The Mafia Boss Walked In as His Supervisor Whipped the Shy Employee—Then the Entire Office Froze!
Chapter 12
Cole smiled.
“You finally found it.”
Clara stared at the box.
“What is inside?”
Cole laughed.
“You really don’t know?”
“No.”
“Your father was clever.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Cole shook his head.
“This isn’t about her.”
“You brought her here.”
“Because she has something I need.”
Clara looked at the ledger.
“The final account.”
Cole nodded.
“You’re smarter than I expected.”
Matteo’s expression remained cold.
“It’s over.”
Cole laughed.
“Is it?”
He opened the wooden box.
Inside was a small metal key.
Clara recognized it.
Her father had worn one exactly like it on his key ring.
Cole held it up.
“This opens the original ledger.”
Clara’s breathing stopped.
“The one in the warehouse is a copy.”
Cole nodded.
“Your father made three copies.”
“Where is the original?”
Cole smiled.
“That’s what I need you to tell me.”
“I don’t know.”
“You do.”
Clara shook her head.
“I don’t.”
Cole stepped closer.
“Your father trusted you.”
Matteo moved between them.
“Don’t.”
Cole stopped.
For several seconds, the warehouse was silent.
Then Matteo said:
“You made one mistake.”
“What?”
“You thought she was weak because she was quiet.”
Cole laughed.
“She is weak.”
Matteo looked at Clara.
“No.”
Clara understood.
The entire investigation had taught her something.
Her silence had never meant weakness.
It had simply meant she had spent years observing.
She looked at the key.
Then remembered her father’s words.
Never trust a ledger that can be erased.
She suddenly understood.
The key wasn’t for a ledger.
It was for something else.
“Cole,” she said.
He looked at her.
“You want the original?”
“Yes.”
“I know where it is.”
Matteo looked at her.
She gave him the smallest nod.
“It’s in the place my father trusted most.”
Cole smiled.
“Where?”
Clara looked directly at him.
“The company archive.”
Cole laughed.
“No.”
“The oldest records room.”
He shook his head.
“Destroyed years ago.”
Clara smiled.
“That is what everyone believes.”
Cole’s smile disappeared.
She continued:
“My father never hid anything where people would search.”
Matteo understood.
The old warehouse.
The terminal.
The records.
Everything had been a trail.
The original ledger wasn’t hidden in a building.
It was hidden inside something nobody would think to examine.
Cole stepped forward.
“Tell me.”
Clara looked at him.
“First, release Nina.”
Cole hesitated.
Matteo smiled faintly.
The shy employee was negotiating.
And for the first time, Cole realized he had lost control of the room.
