Never Meant to be Seen

Chapter 9- Who Paid Her

Silence settles between us, what are they up to? Suddenly the brass handle turned slowly. Ava and I exchanged a quick glance, both of us holding our breath.

The door opened just enough for an elderly housekeeper to peek inside.

"Oh I'm so sorry, ladies," she said with an embarrassed smile. "I was looking for Mrs. Alfie's shawl."

Ava relaxed almost instantly. "It's fine," she replied. The housekeeper smiled apologetically, retrieved a cream-colored shawl hanging near the entrance, and quietly left, shutting the door behind her.

The room fell silent again, this time heavier.

"I thought someone had been listening," I muttered. "So did I," Ava admitted. Suddenly as if she remembered something

she reached into her purse again and unlocked her phone. "I want to show you something." She opened her banking app before handing me the device.

"The money arrived this afternoon." I looked at the transaction details. The amount was exactly fifty thousand dollars, the sender's name wasn't listed, just an abbreviation. That was suspicious. I frowned because how are we going to know who the sender is with just an abbreviation?

I slowly took out my own phone. There was something I had never questioned before,something I suddenly needed to see,the account where my own payments arrived. The first payment had appeared a week after I accepted the offer to impersonate Isabelle.

Every transfer had come on time, every transfer had come from a specific account and sender. My eyes widened when I saw the name on the payment I have been receiving. “Let me see the payment record again.” Ava handed me her phone.

I wasn't sure what I was seeing. Without saying a word, I turned my screen toward her. Her eyes widened. "That's impossible." She shook her head

"We're being paid from the same account," I whispered. Neither of us spoke for several moments. The realization settled between us like a storm cloud,whoever had hired Ava was connected to whoever had hired me.

This wasn't a coincidence, it couldn't be.

Ava slowly sat down on a nearby bench.

"I thought I was being used to expose you." She said, “Thought so too.” I said I was confused. "But if we're receiving money from the same source." She looked up at me. "Then we're both being used." I nodded in agreement. Someone was moving us around like pieces on a chessboard.

The frightening part was that neither of us knew who the player was. "Tell me everything," Ava said. I hesitated, If I trusted her, there would be no turning back but I no longer had the luxury of keeping secrets. I took a deep breath, and I told her the truth, not the entire truth though.

I didn't tell her the amount I had been promised or every detail of my agreement.

But I admitted enough. "I was hired to pretend to be Isabelle for three weeks."

Ava stared at me in disbelief. "You actually agreed to that?" She asked, "I need the money." I replied. She didn't judge me.

Instead, she looked almost sympathetic.

"You must have been desperate." She said with concern filled her eyes. "I was."

She lowered her eyes.

Outside, the orchestra began playing another slow waltz. Guests applauded. The celebration continued but it was getting late and I could feel people had started leaving. Arlo should be looking for me, but I have a bigger problem here.

"I can't imagine what kind of person would create something this dangerous."She said scared, I was scared as well. "Neither can I." Ava stood again. "There has to be a way to find out who owns that account."

I nodded. Together, we began searching every detail on our phones.

Transaction references, payment descriptions,routing information. Anything at all,most of it led nowhere, every search ended with another dead end. It was as though that person had never existed. My phone suddenly vibrated. I glanced at it. “Where are you?” A message from Arlo. I've been out for a long time, it was my engagement gala and I was in a coat room searching for something that I wasn't supposed to be searching for.

Mia told me not to get involved with stuff that aren't on my contract but my curiosity got the better of me. “Around but out of people's eyes, I will be back in a minute.” I texted back. And continued with the search. “Your Fiancee?” Ava asked, “Yeah, I've been out for long.” I replied.

After an hour of research, we found out that the account was connected to the Alfie family.

The Alfie family,the very family hosting tonight's engagement, the family that believed I was Isabelle. Someone inside that family had access to the shell account. Someone inside the family was financing this entire deception. "But who?" I whispered. Ava slowly shook her head.

"The parents?" She asked. "I don't think so." I replied because the parents don't seem like people who could do that.

"Arlo?” Ava asked again. But I don't think Arlo did it because he has been suspecting me since the very first night he saw me. My heart refused to believe it, or maybe he knows the truth but is just pretending. He might have been playing me from the beginning. "No," I said, more to convince myself than her. "There has to be another explanation."

Ava stared at the screen. "There are dozens of people connected to the Alfie family." She continued "Executives,Lawyers,Accountants,Household staff." She said "Anyone with access to the private office." I looked at her. She's right, they're a lot of people in the Alfie family. "So we still don't know who." I rubbed my temples.

The mystery had only grown deeper.

We finally knew where the money came from but instead of answers, we had uncovered an even bigger question.

Someone inside the Alfie family wasn't just aware of the impersonation.They were funding it.Ava slipped her phone back into her purse.

"We can't tell anyone." She said "I know."

"If the wrong person finds out we know. They'll make sure we never learn the truth." I nodded. From this moment on, we couldn't trust anyone.