The next morning, Adrian moved first.
Rachel called before I had finished breakfast.
“Don't answer any calls from him.”
“What happened?”
“He filed a complaint.”
My stomach tightened.
“Against me?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“He claims you're withholding company property and threatening him.”
I almost laughed.
“I've never threatened him.”
“I know.”
“Then why would he say that?”
“Because he's trying to establish a story before we establish the facts.”
I sat down.
“What do I do?”
“Nothing.”
That was harder than it sounded.
I wanted to call him.
I wanted to ask how he could lie so easily.
Instead, I stayed silent.
By noon, my former coworkers had received messages suggesting I had taken money from Adrian.
By evening, two people I hadn't spoken to in months had contacted me.
I didn't respond.
Rachel handled everything.
That was when I understood why she had told me not to react.
Adrian wanted me angry.
He wanted me emotional.
He wanted me to send one message he could use against me.
I wasn't going to give him one.
Two days later, Rachel obtained access to Adrian's office records.
We arrived with investigators.
The office looked exactly as I remembered.
Glass walls.
Dark furniture.
A desk that always seemed too large for the room.
Photographs of Adrian shaking hands with businessmen.
Awards.
Certificates.
A framed photograph of Sophia standing beside him.
I stopped when I saw it.
Rachel noticed.
“Don't focus on that.”
“I know.”
The investigators searched the desk.
The locked drawer was empty.
My heart sank.
“He moved it.”
Rachel nodded.
“Probably.”
Then one investigator called us over.
He had found a removable panel beneath the desk.
Behind it was a small digital recorder.
Rachel looked at me.
“Do you recognize it?”
I did.
Adrian had used one like it when conducting business calls.
The investigator examined it.
“There are files.”
Rachel nodded.
“Make a forensic copy.”
I listened to the first recording later.
Adrian's voice filled the room.
“Once the transfer is complete, she won't know what happened.”
Another voice answered.
Sophia.
“What if she finds out?”
“She won't.”
“She isn't stupid.”
“I know exactly how to handle Paula.”
My hands clenched.
The recording continued.
Adrian discussed the apartment.
The debt.
The business.
My identity.
Then he said something that made Rachel stop the recording.
“Paula signed everything.”
Rachel looked at me.
“That is important.”
I nodded.
The recording continued.
Sophia asked, “What if she doesn't?”
Adrian laughed.
“She always signs when I tell her it's necessary.”
I closed my eyes.
That sentence hurt more than I expected.
Not because it was new.
Because it showed how he had understood me.
He knew my trust could be used.
He knew I wanted peace.
He knew I hated conflict.
And he had turned those qualities against me.
The second recording was worse.
Adrian was speaking to someone I didn't recognize.
“The apartment has to be cleared before the sale.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
“And Paula?”
“She'll leave.”
“How?”
A pause.
“Give her enough reason.”
The investigator looked at Rachel.
Rachel's face had gone completely still.
“What does that mean?” I whispered.
“We'll find out.”
The next recording answered part of it.
Adrian discussed Sophia.
“She'll make Paula uncomfortable.”
“And if she doesn't?”
“She will.”
I felt sick.
The party hadn't been spontaneous.
He had planned the humiliation.
He had wanted me to leave.
He had needed me gone.
I remembered Sophia standing beside him.
The photograph.
The applause.
The way everyone seemed to know.
It hadn't been a breakup.
It had been an operation.
A crude one.
But deliberate.
I asked Rachel, “Does Sophia know?”
“Probably not everything.”
I looked at her.
“She was part of it.”
“Yes.”
“Then why cooperate?”
“Because she realized she was disposable too.”
That afternoon, Sophia came to my apartment.
She looked exhausted.
“I heard about the recordings.”
I let her inside.
“Did you know?”
“Not about the recordings.”
“The plan.”
She looked down.
“I knew he wanted you out.”
“How?”
“He told me.”
“What exactly did he say?”
She hesitated.
“He said you were too attached to the apartment.”
I stared at her.
“And?”
“He said if you left, he could finally sell it.”
“Did you know he had used my identity?”
“No.”
“Did you know about the accounts?”
“No.”
She looked ashamed.
“I thought he was lying to you about me. I didn't realize he was lying to both of us.”
I sat down.
“What did he promise you?”
“The apartment.”
“You already said that.”
“I know.”
She rubbed her hands together.
“He also promised to pay me what he owed.”
“How much?”
“Eighty thousand.”
I stared at her.
“And you believed him?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
She gave a bitter laugh.
“Because I was stupid.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“You were manipulated.”
“So were you.”
Neither of us spoke.
Then Sophia said something unexpected.
“There is another person.”
“Who?”
“Victor.”
“Who is Victor?”
“Adrian's accountant.”
My pulse quickened.
“Does he know?”
“He knows everything.”
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
Sophia took out her phone.
“I have his old number.”
Rachel contacted him that evening.
Victor agreed to meet.
He arrived at a café carrying a leather briefcase.
He looked nervous.
“You're Rachel Bennett?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
“I need protection.”
Rachel looked at him.
“From whom?”
“Adrian.”
Victor opened his briefcase.
Inside were copies of financial records.
“I kept duplicates.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew one day I might need them.”
He handed over a ledger.
Rachel reviewed it.
Her expression changed.
“What is this?”
“Payments.”
“To whom?”
“People Adrian owed.”
She turned the page.
Then another.
Then another.
Finally, she looked at me.
“He's been insolvent for months.”
Victor nodded.
“He was using new money to cover old debts.”
“How?”
“Loans. Credit lines. Property transfers.”
“And my account?”
Victor lowered his eyes.
“Yes.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Why didn't you stop him?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
“What happened?”
“He told me if I interfered, he'd blame the entire scheme on me.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“Did he threaten you?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have proof?”
Victor nodded.
He removed another device from his briefcase.
A recording.
The first voice was Adrian.
“If the company collapses, Paula takes the liability.”
Victor's voice answered.
“She doesn't know anything.”
“She doesn't need to.”
I stared at the device.
Then Adrian said the sentence that changed everything.
“She'll never fight me. She'd rather disappear than make a scene.”
I closed my eyes.
He had believed that about me.
That belief had protected him.
Until now.
Rachel turned off the recording.
“This is enough to move forward.”
Victor exhaled.
“I want immunity.”
“That isn't my decision.”
“I know.”
He looked at me.
“I am sorry.”
I nodded.
“Then tell the truth.”
He did.
Over the next several days, the investigation expanded.
Banks cooperated.
Property records were subpoenaed.
The business accounts were frozen.
Adrian's lawyer stopped returning his calls.
Sophia's attorney began negotiating cooperation.
And Adrian grew desperate.
He called me repeatedly.
I didn't answer.
Then he sent a message.
You have no idea what you're doing.
I deleted it.
Another arrived.
You'll regret this.
I showed Rachel.
She said, “Keep everything.”
The next morning, Adrian appeared outside my office.
Security stopped him.
He stood across the lobby, staring at me.
For a moment, he looked like the man I had loved.
Then I remembered the recordings.
I remembered the hidden accounts.
I remembered the folder containing my identification.
I walked past him.
He called my name.
“Paula.”
I didn't stop.
“Please.”
I kept walking.
Behind me, his voice rose.
“You're destroying everything!”
I turned.
The lobby had gone quiet.
I looked at him.
“No.”
He stared.
“You did that yourself.”
Then I walked away.
That night, Rachel called.
“We found the original transfer.”
My heart began pounding.
“Where?”
“In a safe-deposit box.”
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
I couldn't understand.
“What?”
Rachel's voice became quieter.
“The box was opened three years ago using your identification.”
I sat down.
“Who opened it?”
“We don't know yet.”
“But the records show who accessed it last.”
I waited.
Rachel said the name.
“Adrian.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: The Safe-Deposit Box Held the Missing Document, but Its Contents Revealed Adrian Had Been Planning Much More Than a Simple Escape
The Night I Realized the Man I Loved Had Already Chosen Someone Else in Front of Everyone
Part 6 of 15
