Chapter 3: The Phone That Disappeared
Arthur didn't speak for almost ten seconds.
He simply stared at the note in my hand.
Then he took it from me and folded it carefully.
"Where did you get this?""
"It was on the table.""
"Did anyone approach you?""
"I don't know. We were talking.""
Rebecca glanced toward the restaurant entrance.
"I'll check with the staff.""
She walked away, leaving Arthur and me alone.
I watched him.
"Who left that note?""
"I don't know.""
"Then why do you look like you do?""
He exhaled slowly.
"Because Grace's phone disappeared the night she died.""
I sat down.
"What was on it?""
"Everything.""
The word landed heavily between us.
Arthur pulled out the chair opposite mine.
"Grace was careful. She kept copies of every suspicious transaction, every altered invoice, every conversation she believed might become important.""
"Why didn't she take those things to the police?""
"She intended to.""
He paused.
"She called me that evening. She said she had found proof that someone inside the company was stealing money. She wanted to meet me at her apartment.""
"What happened?""
"She never arrived.""
His eyes moved toward the window.
"At 9:20 p.m., the police called. Her car had gone off the road on the outskirts of the city.""
I swallowed.
"And the phone?""
"Missing from the vehicle.""
"Was it ever recovered?""
"No.""
I looked down at the note.
"Someone wants me to ask about it.""
"Someone who knows what happened.""
Rebecca returned with the restaurant manager.
The manager looked nervous.
"Mr. Bennett, we checked the security cameras.""
Arthur stood.
"Did you find anything?""
The manager nodded.
"A gentleman approached your table while you were speaking with the woman in the navy suit.""
He pointed toward the entrance.
"He left this envelope.""
Rebecca took it.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed a young woman standing outside a coffee shop.
Grace.
But she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood Camila.
I leaned closer.
"That's her.""
Arthur took the photograph.
His fingers began to tremble.
"Where was this taken?""
Rebecca examined the back.
"There's a date.""
I read it aloud.
"October seventeenth.""
Arthur looked at me.
"That was the day before Grace died.""
The restaurant suddenly felt too warm.
Camila had known Grace.
She had been with her less than twenty-four hours before the accident.
Yet she had never mentioned her name.
I remembered the way she had looked at Arthur's bracelet comment.
The way her confidence had disappeared when he mentioned his daughter.
"Arthur," I said slowly.
"Why would Camila have been meeting Grace?""
He shook his head.
"I don't know.""
But I could tell he was hiding something.
Rebecca turned the photograph over again.
There was a handwritten message beneath the date.
*SHE GAVE ME THE ORIGINAL.*
I stared at the words.
"Original what?""
Arthur took the photograph and studied it.
Then his expression changed.
"The original shareholder ledger.""
Rebecca immediately opened her briefcase.
"That would explain the missing twenty percent.""
"What missing twenty percent?"" I asked.
Arthur sat down again.
"After Grace died, the company's ownership records were changed. Her shares were transferred to a holding company.""
"Who owned it?""
"An entity registered overseas.""
"And who controlled it?""
He looked at me.
"We believe Alejandro did.""
My hands curled into fists.
"So he stole Grace's shares?""
"Possibly. But if the original ledger still exists, we can prove the transfer was unauthorized.""
Rebecca nodded.
"And if Camila has it, we need to find her before Alejandro does.""
I pulled out my phone.
"Then I'll call her.""
Arthur immediately shook his head.
"No.""
"Why?""
"Because she will know you're investigating her.""
"She already knows.""
"Valeria, you don't understand how dangerous this has become.""
I looked at him.
"With respect, Mr. Bennett, I've spent eight years not understanding anything. I'm finished with that.""
He studied me for a moment.
Then he gave a small nod.
"Fair enough.""
I searched for Camila's number.
I still had it saved from the months when Alejandro insisted she was a business associate.
My thumb hovered over the call button.
Then my phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
A message appeared.
*Stop asking about Grace. You have no idea what she was hiding.*
Another message arrived immediately.
*And if you want to know why Alejandro married you, look at the date of your grandmother's inheritance.*
My heart began pounding.
I showed Arthur.
He read the messages twice.
"Your grandmother's inheritance?""
I nodded.
"She died eight years ago.""
Rebecca looked up from her tablet.
"That's when the original investment partnership was established.""
I felt sick.
"Are you saying Alejandro knew about my inheritance before he proposed?""
Arthur didn't answer.
But the silence was enough.
I remembered our first apartment.
The cheap furniture.
The broken refrigerator.
The nights we ate instant noodles because Alejandro said we needed to save every penny.
I remembered how he had held my hands in the kitchen and promised we would build something together.
I remembered believing him.
And then I remembered something else.
My grandmother had left me a sealed envelope.
A letter.
I had never read it.
Alejandro had told me it contained nothing important, just sentimental words from an old woman who didn't understand modern investments.
He had placed it in a drawer in his office.
When I asked for it months later, he said he had lost it during our move.
I stood so suddenly that my chair scraped against the floor.
"I need to go home.""
Arthur rose.
"Where?""
"To the house.""
"Your former marital home?""
"Yes.""
Rebecca stepped forward.
"Valeria, if the documents are there, don't go alone.""
I shook my head.
"I'm not looking for a fight. I just need to find something.""
Arthur reached for his coat.
"Then I'm coming with you.""
The drive to the house took twenty minutes.
Rain began falling over the city, tapping against the windows as traffic crawled along the avenue.
I sat in the back seat, staring at my phone.
No new messages.
No calls.
Nothing.
Arthur sat beside me.
Finally, he spoke.
"There's something else you should know.""
I turned.
"About Grace?""
He nodded.
"She wasn't just investigating Alejandro. She was trying to protect someone.""
"Who?""
Arthur looked at me.
"You.""
I felt my chest tighten.
"Why?""
"Because Grace believed Alejandro had married you for a reason.""
I stared at him.
"What reason?""
He hesitated.
"Your grandmother's inheritance wasn't simply money, Valeria. It included a piece of land outside the city.""
I frowned.
"She owned a small property. It was worth almost nothing.""
"That's what you were told.""
Arthur pulled a folded document from his coat.
"Eight years ago, a private development company discovered that the land contained access rights to a major commercial corridor. Its value increased dramatically.""
I stared at him.
"How dramatically?""
"At the time of your grandmother's death, it was valued at around one hundred and twenty thousand dollars.""
He paused.
"Today, it's worth approximately thirty million.""
I couldn't speak.
Thirty million.
My grandmother's little piece of land.
The property Alejandro had told me was worthless.
The property he had persuaded me to transfer into a family trust shortly after our wedding.
I felt suddenly dizzy.
"Where is it now?""
Arthur handed me the document.
The name of the holding company appeared at the top.
I recognized it.
It was the same company listed on the fraudulent transfer records.
The same company that had received millions from Bennett Group.
And beneath the company name was the date of its registration.
One month before Alejandro proposed.
I stared at the paper.
My hands were shaking.
"He knew.""
Arthur nodded.
"That's what Grace discovered.""
The car stopped outside my former home.
The gate stood open.
The front door was unlocked.
I stepped inside.
Everything looked exactly as I had left it three days earlier.
The cream-colored sofa.
The framed wedding photograph.
The vase Alejandro had brought me from our honeymoon.
But the house felt different now.
Like a crime scene disguised as a home.
I hurried upstairs to his old office.
The desk drawers were empty.
The filing cabinet had been cleared.
Even the bookshelf looked strangely bare.
Someone had searched the room.
Rebecca examined the desk.
"Look at this.""
A small metal key had been pushed beneath the bottom drawer.
I picked it up.
There was a tiny label attached.
*STORAGE 214.*
Arthur looked at me.
"Do you recognize it?""
I shook my head.
But then I remembered.
The old train station.
The storage facility where Alejandro kept boxes from his previous office.
He had once told me he was getting rid of them.
I had never asked where they went.
Rebecca took a photograph of the key.
"We need to contact the authorities before opening anything.""
I nodded.
Then I noticed a small white envelope wedged behind the desk.
My name was written across it.
In handwriting I hadn't seen in eight years.
My grandmother's handwriting.
My knees weakened.
I opened it carefully.
Inside was a single sheet of paper.
There were only three sentences.
My darling Valeria,
If you are reading this, it means the man you married has finally shown you who he really is.
Please find Grace Bennett. She knows the truth about your father.
I read the final sentence again.
Your father.
My grandmother had never spoken about him.
I had grown up believing he had abandoned my mother before I was born.
I looked at Arthur.
"Do you know anything about my father?""
His expression changed.
He took the letter from my hand and read it.
Then he slowly lowered it.
"Valeria...""
"What?""
He looked at me with an expression I couldn't understand.
"Grace wasn't investigating Alejandro because of the company's money.""
My stomach tightened.
"Then why?""
Arthur glanced toward Rebecca.
Then back at me.
"Because she discovered that your father was alive.""
I couldn't breathe.
Arthur reached into his coat and pulled out another photograph.
It showed Grace standing beside an older man outside a hospital.
The man had gray hair, deep-set eyes, and a small scar above his left eyebrow.
I recognized that scar.
I had seen it in the only photograph my mother had ever kept of my father.
Arthur placed the photograph in my trembling hands.
Then he said something that shattered everything I thought I knew.
"Valeria, your father wasn't missing.""
He paused.
May you like
"He was the original owner of Bennett International.""
And according to the date printed on the photograph, he had been standing beside Grace just two days before she died.
