The Wife He Betrayed Became His Boss

Chapter 3: The First Clue

Amara’s POV

I could not sleep.

Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Adrian’s face.

The way he had looked at me.

Like I was a stranger to him.

But the main thing keeping me awake wasn't the divorce.

It was the thirty million dollars.

Someone had put the money in my account.

Someone had forged my signature.

Someone had made it look as if I had stolen from my own husband's company.

And I had to find out who that person was.

I sat on my bed, staring at my laptop.

The house was so quiet.

Adrian was gone.

The divorce papers were still downstairs.

I didn't want to look at them again.

Not yet.

I opened my bank account.

ACCOUNT RESTRICTED.

I reached for my phone and called the bank again.

After several minutes, a customer service representative finally answered.

“Good morning, ma'am. How may I help you?”

“I need the complete details of a transaction on my account.”

“Can you provide the transaction reference?”

I gave it to her.

There was a pause.

“Ma'am, I can see the transaction.”

“I need to know exactly when it was approved.”

Another pause.

“3:17 a.m.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, ma'am. 3:17 a.m.”

“Can you tell me what device it was approved on?”

“I don't have access to that information.”

“Please. I need it.”

“I can submit a request for that information, but because your account is currently under investigation, it may take some time.”

“How long?”

“I can't say.”

I sighed.

“Okay.”

The call ended.

3:17 a.m.

I had been in bed at exactly 3:17 a.m.

Sleeping.

With Adrian beside me.

I opened my email and searched through every message related to Blackwood International.

I stared at the name on the screen.

Blackwood International.

That company had been part of my life for years.

Attending dinners with executives.

Listening to Adrian complain about impossible meetings.

Watching him work late into the night because he wanted the company to succeed.

I knew enough about the business to understand that thirty million dollars was not something that could simply disappear.

Someone had planned this carefully.

If the money had been transferred at 3:17 a.m., there had to be a record somewhere.

A system log.

A security record.

An authorization.

Something.

I opened my laptop again.

This time, I wasn't just looking for evidence as a scared wife.

I was looking at everything like someone who needed to find a way out.

I opened a blank document.

At the top, I typed one word.

TIMELINE.

3:17 a.m. — The money was transferred.

Two weeks ago — The authorization document was created.

Last night — Adrian confronted me.

I stared at the list.

There was a connection.

I just hadn't found it yet.

At first, there was nothing.

Then I noticed something.

An old email.

It had been sent two weeks ago.

I opened it.

My heart skipped.

It contained the same financial authorization document Adrian had shown me.

I stared at the screen.

Two weeks ago.

Before the thirty million dollars was transferred.

Before Adrian accused me.

Before everything fell apart.

Someone had been preparing this long before I even knew I was in danger.

I checked the document details.

Created two weeks ago.

Modified three days later.

Accessed again last night.

Last night.

Someone had accessed the document while Adrian was accusing me.

My fingers moved quickly across the keyboard.

I checked the login history.

One of the recent logins wasn't from my laptop.

It wasn't from my phone either.

I stared at the unfamiliar device.

Someone had accessed my email.

But who?

My phone buzzed.

The unknown number.

Unknown: You are looking in the wrong place.

I quickly typed.

Amara: Then where should I look?

The reply came almost immediately.

Unknown: Find out who accessed your account information two weeks ago.

I stared at the message.

Amara: How do you know about the document?

No reply.

Amara: Who are you?

Nothing.

I waited.

Still nothing.

I called the number.

Not reachable.

I tried again.

Nothing.

I lowered my phone and looked at my laptop.

Two weeks ago.

Someone had been building a case against me long before I even knew I was in danger.

And I needed to know who had accessed my information.

I knew where to start.

Blackwood International.

I spent the next hour going through everything.

Emails.

Messages.

Documents.

Calendar entries.

Anything from two weeks ago.

Nothing made sense.

Then I remembered something.

Two weeks ago, Helena had visited me.

She had come to the house while Adrian was at work.

She stayed for almost two hours.

She had asked me questions about the company.

At the time, they had seemed harmless.

Now they didn't.

I opened my calendar.

Helena — 11:00 a.m.

I checked my email again.

Then I saw something else.

An access record.

My email had been opened from a device connected to Blackwood International's executive office.

The same date Helena had visited.

My heart began pounding.

No.

It couldn't be.

Could it?

I remembered Helena sitting across from me that day.

Her phone had been lying on the table.

She had asked to use my laptop because hers wasn't working.

And I had handed it to her without thinking.

She could have accessed anything.

My bank information.

My email.

My documents.

Everything.

I leaned back in my chair.

My head was beginning to ache.

I had been staring at the screen for so long that the words started to blur.

I stood up and walked toward the window.

Outside, everything looked normal.

A few lights were still on in the neighboring houses.

A car passed slowly down the street.

A dog barked somewhere nearby.

Everything looked normal.

That was the terrifying part.

The world hadn't changed.

Only mine had.

Yesterday, I had been a married woman planning a surprise for her husband.

Tonight, I was sitting alone in my bedroom trying to prove to everyone that I wasn't a thief.

I swallowed hard.

“I need to survive this.”

I stepped away from the window.

Then my phone buzzed.

I almost dropped it.

Another message from the unknown number.

Unknown: You were right to suspect her.

I immediately typed back.

Amara: What did Helena do?

The typing bubble appeared.

Then disappeared.

Then appeared again.

Finally, a message came through.

Unknown: Helena is not the person who started this.

I froze.

If Helena wasn't the one who started it...

Then who was?

Another message appeared.

Unknown: And, Amara, stop looking for the person who hates you.

I frowned.

Amara: Why?

The reply came almost instantly.

Unknown: Start looking for the person who has something to lose if the truth comes out.

I stared at the words.

Someone had framed me.

Someone inside Blackwood International had helped them.

Helena knew something.

And whoever was behind this wasn't doing it because of the thirty million dollars.

The money was only part of it.

They had something much bigger to protect.

My stomach twisted.

For the first time, I wasn't thinking about saving my marriage.

I was thinking about saving myself.

And I was going to find out who was behind everything.

Even if it destroyed whatever was left of my life.