Chapter 2 - The Lie I Sent Back
I typed with both thumbs because one hand wouldn’t stop trembling.
Still in Paris. Flight delayed. Call you tomorrow.
Leo read it.
Above us, he smiled.
“All clear,” he told Claire.
She lifted my wineglass.
“To Friday.”
I turned away before Luz could see my face collapse.
At twenty-four, I owned a fashion and luxury company with stores across the Philippines.
Magazine editors called me fearless.
I was standing beside a drainage pipe, trying not to throw up.
Luz took my suitcase.
“Come inside.”
Her kitchen smelled like ginger tea and furniture polish.
It was small, warm, and crowded with photographs of former students.
I sat at the table while she locked the back door.
“Tell me everything.”
“Rosa came here three nights ago.”
“Why didn’t she call me?”
“She said her phone was broken.”
I looked up.
“Broken how?”
“Your husband threw it.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“Was she hurt?”
“Her wrist. She said he grabbed her when she tried to take the phone back.”
I pressed my palm against the table.
Rosa had worked for my mother before she worked for me.
She had packed my lunches when I was twelve.
Where had I been while my husband put his hands on her?
In Paris.
Selling a collection named after my mother.
Luz slid a slip of paper toward me.
“Her niece’s number.”
I called.
Rosa answered on the fourth ring.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered, “Ma’am?”
“Are you safe?”
She began crying.
That was when my own tears stopped.
“Rosa. Listen to me. Where are you?”
“At my sister’s.”
“Stay there. I’m sending someone.”
“Please don’t come home alone.”
“What happened?”
“I saw them in your office. Miss Claire told me to leave. When I came back with coffee, she was signing something.”
“Signing what?”
“Your name.”
I closed my eyes.
“Did you see the whole document?”
“No. But I heard Mr. Leo say the old papers were upstairs.”
“What old papers?”
A pause.
“Your mother’s papers.”
My mother had died four years earlier.
Her original designs, contracts, and handwritten business plans were stored in a locked cabinet in my home office.
Leo had the spare key.
I had given it to him.
I called my attorney next.
Elena Reyes answered half asleep.
“Mia?”
“I need you at Luz’s house. Now.”
“What happened?”
“My husband is stealing my company.”
Elena’s voice changed.
“Don’t confront him.”
“I haven’t.”
“Good. Send me the photograph.”
I did.
She went silent.
Then she said, “Mia, that isn’t the most dangerous page.”
“What do you mean?”
“The transfer refers to a personal guarantee.”
My mouth went dry.
May you like
“What guarantee?”
“The one that could make you responsible for everything they borrowed.”
