Chapter 5 - THE MAN BEHIND THE PHONE CALL
Owen noticed me and stopped smiling.
“Julian. I thought you’d be downstairs.”
“So did Victoria.”
Victoria shut the door behind him. “Why are you here?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you.” Owen’s eyes flicked toward the folder in my hand. “We need to talk.”
“Then talk,” I said.
He gave a short, humorless laugh. “This is a private matter.”
“You tried to move money from my company. It stopped being private.”
“I didn’t submit that request.”
“North Quay Holdings belongs to you.”
“Not entirely.”
Victoria stepped forward. “Owen, stop.”
He ignored her. “Ask your bride why she needed three million dollars before the ceremony.”
Victoria’s face drained.
For a moment, neither of us spoke. Then I said, “Why?”
She looked at the carpet.
Owen answered for her. “Because the waterfront project is about to collapse, and she guaranteed the loan.”
“You told me that project was dead,” I said.
“It was supposed to be,” Victoria replied.
Owen reached into his jacket and took out his phone. “The lender wants payment today. Victoria promised an investor.”
“Me,” I said.
“She said you’d agree after the wedding.”
Victoria’s head snapped toward him. “I said I would talk to him.”
“That’s not what you put in writing.”
The door opened again. My wedding coordinator, Paige, stood there holding a headset.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Guests are asking why the ceremony—”
“Please close the door,” I said.
She looked at our faces and did.
Owen slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I came here because someone tried to use a digital approval linked to Julian’s account. If the bank looks closely, they’ll come to me first.”
“You expect me to believe you didn’t do it?” I asked.
“I expect you to check the device that submitted it.”
Victoria said, “Owen, you need to leave.”
“No. I want my name out of this.”
My phone rang. Marcus again.
“We traced the second request,” he said. “It came from a tablet connected to your household network.”
“Which tablet?”
He paused. “The one registered to Leo.”
Leo’s tablet was used for video calls with my mother. Teresa kept it in the nursery.
Owen looked at me while I listened. Victoria looked at the door.
I remembered something from the previous night: Victoria alone in Leo’s room, saying she wanted to give him a goodnight kiss.
The room seemed suddenly airless.
“Marcus,” I said, “preserve everything. I’m calling the police.”
May you like
Victoria grabbed my wrist.
“If you do that,” she said, “you need to know what Owen has on you first.”
