Chapter 9 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED SLIP
Lila agreed to meet Eleanor in Naomi’s office.
She arrived in jeans and a long coat despite the July heat. Without hotel lighting and carefully posed photographs, she looked younger than twenty-nine.
She did not ask forgiveness.
She placed her phone on the conference table and admitted that the affair had begun eight months earlier during a hotel launch in Miami.
David told her his marriage existed only on paper. He said Eleanor refused to divorce because their finances were complicated and his parents depended on him.
“He made you sound cold,” Lila said.
“I can be cold.”
“He made you sound dangerous.”
Eleanor held her gaze. “And you still slept with my husband.”
Lila nodded once. “Yes.”
She had used her old travel-system credentials to help David assemble sample relocation budgets. She believed he was preparing to negotiate a long-term Tokyo role. He later told her the company had approved it.
The diamond was not a client gift.
It was an engagement ring.
Lila had not received it.
David claimed the bank declined the purchase because Eleanor blocked the cards out of spite. He promised to return after the Tokyo arrival and buy it again using his relocation bonus.
“Did you know the money came from his parents?” Naomi asked.
“No.”
“Did you know he forged Eleanor’s signature?”
“No.”
Lila unlocked her phone.
David’s messages showed that he had asked her to create draft travel profiles for Eleanor, Teresa, and Frank. He said the profiles were needed for benefits planning.
Lila had entered passport placeholders and dependent details but had not submitted the final forms.
Someone else converted the drafts into approved requests.
Northbridge compliance could trace the user activity.
Lila agreed to preserve her phone and provide a statement through her own attorney.
Then she revealed why David remained at Kiyomi.
His real twelve-week work trip had been canceled after a Japanese partner delayed the project. Instead of admitting there was no immediate reason to leave, David bought two one-way commercial tickets to Tokyo using his parents’ money.
He and Lila planned to enter Japan as tourists, live in the prepaid apartment, and pressure Northbridge into creating a role once he arrived.
If the company refused, David intended to resign and launch a consulting business with contacts he claimed were waiting.
None had signed contracts.
“He said risk was the price of freedom,” Lila whispered.
Eleanor understood the plan at last.
David had not secured a four-year future.
He had stolen enough money to improvise one.
Naomi’s assistant entered with an update from Northbridge.
David had reported that Eleanor illegally accessed confidential corporate documents and fabricated the forgery claims after learning about a “consensual separation.”
The accusation threatened Eleanor’s credibility.
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Northbridge requested the original papers, device metadata, and an interview under oath.
The truth would now be judged beside David’s version, not instead of it.
