Chapter 5 - The Maid Was Never the Thief
My mother sat in the library with me while two guards waited outside.
She was shaking.
“I didn't take anything.”
“I know.”
“Charles thinks—”
“I don't care what Charles thinks.”
The door opened.
Adam entered.
He locked it.
My mother stood.
“Mr. Rossi—”
“Adam.”
She blinked.
He crouched beside her.
“I know you didn't do it.”
“How?”
“Because whoever framed you made one mistake.”
He put the laptop on the desk.
“The login happened Tuesday at 10:43 p.m.”
Mom nodded nervously.
“So?”
Adam looked at me.
“Where was she?”
I immediately knew.
“Northwestern Memorial.”
Mom's arthritis had become so painful I'd taken her to the hospital.
“We didn't get home until after midnight,” I said.
Adam nodded.
“Exactly.”
My mother exhaled.
“But someone used her password.”
“Someone who knew it.”
I thought about the house.
Then froze.
“Her staff notebook.”
Adam looked at me.
“She keeps passwords in it.”
“Where?”
“Cleaning office.”
We checked the security footage.
At 10:39 p.m., someone entered the cleaning office.
The face wasn't visible.
But the man wore a distinctive gold watch.
I had seen it every day.
“Victor.”
Adam frowned.
“Head of security?”
I nodded.
Victor had worked for Charles for twelve years.
Adam immediately called Mateo.
“Find Victor.”
Mateo answered, “Already trying.”
“What does that mean?”
“He left the property twenty minutes ago.”
Adam swore.
“Charles?”
“Uncle Charles is furious.”
“Keep him there.”
Mateo laughed.
“You want me to keep Charles Rossi somewhere?”
“Yes.”
“With what? A chair and positive thinking?”
“Figure it out.”
Adam ended the call.
I stared at him.
“You two suddenly friends?”
“No.”
“Sounded friendly.”
“He's less annoying when someone else is trying to destroy us.”
Ten minutes later, Adam found Victor's hidden files.
The truth was worse than expected.
Victor had copied Charles's surveillance archive.
He had financial records.
Private conversations.
Names.
He had been selling information to rival organizations for years.
MRC Holdings wasn't stealing money.
Victor was.
He had disguised his transfers beneath Charles's secret accounts.
And now that Adam had started uncovering discrepancies, Victor needed a scapegoat.
My mother.
A woman Charles barely noticed.
Furniture.
Adam stared at the screen.
“He picked someone he thought nobody would defend.”
I looked at him.
“He was almost right.”
Adam closed the laptop.
“Not anymore.”
We returned downstairs.
Charles stood in his office.
Mateo was there.
My mother entered behind us.
Adam placed the evidence on the desk.
“Victor framed her.”
Charles reviewed everything.
His face darkened.
“How long?”
“Five years.”
Mateo whistled.
Charles looked toward my mother.
“I owe you an apology.”
Mom blinked.
In sixteen years, I had never heard Charles Rossi apologize to anyone.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Charles turned to Adam.
“Where's Victor?”
Adam checked his phone.
A message had arrived.
He read it.
His expression changed.
“What?” I asked.
Adam showed Charles.
I have copies of everything. Sign the logistics division to me, or every file goes public. Midnight.
Charles smiled coldly.
“Victor thinks he has leverage.”
Adam shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“We're not paying him.”
Charles stared at his son.
“Then what do you suggest?”
Adam looked toward me.
For years, he'd believed he couldn't read.
Couldn't learn.
Couldn't lead.
Now his eyes were completely steady.
“We stop protecting the empire.”
Charles went silent.
Adam continued.
“We give the legitimate financial records to attorneys. We cooperate with investigators on anything Victor exposes. We close every dirty operation.”
Mateo stared at him.
“You want to dismantle the Rossi organization?”
“The criminal side.”
Charles's voice became dangerous.
“My father built this family.”
Adam turned.
“And look what it built inside this house.”
Charles said nothing.
“You taught me weakness gets exploited,” Adam said.
“Fine.”
He pointed toward the hidden camera.
“This is weakness.”
Then toward the secret accounts.
“This is weakness.”
Finally, he pointed at Charles.
“And being so afraid of losing control that you destroy your own family?”
Adam shook his head.
“That's the biggest weakness in this house.”
Charles stared at him for a long time.
Then he looked at me.
“What do you think?”
I blinked.
“You're asking the maid's daughter?”
“Yes.”
I looked around the enormous office.
“You built a house where everybody is afraid to tell you the truth.”
Charles's jaw tightened.
“So?”
“So maybe start listening.”
Silence.
Then Mateo laughed.
Charles looked at him.
“What?”
Mateo shrugged.
“I've been wanting to say that since I was fifteen.”
Charles closed his eyes.
May you like
For perhaps the first time in his life, Charles Rossi realized he was outnumbered.
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