Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN THEY FRAMED
Elena stared at Damian.
“No.”
Damian didn’t move.
“I didn’t—”
“I know.”
“You don’t know. You can’t know.”
“I know you.”
Elena laughed once.
It came out broken.
“You know me enough to know I didn’t steal eighty-seven million dollars?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Damian hesitated.
Elena noticed.
So did she.
“Exactly.”
She stood, holding Mia.
“I need a lawyer.”
“Yes.”
“I need to leave.”
“No.”
She stared at him.
“What?”
“If Vanessa framed you, leaving makes it easier for her to control the story.”
“My daughter is here.”
“I’ll protect her.”
Elena’s eyes flashed.
“You didn’t protect her this morning.”
That landed.
Damian went silent.
Elena immediately regretted it.
But she didn’t take it back.
He nodded once.
“You’re right.”
That surprised her.
“I should have seen what Vanessa was doing sooner.”
Elena looked away.
Damian continued.
“But if you run now, she wins.”
“I’m not running.”
“Then stay.”
Elena glanced toward Mia.
The child was exhausted.
Confused.
Scared.
Elena finally whispered, “Fine.”
Damian called his personal attorney.
Within an hour, a legal team arrived.
So did a forensic accountant.
The engagement dinner was canceled.
Guests received a vague message blaming a family emergency.
Vanessa’s belongings were packed by staff and placed in a locked room.
Then police arrived.
Two detectives.
Elena felt her knees weaken.
Detective Harris introduced himself.
“We need to ask you some questions.”
Elena looked at Damian.
He shook his head subtly.
His lawyer stepped forward.
“My client won’t answer without counsel.”
Harris frowned.
“Your client?”
“She is now.”
Elena stared at the lawyer.
Damian had already arranged it.
Harris looked at Elena.
“Mrs. Reyes, an account in your name received eleven transfers totaling over eighty million dollars.”
“I never saw any of it.”
“It lists your Social Security number.”
Elena’s face went cold.
Damian stepped closer.
Harris continued.
“Your date of birth. Previous address. Banking history.”
Elena thought of Vanessa’s ledger.
The staff files.
Her employment records.
Everything Vanessa could access.
“She stole my information.”
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe.”
Harris watched her.
“Where did the money go?”
“I don’t know.”
“We traced most of it overseas.”
“To where?”
“Cayman accounts. Switzerland. Singapore.”
Elena laughed helplessly.
“I’ve never even left the country.”
“We know.”
The detective’s voice softened slightly.
“But the paperwork says you did more than open the account.”
Elena felt sick.
“What?”
Harris pulled out a document.
“An LLC was created eight months ago.”
He placed it on the table.
Elena read the name.
M&R Holdings.
Owner: Elena Maria Reyes.
Her signature sat at the bottom.
It looked perfect.
Too perfect.
Damian looked closer.
“This is forged.”
Harris nodded.
“Possibly.”
“Not possibly.”
Then Elena noticed the company formation date.
She stared at it.
January 16.
She whispered, “I wasn’t here.”
Harris looked up.
“What?”
“I was in the hospital.”
“For what?”
Elena looked at Mia.
Then back at him.
“My daughter had pneumonia. We were admitted for three days.”
Damian immediately picked up his phone.
“Medical records.”
His lawyer nodded.
Harris took the document.
“That helps.”
Elena exhaled.
For the first time that day, she felt hope.
Then the detective’s partner entered the room.
“Harris.”
He handed him a phone.
Harris watched something.
His expression changed.
“What?” Damian asked.
Harris turned the screen.
Security footage.
Elena appeared on camera entering Damian’s office at 2:13 a.m.
The timestamp was six months earlier.
She wore Elena’s uniform.
Elena’s hair.
Elena’s face.
The woman turned toward the camera.
It was unmistakably her.
But Elena knew one thing for certain.
She had never been there.
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Someone had created a fake video.
And whoever did it had planned this long before Mia ever asked for a cake.
