Chapter 2 - The Woman Nathan Fired
Emma almost hung up.
Almost.
Instead she asked:
“What are you talking about?”
Olivia laughed softly.
“Still protecting him before you know the facts. Some things never change.”
“I’m not protecting Nathan.”
“Then listen.”
“I’m listening.”
“There are accounts connected to the foundation that don’t belong there.”
Emma went still.
“What accounts?”
“Ask your husband.”
“I’m asking you.”
Olivia paused.
“Charitable distributions were routed through vendors connected to Whitmore Global subsidiaries. Some of those vendors don’t exist.”
Emma’s pulse accelerated.
“That’s an accusation of fraud.”
“Yes.”
“Do you have proof?”
“I have enough.”
“Then give it to regulators.”
Another pause.
“I may.”
Emma leaned against the bookstore door.
“Why call me?”
“Because your name is on some of the older authorization records.”
Emma felt as though the sidewalk shifted beneath her.
“My name?”
“You served on the foundation’s finance committee.”
“Years ago.”
“Your signature didn’t disappear because you resigned.”
Emma remembered.
In Whitmore Global’s early years, she had reviewed foundation spending herself.
Before Nathan hired executives.
Before she gradually stepped away from the company because their marriage had already begun consuming more of her than she admitted.
“What exactly are you threatening me with?”
“I’m warning you.”
“You don’t warn people, Olivia.”
Silence.
Emma continued.
“You position them.”
For the first time, Olivia’s tone sharpened.
“You always thought I wanted your husband.”
“Didn’t you?”
“I wanted Nathan to stop pretending he was married to a woman who had already checked out of his life.”
Emma nearly laughed.
“You mean the woman waiting for him while you drank with him after midnight?”
“He came willingly.”
“I know.”
That answer disarmed Olivia.
Emma had spent months imagining Olivia as the thief who had taken something belonging to her.
Now she understood the uglier truth.
Nathan had opened the door.
Olivia had simply walked through it.
“I’m not calling to fight with you about Nathan,” Emma said. “If you have evidence of financial misconduct, send it to my attorney.”
“You should ask Nathan first.”
“I will.”
“You trust him that much?”
“No.”
Emma’s answer was immediate.
“That’s why I’ll ask.”
She ended the call.
For several seconds, she stood motionless.
Then she dialed Nathan.
He answered on the first ring.
“Emma?”
“Come back.”
Silence.
“Are you okay?”
“Come back to the bookstore.”
“I’m two blocks away.”
Of course he was.
Five minutes later, Nathan entered through the door.
He saw her face.
“What happened?”
“Olivia called me.”
His expression changed instantly.
“What did she say?”
“That the foundation routed money through fake vendors.”
Nathan went still.
“And that my name is attached to some of the old authorizations.”
Something moved across his face.
Not guilt.
Fear.
Emma saw it.
“You know something.”
Nathan exhaled slowly.
“I know there’s an internal audit.”
“How long?”
“Three weeks.”
Her voice dropped.
“You’ve known for three weeks?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know your name was involved.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“I knew there were irregularities.”
Emma stared at him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were pregnant, recovering from the hospital scare, and you finally agreed to see me.”
The old excuse.
Protection disguised as control.
Emma stepped back.
“You decided what I could handle.”
Nathan’s face fell.
“Yes.”
“Again.”
“Yes.”
He didn’t defend it.
That almost made it worse.
“What did the audit find?”
“Four vendors with suspicious payment histories. Roughly six million dollars over five years.”
Emma felt sick.
“Six million?”
“We don’t know that all of it was stolen.”
“But some was?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Who approved the vendors?”
“Our former CFO signed off on two. Foundation operations approved the others.”
“And Olivia?”
“She managed communications, not finance.”
“But she had access.”
“Yes.”
Emma crossed her arms.
“Why did you really fire her?”
Nathan looked at her for a long moment.
“Because I found out she had downloaded internal documents she had no authorization to access.”
“When?”
“The morning after you left.”
Emma’s eyes narrowed.
“You knew that six weeks ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you still let me believe you fired her because of your relationship with her.”
“No.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“I fired her for both.”
“That isn’t what your message said.”
“I said boundaries should have existed long ago. That was true.”
“You omitted the investigation.”
“Yes.”
“Because you were protecting me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
That answer stopped her.
Nathan’s voice lowered.
“I was afraid if I told you there was another disaster connected to my life, you would never speak to me again.”
Emma stared at him.
“So you lied by omission because honesty threatened what you wanted.”
“Yes.”
Nathan looked sick saying it.
“And that proves I still have more to fix than I thought.”
Emma turned toward the window.
Outside, Newport had gone dark.
Nathan stayed several feet away.
“Olivia said your signature appears on old authorizations?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll have counsel send every document connected to your tenure tonight.”
“I want my own counsel.”
“Of course.”
“And I want access to the audit.”
“Yes.”
“No redactions.”
Nathan hesitated.
Emma looked at him.
“No redactions.”
“I’ll make it happen.”
Her phone vibrated.
A text message.
Olivia.
Emma opened it.
One photograph appeared.
A scanned document.
At the bottom was Emma’s signature.
Above it:
HARBOR MERIDIAN CONSULTING – $780,000 AUTHORIZATION
Emma zoomed in.
The date was seven years earlier.
The signature looked exactly like hers.
Except Emma had never heard of Harbor Meridian Consulting.
Nathan stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Emma turned the screen toward him.
Nathan stared.
His face changed.
“I’ve never seen that.”
“Apparently I signed it.”
“You didn’t.”
“You sound certain.”
“I am.”
“How?”
Nathan looked at her.
“Because seven years ago, on that date, you weren’t in Manhattan.”
Emma’s breath caught.
Nathan continued.
“You were in Boston.”
“For what?”
His voice softened.
“Your mother’s surgery.”
Memory struck.
She had spent eleven days in Massachusetts.
Nathan had joined her for the first two.
Then flown back because of a financing crisis.
Emma looked at the document again.
Someone had used her signature while she was out of state.
Nathan’s phone began ringing.
He checked the screen.
His attorney.
Nathan answered.
“Daniel?”
He listened.
His expression tightened.
“When?”
Emma watched his face go pale.
“What happened?” she asked.
Nathan ended the call slowly.
“The federal prosecutor’s office contacted the foundation.”
Emma’s heartbeat hammered.
“For what?”
Nathan looked directly at her.
“They’re opening a formal investigation.”
May you like
He paused.
“And Olivia just gave them your name.”
