Secrets and Fear
1246 Words
Lucas’s POV
We need to talk
I stared at the message, it had been delivered but she still hadn’t replied.
It became difficult to concentrate at work. I wanted to ask her yesterday if she knew what her husband was up to.
I swear to God that if she is in it with him, I won’t spare any of them. Sent here by the headquarters to deal with the internal issues going on in the company, I couldn’t risk covering up for anyone.
Someone had been taking a large sum of money from the company.
I leaned back in my office chair and rubbed my temple.
The headquarters didn’t send me here to make friends. They sent me to deal with and clean up a mess.
My phone buzzed.
I glanced at it.
It was not a reply from Emily.
Interesting.
Either she was ignoring me… or she was playing hard to get.
I took the financial folder that my assistant had brought to me earlier and looked at it again. The evidence was already there.
The name "Brian Carter" kept coming up again and again in several reports about failed projects and payments to external contractors.
At first glance, it looked like simple investments for small companies. But the truth was that most of these companies did not have any real operations, staff, or completed projects.
It was a very smart scam. The money moved from the company accounts to these small businesses, only to go missing before anyone could notice.
Brian had tried to make it look like he was just another businessman with several failed ventures. But it was too consistent to be just that.
Failed project after failed project, yet the money kept coming in.
My assistant had been right.
Brian Carter wasn’t just reckless with money.
He was laundering money.
I sat back in my chair and took a deep breath.
The only question left to ask now was how much his wife knew about it.
A knock sounded on my office door.
“come in.”
The door opened slowly and a woman stepped inside.
She walked in with the kind of confidence women who liked attracting attention.
Long hair.
Tight skirt.
And a gaze that lingered with a little boldness.
“Good morning, Mr. Reed,” she said, giggling.
I observed her for a minute.
“I’m Vanessa,” she added. “The recruit in the marketing department.”
I remembered seeing her name on the list of the news recruits.
“I just wanted to introduce myself,” she continued, stepping a little closer. “Everyone has been talking about you since yesterday.”
I raised one of my eyebrows.
“Have they?”
Her smile widened.
“They say you’re very powerful in the company.”
I looked at her like she had lost her mind. She came into the CEO’s office to tell him he was being talked about.
“People talk a lot and say a lot of things,” I replied calmly.
She tilted her head, her eyes scanning me like a barcode trying to read me deeper.
“I like powerful men.”
There it was.
I know women like her and I have many like her.
Ambitious and deceptive.
But, I have no interest in her.
“I believe you know where you are…Miss Vanessa?” I said firmly.
She laughed softly, as if my response was funny to her.
“I know Sir.”
I nodded my head, expecting she understood the message.
Her fingers brushed against the edge of my desk, and she leaned forward slightly.
“If you ever feel in need of some help settling into the office… I’d be happy to be of assistance .”
I held her gaze. “You may return to your department.”
Her smile froze for half a second.
She turned and walked out of the office.
The moment the door closed, my expression hardened.
Something about that woman bothered me.
The moment the door closed behind her, the playful expression on my face disappeared completely. I turned slightly in my chair, watching her through the glass wall of my office as she walked down the hallway.
She slowed her steps just enough to glance back toward my desk.
My gaze shifted to the documents spread across the table.
So that was it.
She wasn’t just here to flirt.
Her eyes had lingered too long on the files when she leaned over my desk.
She came here for something.
I made sure to make a note of her name.
Vanessa.
***
My phone lit up.
Emily.
Where?
A slow smile formed on my lips.
I replied. My Office.
I leaned back in my chair and set my phone down.
Outside of the glass walls of my office, the employees were busy with their heads stuck to work.
Someone’s stealing from this office, I just need enough evidence to bring him out.
Someone knocked on the door.
I presumed it was her. “come In.”
The door opened and Emily stepped in.
My heart lit up with excitement at the sight of her.
I stood up slowly.
I studied her.
She stood there with her arms crossed, trying to look confident. I saw through her , the tension in her shoulders betrayed.
“You look nervous,” I said.
“I’m not nervous,” she said too quickly.
“I didn’t know the message would get you this riled up” I told her and she tightened her jaw.
“And yet you came here anyway,” I told her.
There was a pause of silence.
The silence between us stretched longer than it should have.
Finally, she spoke. “I came here because I want to know what I’ve gotten myself into.”
“I have a question,” she continued.
“Okay.”
“Why did I get a message about your mum?”
My face hardened at the mention of my mother.
My jaw tightened slightly. “What do you mean?”
“I said I got a message.” She replied, sounding irritated.
“That,” I said coldly, “is not something you need to worry about.”
Her eyes narrowed immediately.
“That sounds like something I should worry about.”
“Talking about things you need to worry about,” I said while walking back to my desk. “Let me ask you something.”
“Okay.”
“What do you know about your husband’s business activities?”
“My husband?”
“Yes.”
“What does it have to do with you?” She asked back.
I studied her closely, watching her reaction.
Either she was a good actress or clueless.
I picked a file from my table and slid it across to stop right in front of her.
“Take a look at that,” I said while pointing at the file.
She picked up the document slowly and started reading it.
Her fingers tightened around the paper.
“I…don’t understand.” She whispered.
“Do you recognize the name?” I asked quietly.
“That…that’s Brian’s signature.”
I walked towards her and leaned forward.
“So tell me, Emily.”
My voice dropped.
“How long has your husband been stealing from the company?”
Her lips parted, yet no words came out.
And for the first time since she walked into my office, she looked completely terrified.
- Writer
