Chapter 9
The rain had returned by late afternoon, drumming a steady, melancholic rhythm against the glass windows of Clara’s apartment. The living room was dim, illuminated only by the gray light filtering through the blinds. Clara sat on the edge of her sofa, staring blankly at her hands.
A sharp knock at the door broke the quiet. Clara didn't move, but the door slowly pushed open—she had forgotten to lock it—and Maya stepped inside, shedding her wet raincoat to reveal her black crop top and the white varsity jacket.
“You shouldn't be here, Maya,” Clara said, her voice hollow and dry. “The board suspended my security clearance an hour ago. I’m essentially a ghost in the system already.”
Maya walked over and sat down beside her, ignoring the chill in the air. “I came because Elena is building a watertight case against you, Clara. She’s positioning herself to acquire your equity for pennies on the dollar before the merger goes public.”
Clara let out a bitter, humorless laugh. “I know. She told me as much when we met at the bar last night. The wine… that was just her way of letting me know she owned every piece of my life.” Clara turned her head, looking at Maya with red-rimmed, exhausted eyes. “She’s not wrong, you know. I took the money. Every single cent of it.”
Maya frowned, leaning in closer. “Why, Clara? You were making partner. You had a portfolio that generated six figures annually.”
“Because of Mark,” Clara whispered, tears finally spilling over her lashes. “His gambling debts weren't just a casual habit; loan sharks had cornered him. They threatened to break his legs, then they threatened me. I thought I could borrow from escrow for a week, fix the gap before the quarterly audit, and no one would ever know.”
“And Elena found out?”
May you like
“Elena didn't just find out—she orchestrated it,” Clara said, shocking Maya to her core. Clara reached into her bag and pulled out a crumpled manila folder, thrusting it into Maya’s hands. “Look at the timestamps on those bank transfers, Maya. The initial vulnerability in the escrow firewall wasn't created by me. It was opened using an administrative override from Elena’s terminal three months ago.”
Maya flipped open the folder, her eyes scanning the digital logs with mounting disbelief. The technical data didn't lie. Elena hadn’t just stumbled upon Clara’s crime; she had engineered the trap from the very beginning.
