Chapter 5 - SELENE CAME BACK
Selene returned voluntarily.
That surprised me.
She asked to speak with Mara.
That surprised me more.
“No,” I said.
Mara answered:
“Yes.”
I looked at her.
“This is not staff administration.”
“No.”
She folded her arms.
“But she knows Marcus.”
Fair.
We met in a secure conference room.
Selene looked thinner.
No makeup.
No engagement ring.
Lily was nowhere nearby.
Mara’s condition.
Good one.
Selene sat.
“I knew Marcus planned to steal control.”
I said nothing.
“I did not know he would threaten Mara.”
Mara looked at her.
“Would it matter?”
Selene flinched.
“Yes.”
“You humiliated my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Selene looked ashamed.
“Because I was angry.”
“At a six-year-old?”
“At Dominic.”
I stared.
She continued.
“You let her sit beside you after I told her she couldn’t.”
Mara’s expression hardened.
Selene shook her head.
“I’m not defending it.”
Good.
“I was angry because I realized that little girl could ask you for something and you listened.”
Silence.
“And you had stopped listening to me.”
I almost laughed.
“You were stealing from me.”
“I know.”
That honesty arrived late.
Still useful.
“What does Marcus plan next?”
Selene looked at me.
“He doesn't trust the electronic transfer anymore.”
“Why?”
“He thinks the token may have been compromised.”
Smart.
“What will he do?”
“Paper.”
My attention sharpened.
“He has original blank certificate stock.”
Impossible.
Then I remembered.
My father.
Old share certificates.
Stored off-site.
Marcus managed the archive.
“He can create physical transfer instruments,” Mara said.
Selene looked at her.
“Yes.”
Mara’s old document experience mattered again.
“What does he need?” I asked.
“Your wet signature.”
Selene answered.
“And the original embossing press.”
Gabriel swore quietly.
The press had been retired years ago.
Marcus knew where it was.
Selene continued:
“He plans to make you sign.”
That was new.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“Selene.”
“I swear.”
She looked frightened.
“He said if the wedding failed, he'd handle you directly.”
Mara asked:
“Why are you telling us?”
Selene’s eyes filled.
“Because I thought I was stealing from a man who could afford to lose anything.”
She looked at me.
“I kept telling myself that.”
Then toward Mara.
“When those men went to your cottage…”
Her voice broke.
“I realized Marcus doesn't distinguish between money and people.”
Mara remained cold.
Good.
Forgiveness was not owed because someone developed a conscience late.
Selene handed Gabriel a key.
“Warehouse seventeen.”
I knew it.
Old Varela storage.
Mostly empty.
“Marcus moved the embossing press there.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
The trap had moved.
So did we.
But not immediately.
We gave Selene a lawyer.
Then she entered protective custody under agreement with investigators.
She would still face charges.
Cooperation was not erasure.
That mattered.
The next morning, I went to Mara.
“You and Lily should leave Chicago for a few days.”
She stared.
“No.”
“Mara.”
“Is Marcus coming here?”
“No.”
“Then no.”
“You are now connected to the investigation.”
“So are hundreds of your employees.”
“You're different.”
Her expression changed.
I realized the mistake instantly.
“Why?”
Good question.
Because I cared.
Too much.
Because Lily’s seat beside me no longer felt accidental.
Because Mara had become the person I wanted to speak to before making decisions.
Dangerous answer.
I chose honesty.
“Because if something happened to you, I would not respond rationally.”
Mara went very still.
“That is not romantic.”
“I wasn't attempting romance.”
“Good.”
She looked away.
Then:
“Lily goes to my sister.”
“Agreed.”
“I stay.”
I hated it.
But nodded.
May you like
Her choice.
That distinction had become increasingly important to me.
