Chapter 7 - The Woman I Thought I Knew
“I DID APPROVE ONE OF THOSE PAYMENTS, ELISE. I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG, BUT I WAS TOO AFRAID TO CHALLENGE YOUR HUSBAND.”
Nina Patel's confession hurt almost as much as discovering Daniel's affair.
We sat in a small conference room the following morning.
Margaret was present.
So was David Chen, the forensic specialist.
On the table lay copies of disputed invoices, approval records, and Nina's email.
I understand the risk. Proceed anyway.
For several minutes, Nina stared at the message without speaking.
Finally, she closed her eyes.
“I wrote that.”
I felt the words settle heavily between us.
“Why?”
She clasped her hands.
“Daniel told me Eastbank was conducting a special research project. He said it involved a potential corporate partnership that you wanted to keep confidential until the contracts were finalized.”
“And you believed him?”
“At first.”
I waited.
Nina looked miserable.
“He showed me an email that appeared to come from your account. It authorized a preliminary payment.”
“What amount?”
“Eighty-six thousand dollars.”
I stared at her.
“Nina, you know our approval procedures.”
“I do.”
“You wrote half of them.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I know.”
“Then why didn't you call me?”
She lowered her head.
“Because Daniel told me you were under tremendous pressure. He said you were worried about a major client and didn't want anyone questioning your decisions.”
I leaned back.
In the early years of our marriage, Daniel had admired how hard I worked.
Over time, he had begun describing my independence as stubbornness.
My dedication became obsession.
My caution became paranoia.
Now he had apparently been using those same descriptions to make employees doubt whether they should question unusual instructions.
“He was manipulating you,” I said.
Nina shook her head.
“That doesn't excuse what I did.”
Her response surprised me.
She looked directly at me.
“I saw warning signs. I should have contacted you directly. Instead, I accepted his explanation because I didn't want to create trouble.”
“Were there other payments you knowingly approved?”
“Not after I began questioning Eastbank. The other approvals showing my name need to be investigated.”
David opened his laptop.
“We've confirmed that several disputed sessions don't match Nina's usual activity. That supports the possibility of unauthorized access, but we still have work to do.”
Margaret nodded.
“It's important to distinguish what Nina actually did from what someone made it appear she did.”
I turned back to my friend.
“What made you question Daniel?”
Nina wiped her cheeks.
“Eastbank's reports stopped making sense.”
She opened a folder.
“Their first invoice included something that resembled a legitimate market analysis. But later invoices referenced projects that didn't exist in our client pipeline.”
“Did you confront him?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That I was interfering in decisions above my authority.”
I felt anger rise.
“Nina, you were the chief financial officer.”
“I told him that.”
“Then what happened?”
She hesitated.
“Victoria came to the office.”
I went still.
“When?”
“About six weeks ago.”
Victoria had rarely visited Meridian Bridge.
She'd always claimed the office was too small and ordinary for her tastes.
“Why was she here?”
“She wanted to discuss the partnership. She told me the Hale family was planning a significant expansion and that you were already aware of everything.”
“And you believed her?”
“No.”
Nina's voice broke.
“Not completely.”
She looked at me.
“That's why I started documenting things. I didn't know whether you had genuinely authorized the arrangement, but I knew something wasn't right.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of Victoria?”
Nina nodded.
“She threatened to tell our clients that our financial department was incompetent. She said any delays would be blamed on me.”
I felt a sickening familiarity.
Victoria always found the thing people feared losing.
A reputation.
A relationship.
A wedding.
A job.
Then she used it to make them obedient.
Nina pulled a small notebook from her handbag.
“I wrote down the dates of every conversation I had with Daniel and Victoria.”
She placed it on the table.
“I should have brought this to you sooner.”
I opened the notebook.
Handwritten entries filled the pages.
Dates.
Times.
Meeting locations.
Names of accounts.
On one page, Nina had underlined a sentence.
Victoria says everything must be finalized before Elise asks questions.
I read it twice.
Then I looked at Nina.
“You knew they were trying to keep something from me.”
“Yes.”
“And you still didn't tell me.”
Her face crumpled.
“I failed you.”
I wanted to comfort her.
For years, that had been our friendship.
When one of us struggled, the other offered reassurance.
But this wasn't an ordinary misunderstanding.
Her decisions had consequences for thirty-nine employees.
For our clients.
For the company's financial stability.
“I care about you, Nina,” I said quietly. “But I can't ignore what happened.”
She nodded.
“I don't expect you to.”
“Until the investigation establishes the full facts, I need you to take administrative leave.”
Her eyes filled again.
“Of course.”
“We'll follow the proper employment process. I won't prejudge accusations that haven't been proven. But I also can't leave the same approval structure in place.”
“I understand.”
For a moment, neither of us moved.
Then Nina stood.
“Elise, I want to help recover the money.”
“You can cooperate with the investigators.”
“I will.”
Before leaving, she paused at the door.
“There's something I haven't told you.”
I looked up.
“What?”
“At the meeting six weeks ago, Victoria wasn't alone.”
“Daniel was there?”
“Yes. But there was another person.”
“Who?”
Nina hesitated.
“Robert Hale.”
My father-in-law.
The quiet man who spent family dinners reading newspapers while Victoria criticized everyone around her.
“What was Robert doing there?”
“I think he was there to sign something.”
Margaret leaned forward.
“Did you see the document?”
“No. But I heard Victoria mention a second guarantee.”
I frowned.
“Another guarantee?”
Nina nodded.
“She said they needed Robert's signature to complete the package.”
A disturbing thought entered my mind.
Had Robert helped his wife arrange the attempted financial takeover?
Or had he been manipulated too?
“Did he sign?” I asked.
“I don't know.”
Nina looked at me with genuine fear.
“But I heard something else.”
“What?”
“Robert told Victoria he wouldn't allow her to destroy another woman's life for the sake of the family business.”
The room became completely silent.
“Another woman's life?” I repeated.
Nina nodded.
“And Victoria said something that frightened me.”
I felt my pulse quicken.
“What did she say?”
May you like
Nina swallowed.
“She told Robert that if he didn't cooperate, she would make sure he lost everything too.”
