Chương 4
"Please wait."
Daniel sat in the lobby.
People walked past him pretending not to look.
He recognized the behavior.
It was the same as the party.
People noticed everything.
They just learned to hide it.
After ten minutes, Mara's assistant appeared.
"Mr. Carver."
Daniel stood.
"Mara will see you."
The assistant led him upstairs.
Before Daniel entered the office, he noticed something on the wall beside the elevator.
A photograph of company founders.
Mara was in the center.
Standing beside her was a younger woman who looked exactly like Claire.
Daniel stopped in front of the photograph because he knew the woman standing beside Mara Bellandi.
He knew her smile.
He knew the slight tilt of her head when she was trying not to laugh.
He knew the way she tucked her hair behind one ear when she was nervous.
It was Claire.
Not a resemblance.
Not someone who looked similar from a distance.
His wife was standing beside Mara Bellandi in a photograph hanging inside the company headquarters.
For several seconds, Daniel forgot why he had come.
The assistant standing behind him noticed.
"You okay, Mr. Carver?"
Daniel kept staring at the picture.
"When was this taken?"
The assistant followed his eyes.
"That photo?"
"Yes."
She hesitated.
"I don't know."
"Find out."
The sharpness in his voice surprised both of them.
The assistant looked uncomfortable.
"I can ask."
Daniel turned toward her.
"Please."
He softened the word because he knew anger would not get him answers here.
The assistant nodded and continued toward Mara's office.
Daniel followed.
The office was larger than he expected but less impressive than the estate.
There were no trophies.
No photographs with politicians.
No obvious signs of power.
Just bookshelves, paperwork, and a large window overlooking the city.
Mara sat behind her desk reading a document.
She did not look surprised when Daniel entered.
"You saw the picture."
Daniel closed the door behind him.
"You knew she was here."
Mara placed the document down.
"Yes."
"You knew Claire worked with you beyond being an accountant."
"Yes."
"And you never told me."
Mara leaned back slightly.
"I knew Claire wanted it that way."
Daniel laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
"That's convenient."
"It is not convenient."
"Then what is it?"
Mara looked at him.
"A choice."
Daniel walked closer.
"My wife died, and I found out after she was gone that she had secrets involving you, your company, and someone who apparently thinks I should forget about it."
Mara did not interrupt.
That bothered him.
He wanted her to defend herself.
He wanted an argument.
He wanted something simple.
Instead, she waited.
"Who was the man who called me?"
Mara's expression changed slightly.
"What man?"
Daniel studied her face.
He had spent years watching Claire read people during arguments.
She always said the truth was usually found in the first reaction before someone had time to prepare.
Mara's first reaction was not surprise.
It was concern.
"Someone knows about the drive," Daniel said.
The room went quiet.
Mara stood.
"Where is it?"
Daniel noticed the urgency.
Not panic.
Not fear.
Something closer to calculation.
"Why?"
"Because if someone knows you have it, you are already in danger."
"That is not an answer."
"It is the only answer that matters right now."
Daniel looked away.
"You keep doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Talking like everyone else is a child who needs to be managed."
Mara's expression hardened.
"And you keep acting like knowing everything immediately will protect you."
The words hit harder because there was truth in them.
Daniel looked toward the window.
The city moved below them.
People crossed streets.
Cars stopped and started.
Nobody knew that one family problem could make a person's entire world feel unstable.
"I need the truth."
Mara walked around the desk.
"You need pieces of the truth."
"Why?"
"Because the whole truth has consequences."
Daniel faced her.
"My wife died."
The sentence came out quieter than he expected.
Mara stopped.
"I know."
"No, you don't."
His voice cracked slightly.
"You knew she was investigating something. You knew she was scared. You knew enough to protect yourself, but I was at home trying to explain to my daughter why her mother wasn't coming back."
Mara looked down.
For the first time, Daniel saw something other than control.
Regret.
It disappeared quickly.
But it existed.
"I was wrong," she said.
The admission surprised him.
He expected excuses.
Not that.
Mara returned to her desk and opened a drawer.
She removed a small folder.
"This is what I can tell you."
Daniel did not move.
"Can tell me?"
"Yes."
"What can't you tell me?"
Mara looked at the folder.
"Things I am still proving."
That answer frustrated him.
But it sounded honest.
She opened the folder.
Inside were several printed emails, financial records, and handwritten notes.
Daniel recognized Claire's handwriting immediately.
His throat tightened.
"She worked directly with my internal audit team."
"Why?"
"Because I asked her to."
Daniel looked up.
"Why would you ask my wife?"
"Because she was good."
The simple answer caught him off guard.
Mara continued.
"Claire noticed things other people ignored."
"Like what?"
Mara tapped one of the documents.
"Money moving through companies that appeared unrelated."
Daniel looked at the papers.
He understood numbers.
That had been part of his job before he started taking whatever work he could find after Claire died.
But the names meant nothing.
"I don't understand."
"You are not supposed to yet."
He looked at her sharply.
"There it is again."
"What?"
"You deciding what I can handle."
Mara looked tired.
Not weak.
Tired.
"There are people in my family who believe loyalty means silence."
"And you?"
"I believe loyalty without truth is just another form of control."
Daniel studied her.
That was not the answer he expected from someone like her.
"Then tell me the truth."
Mara looked at the documents.
"Your wife discovered that someone inside Bellandi Holdings was moving money without authorization."
"Who?"
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"I don't know."
"Do you suspect someone?"
