Chapter 2 - THE DEBT THAT DIDN’T EXIST
Victor waited until Paul left.
Then he locked the study.
I stared.
“You lock doors when you’re worried?”
“I lock doors when I don’t want people interrupting.”
“You look worried.”
He gave me a flat look.
“I liked you better asleep.”
I almost smiled.
Almost.
He opened the ledger again.
Liam’s account was simple.
Seventy-four thousand dollars.
A failed shipment.
Replacement costs.
Penalty.
Ugly.
But nowhere near two hundred eighty thousand.
Victor turned more pages.
There were annotations in another handwriting.
Paul’s.
Recovery fees.
Security fees.
Late penalties.
Housing deduction.
Domestic labor administration.
I frowned.
“What is domestic labor administration?”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“Nothing I approved.”
Another monthly charge:
RESIDENTIAL COMPLIANCE — $6,500.
“That’s me.”
“What?”
“Paul told Liam my room and food cost sixty-five hundred a month.”
Victor stared.
“You sleep in the staff basement.”
“Yes.”
“You eat staff meals.”
“Yes.”
“That room costs me nothing.”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you question it?”
I laughed.
He didn’t.
So I explained.
“Because when the right-hand man of Victor Hayes tells you that your brother owes money, you don’t usually ask for an independent audit.”
Fair.
His face darkened.
“How many people are under arrangements like yours?”
“I don’t know.”
“Guess.”
“Kitchen staff?”
“How many?”
“Maybe seven.”
“Grounds?”
“Four.”
“Warehouse workers?”
“More.”
“How much more?”
“I don’t know.”
Victor stood.
His body went rigid.
This was not outrage over my workload alone.
Someone had built something under his name.
And he hated not knowing.
He pressed an intercom.
“Nico.”
A voice answered.
“Yes?”
“Study. Alone.”
Three minutes later, a broad-shouldered man named Nico Alvarez entered.
Head of internal security.
I had seen him plenty.
Never heard him say more than six words.
Victor pointed at me.
“Clara stays.”
Nico glanced at me.
Then accepted that without comment.
Victor showed him Liam’s ledger.
Nico’s face changed.
“Where did this come from?”
“My archive.”
“Paul handles collections.”
“Exactly.”
Victor tapped the inflated statements.
“Did you know about these charges?”
“No.”
“Find every debtor account Paul controls.”
“All?”
“All.”
“That could be hundreds.”
Victor’s voice dropped.
“Then start now.”
Nico left.
I stood awkwardly.
Victor looked at me.
“What?”
“Can I go?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because someone has spent six months using you to collect money I was never owed.”
“So?”
“So I need answers.”
“You need Liam.”
“He disappeared three days ago.”
My blood stopped.
“What?”
Victor’s eyes narrowed.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
“He missed two warehouse shifts.”
I pulled out my phone.
Twenty-three unread texts to Liam.
No responses.
I thought he was avoiding me because we had argued.
My hands began shaking.
“When did anyone last see him?”
Victor answered carefully.
“Friday.”
Today was Monday.
“What happened?”
“He took a delivery manifest.”
“What kind?”
“Internal shipping data.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know.”
“Paul told me he was sick.”
Victor went still.
“When?”
“Saturday morning.”
His face closed.
He picked up the phone.
“Bring Paul back.”
Paul returned five minutes later.
Still calm.
Victor did not invite him to sit.
“Where is Liam Morgan?”
Paul looked at me.
Then Victor.
“Recovering.”
“From?”
“Flu.”
Victor stared.
“Where?”
“His apartment.”
“No.”
For the first time, Paul hesitated.
“I spoke with him Friday.”
“He didn’t go home.”
“I was told—”
“By who?”
Paul smiled faintly.
“You think I memorize the location of every indebted worker?”
Victor walked closer.
“I think you remember exactly where Liam Morgan is.”
Silence.
Then Paul said:
“He took something.”
Victor’s face hardened.
“What?”
“Information.”
“What information?”
“Route manifests.”
“Why wasn’t I told?”
“I planned to recover them quietly.”
“You planned.”
Victor repeated the words.
Paul realized the mistake.
“I was protecting you.”
“From my own knowledge?”
Nobody spoke.
Victor pointed toward the door.
“Get out.”
Paul’s expression changed.
“Boss—”
“Now.”
Paul looked at me.
Only briefly.
But I saw it.
Not annoyance.
Warning.
He left.
Victor waited.
Then said:
“You’re moving rooms.”
“What?”
“Upstairs.”
“No.”
His eyebrows rose.
“No?”
“I’m not sleeping somewhere nicer because you feel guilty.”
“I don’t feel guilty.”
“You should.”
That earned me the coldest look yet.
I continued anyway.
“You didn’t know every detail, fine. But you created the system Paul is using.”
Victor said nothing.
“You let people work off debts.”
“Yes.”
“You let one man control the numbers.”
“Yes.”
“You benefited.”
“Yes.”
The fact he admitted it took some anger out of me.
Not all.
“So don’t act shocked that something rotten grew inside it.”
He looked at me for a long time.
Then:
“You’re moving upstairs because Paul now knows I’m questioning him.”
That stopped me.
“You think he’d hurt me?”
“I think he already has.”
My burned hands.
Eighteen-hour shifts.
Liam missing.
Victor continued.
“And if your brother stole route data, you may know something even if you don’t know you know it.”
“I don’t.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because that may keep you alive.”
Not comforting.
At noon, Nico returned.
He carried three boxes.
One laptop.
And a look I didn’t like.
Victor opened the first box.
Debt files.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Amounts.
Names.
Original balances.
Adjusted balances.
My stomach turned.
One man owed twelve thousand.
Paul had inflated it to fifty-nine.
A woman owed eight.
Now forty-one.
Victor sat completely still.
Nico said:
“We traced the excess.”
“Where?”
“Separate accounts.”
“Owned by?”
“Shell companies.”
“Whose?”
Nico placed one final page on the desk.
Victor read.
His expression became murderous.
“Paul.”
Nico nodded.
“Approximately three-point-eight million over four years.”
I stared.
Victor looked at the boxes.
“These people think they owe me.”
“Yes.”
“They’re working for free.”
“Mostly.”
“Under my name.”
“Yes.”
The room felt colder.
Victor stood.
“When Paul comes back—”
“No.”
I spoke without thinking.
Both men looked at me.
I swallowed.
“Don’t confront him yet.”
Victor’s eyebrows lifted.
“Excuse me?”
“You said Liam took route data.”
“Yes.”
“If Paul is stealing millions and Liam discovered something…”
Nico understood first.
“He may be involved in more than debt fraud.”
Exactly.
Victor looked at me.
I continued.
“If you accuse Paul now and he has Liam…”
Victor’s face changed.
There.
He understood.
My brother’s life became the reason Victor Hayes did something he hated almost as much as betrayal.
May you like
He waited.
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