nodded.
“No.”
“That can't be.”
“It is.”
Daniel immediately pulled out his phone.
“I'll call her.”
Chloe stopped him.
“She won't answer.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows you're looking.”
My heart pounded.
“Why would my accountant be Amelia?”
Chloe's eyes filled with tears.
“Because my father spent twenty years trying to find her.”
“And you?”
“I spent five.”
“What do you want from her?”
“Nothing.”
She pushed the folder toward me.
“I want the people who killed my father.”
I looked at the photographs.
“Why involve Mark?”
“Because Mark was using Crown Harbor.”
“How?”
“He discovered the company three years ago.”
Daniel looked up.
“That's when the forged transfer appeared.”
Chloe nodded.
“Mark found the old corporate records.”
“And then?”
“He started stealing.”
“How much?”
“More than you know.”
My chest tightened.
“How much?”
Chloe whispered,
“Thirty-seven million dollars.”
The room went silent.
Daniel slowly sat back.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
Chloe looked at me.
“Your husband wasn't stealing from Aura.”
“He was using Aura as a cover.”
“For what?”
“To move money.”
My stomach turned.
“All those transfers…”
“Were only the beginning.”
“Where did the money go?”
Chloe opened another folder.
“Offshore accounts.”
“Whose?”
“Mark's.”
I stared at her.
“Then why didn't you expose him?”
“Because I needed him to lead me to the real accounts.”
“Which were?”
She shook her head.
“I never found them.”
“Then why come to me?”
Chloe's eyes hardened.
“Because Mark made one mistake.”
“What?”
“He trusted his mother.”
Theresa.
I suddenly understood.
Chloe continued.
“Three years ago, Theresa signed a document for Mark.”
“What document?”
“A power of attorney.”
My blood went cold.
“Giving him access to Crown Harbor.”
“But Crown Harbor belonged to Amelia.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel whispered,
“So Mark stole from a company he didn't own.”
“And someone has been watching him.”
“Who?”
Chloe looked at me.
“The person who sent you that message.”
I remembered the photograph.
The one of me outside Aura.
“Who is it?”
Chloe stood.
“I don't know.”
“Then why are you here?”
She walked toward the door.
“Because they know where Amelia is now.”
I followed her.
“Where?”
She stopped.
Then looked over her shoulder.
“At Aura.”
My heart stopped.
“That's impossible.”
“No.”
She smiled sadly.
“Your accountant isn't the only person who has been hiding something.”
Then she walked away.
I stood there frozen.
Daniel turned to me.
“Elena…”
“What?”
“Call Helen.”
I did.
No answer.
I called again.
Nothing.
Then a text arrived.
From Helen.
Don't trust anyone.
A second message followed.
Especially Theresa.
I stared at the screen.
May you like
Then another message appeared.
She knows exactly who I am.
