THE BILLIONAIRE TRIED TO FIRE HER—THEN DISCOVERED HER SHOCKING SECRET
Chapter 2
Emma walked into the parking garage carrying one cardboard box.
Inside were a framed photograph of her daughter, a coffee mug, two notebooks, and a small stuffed rabbit.
She had expected anger.
What she felt instead was relief.
Blackwell Holdings had been the best-paying job she’d ever had.
It had also been the loneliest.
She had spent years learning how wealthy companies hid problems.
Not because she enjoyed exposing people.
Because she had seen what happened when nobody did.
Her late husband, Daniel, had died two years earlier.
He had been a construction engineer.
A workplace accident had killed him.
The company involved had originally blamed him.
But Emma had found proof that safety reports had been altered.
She fought for months.
Eventually, the company admitted fault.
The experience changed her forever.
She no longer trusted numbers simply because powerful people approved them.
That was why she’d joined Blackwell Holdings.
She had seen irregularities almost immediately.
Transfers.
Shell companies.
Unusual vendor payments.
But she couldn’t prove where the money went.
Not yet.
Her phone rang.
Her daughter, Sophie.
“Mom?”
Emma smiled.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Are you still at work?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Emma looked at the box in her hands.
“I got off early.”
“Can you come home?”
“Of course.”
“Can we make pancakes?”
Emma smiled.
“Absolutely.”
She hung up.
Then another call came.
Unknown number.
Emma answered.
“Hello?”
No one spoke.
Then a man’s voice.
“You should have kept quiet.”
Emma froze.
“Who is this?”
“You don’t know what you’ve found.”
The call ended.
She immediately checked the parking garage.
Empty.
Her instincts took over.
She walked directly to her car.
Inside, she locked the doors and sat still.
Her hands trembled.
Then she noticed something.
A black SUV parked two spaces away.
No one inside.
Emma started the engine.
The SUV started too.
She drove out.
It followed.
Her heart raced.
She called her sister.
“Can you pick up Sophie?”
“What happened?”
“Please.”
Emma didn’t explain.
She drove toward a crowded shopping center.
The SUV followed.
She pulled into a parking space near the entrance and got out quickly.
The SUV passed.
She waited.
Then another car stopped beside her.
A man stepped out.
Adrian Blackwell.
Emma stared.
“What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“You followed me?”
“No.”
He glanced toward the road.
“That SUV has been behind you for eight minutes.”
Emma’s expression changed.
“You saw it?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Adrian looked at her.
“Because it’s been behind me too.”
She froze.
“What?”
“They’ve been watching the company.”
He paused.
“And now they’re watching you.”
Emma didn’t know what to say.
Adrian looked at the box in her arms.
“You didn’t tell me there were threats.”
“You fired me.”
“That doesn’t mean I don’t care about what happens to you.”
Emma laughed bitterly.
“You care now?”
“I care about my company.”
She stared at him.
“Of course.”
Adrian ignored the sarcasm.
“Where’s your daughter?”
“Safe.”
“Good.”
He looked toward the parking lot.
“Take her somewhere else tonight.”
Emma narrowed her eyes.
“Why?”
“Because whoever is watching us knows what you found.”
“You said ‘us.’”
He paused.
“I meant the company.”
Emma nodded.
“Right.”
Adrian reached into his pocket and handed her a card.
“My private security number.”
She didn’t take it.
“I don’t need it.”
“You might.”
“I thought you said I wasn’t qualified.”
“That was before I realized you were right.”
Emma stared at him.
“About what?”
Adrian lowered his voice.
“The missing money.”
She waited.
“I checked the Phoenix records.”
“And?”
He looked toward the road.
“Someone moved twenty-four million dollars.”
Emma’s heart stopped.
“Where?”
Adrian looked at her.
“That’s what I don’t know.”
Emma finally took the card.
That night, they both realized the same thing.
Her firing hadn’t ended the investigation.
It had only made it more dangerous.
