Chapter 3 - THE FILE ADRIAN LEFT BEHIND
The following morning, Evelyn arrived at her office before sunrise.
Vale Events occupied the fourth floor of a renovated brick building in Tribeca.
She had founded the company six years earlier with three thousand dollars, a borrowed desk, and an unreasonable amount of determination.
Now she employed eleven people.
She managed charity galas, luxury weddings, corporate launches, and private events for clients who paid enormous amounts of money to make everything appear effortless.
Her company was the one thing Adrian had never been able to give her.
She'd built it herself.
And she intended to keep it.
She opened her laptop.
Then checked the archived folders.
At first, nothing seemed unusual.
Contracts.
Budgets.
Vendor invoices.
Event photographs.
Then she found a folder labeled:
MERCURY.
She didn't recognize it.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Shipping schedules.
Warehouse access logs.
Security layouts.
And photographs of buildings owned by Moretti Holdings.
Evelyn stared.
She had never created those files.
She opened the properties.
Several had been added seven months earlier.
Three days before Adrian ended their engagement.
Her pulse accelerated.
She called Megan.
“Come in early.”
“Why?”
“I think someone used our systems for something illegal.”
Megan arrived twenty minutes later.
Together, they reviewed the files.
One document contained a list of upcoming private events at Moretti-owned properties.
Another contained security staffing details.
A third included a map of a freight terminal.
Megan looked pale.
“Evelyn, this isn't event planning.”
“I know.”
“Who put it here?”
Evelyn swallowed.
“I think Adrian did.”
Megan stared.
“Why?”
Before Evelyn could answer, her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She hesitated.
Then answered.
“Evelyn Vale.”
A man's voice spoke.
“Delete the Mercury folder.”
Her blood went cold.
“Who is this?”
“Someone trying to keep you alive.”
The line disconnected.
Megan stared at her.
“What happened?”
Evelyn slowly lowered the phone.
Then looked toward the office windows.
A black sedan was parked across the street.
The driver was watching the building.
Evelyn called Lucien.
He answered on the second ring.
“Evelyn?”
“Someone just threatened me.”
His voice changed.
“Where are you?”
“My office.”
“Stay inside.”
“Lucien—”
“Are you alone?”
“Megan is here.”
“Lock the door. Call the police. I'm coming.”
The line ended.
Evelyn stared at the phone.
Then called 911.
For the first time, she understood that Adrian's betrayal might have been more than personal.
May you like
It might have been part of something much larger.
And she was standing directly in its path.
