Chapter 9 - WHAT VICTORIA HAD BEEN DOING BEFORE THE DOOR OPENEDThe meeting took place in Leah’s conference room.
No Julian.
No dramatic reunion.
Victoria arrived with her attorney.
She looked smaller without the burgundy dress and champagne.
Gray trousers.
White blouse.
No jewelry except a watch.
Elena did not greet her.
Victoria sat opposite her.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena looked at Leah.
“Can we skip that part?”
Victoria swallowed.
“Yes.”
Her attorney placed a printed timeline on the table.
Victoria explained that Merritt & Cole had begun an internal procurement check two days before Elena caught them.
Nothing formal.
A pricing analyst had noticed suspicious similarities between Ward Collaborative’s proposal and confidential figures.
Victoria panicked.
She told Julian.
Julian told her not to worry.
“He said there was already another explanation,” Victoria said.
Elena leaned forward.
“What explanation?”
“You.”
There it was.
Victoria looked ashamed.
“He said your access history would show you had opened the files.”
“Because he opened them.”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“Not at first.”
“When did you know?”
“About three weeks before you found us.”
Elena stared at her.
“And you stayed.”
Victoria looked down.
“Yes.”
That answer mattered more than excuses would have.
“What was in the blue folder?”
Victoria’s hands tightened.
“Draft interview notes.”
“Whose?”
“Mine.”
“About me?”
Victoria nodded.
She had begun drafting an account that claimed Elena occasionally discussed confidential project information at home.
Not specific numbers.
Just enough to make the allegation plausible.
Victoria told herself it was insurance.
If investigators discovered her communications with Julian, she could say Elena had already blurred the line between work and marriage.
“Was it true?”
“No.”
Elena felt her face grow hot.
“Then you weren’t just sleeping with him.”
“No.”
“You were preparing to accuse me of misconduct.”
Victoria’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Elena pushed back from the table.
Leah touched her forearm.
Elena stayed seated.
“Why was the folder in my bedroom?”
Victoria closed her eyes briefly.
“I was showing Julian the questions compliance might ask.”
“At my house?”
“He said it was safer.”
Elena laughed once.
The sound frightened even her.
“My bedroom was safer?”
Victoria said nothing.
“What happened right before I walked in?”
Victoria looked at her attorney.
He nodded.
“We were arguing.”
“About what?”
“I told Julian I wasn’t willing to put the statement about you in writing.”
Elena thought about Victoria calmly drinking champagne after Elena entered.
“You looked pretty comfortable.”
“I was pretending.”
“That is not a defense.”
“I know.”
Victoria wiped her cheek.
“Julian told me you would never risk your career by exposing us because the access logs would drag you in too.”
Elena stopped moving.
That was the larger design.
The affair had not merely been something Julian wanted hidden.
Her professional vulnerability was part of how he intended to keep it hidden.
If Elena exposed Victoria, the procurement leak surfaced.
If the leak surfaced, Elena’s credentials became evidence.
If Elena defended herself, Julian could claim she had been helping him all along.
Marriage, career, and silence had been tied together.
And the photograph had interrupted Victoria before she decided whether to finish building that trap.
Elena looked at her.
“Why cooperate now?”
May you like
Victoria’s answer came quietly.
“Because after you left, Julian asked me to finish the statement.”
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