Chapter 5
I should have laughed him out of the apartment.
Instead, I listened.
That was my first mistake.
Or my first miracle.
Julian explained that someone inside Cross Holdings had been stealing for years.
Not cash from dressers.
Real money.
Trust money.
Employee relief funds.
Charitable accounts.
Every time he got close, evidence disappeared.
“So you test housekeepers?” I asked.
He looked ashamed.
“I started with staff after my father’s assistant betrayed him. Then it became habit.”
“Cruel habit.”
“Yes.”
Again, the word surprised me.
Mateo leaned forward.
“You want Abby to catch a corporate thief?”
“I want her to tell me when I’m looking at people like numbers instead of human beings.”
I snorted.
“That is a full-time job.”
“I’ll pay accordingly.”
“No.”
He placed a business card on the table.
“Think about it.”
After he left, Mateo grabbed the card.
“Abby. This could save us.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“Good. He is literally hiring you for that.”
I wanted to throw the card away.
Instead, I stared at it all night.
By morning, Dad called again.
The rehab center needed payment by Friday.
Mateo’s tuition deadline was Monday.
The ceiling had worsened.
Pride is beautiful until it lets people you love drown.
I called Julian.
“I have conditions,” I said.
“Name them.”
“My family bills are not charity. They are an advance against salary.”
“Done.”
“No cameras testing employees without consent.”
Silence.
Then, “Done.”
“And if you humiliate me again, I walk.”
His voice softened.
“Done.”
May you like
I started Monday.
By Tuesday, someone tried to frame me.
