Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE RED DRESS
Vanessa waited in the resort bar.
She had changed out of the red silk dress and into a white blouse, but the expensive necklace Ethan had given her was still around her throat. She was typing quickly when he entered.
“We need to leave,” he said.
She looked up.
“Where?”
“Anywhere. Pack your things.”
“Ethan, what happened?”
“The board suspended me.”
Vanessa lowered her phone.
“What?”
“Grace accepted Pierce's offer. The audit committee has records of the payments to Vantage.”
Vanessa's face changed.
“What records?”
“Don't pretend you don't know.”
She looked around the bar. Two guests sat near the window. A bartender polished glasses behind the counter.
“Not here.”
“Then tell me somewhere else.”
Vanessa stood.
They went to the private lounge adjoining the bar. Ethan closed the door.
“Did you know the invoices were being reviewed?”
“No.”
“Did you know your brother's company was receiving money?”
Vanessa's silence was answer enough.
Ethan stared at her.
“You told me Vantage was legitimate.”
“It is legitimate.”
“Your brother owns it.”
“He has a consulting business.”
“He has never worked in logistics.”
“He handled the campaign.”
“What campaign?”
Vanessa looked frustrated.
“You wanted to make the company look modern. You wanted national coverage, investor events, a new brand. I arranged all of it.”
“You arranged a villa too?”
Her eyes flicked away.
“Ethan, you told me to book somewhere private.”
“With company money?”
“You approved the expense.”
“I approved an investor retreat.”
“You said it was fine.”
Ethan paced once across the room.
He remembered the invoices. He remembered signing approval forms on his phone while getting into cars, boarding flights, and leaving meetings early. He had trusted Vanessa to label the expenses properly.
“You used the company to pay for us.”
Vanessa's voice hardened.
“Don't act as if I made you come here.”
He stopped.
For the first time, he saw her not as the woman who made him feel admired, but as someone calculating how much of the blame she could move onto him.
“You said Grace was too cautious,” he said. “You said she was holding the company back.”
“She was.”
“She was right about the accounts.”
Vanessa laughed without humor.
“She was right about nothing except how to make people feel small. She always looked at me as if I were some kind of assistant who had wandered into the wrong room.”
“Because you were the communications vice president.”
“And you were the chief executive. You liked having someone who believed in you.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Did you ever care about me?”
Vanessa hesitated.
Then she said, “I cared about what we could become.”
The answer was so cold that Ethan almost preferred a lie.
His phone rang. It was Martin.
“Ethan, you need to hear this from me before you see it in the report. The audit team found duplicate invoices and payments routed through a second vendor. There are also hotel charges tied to the resort.”
“Who approved them?”
“Your digital authorization is on several.”
“Vanessa prepared the approvals.”
“Then you'll need to provide that evidence to counsel.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Martin says there are duplicate invoices.”
Vanessa's face had gone pale.
“Maybe the accounting team duplicated them.”
“Stop.”
“I can fix it.”
“You can't fix a forensic audit.”
She stepped closer.
“Listen to me. We can say the vendor made mistakes. We can repay the money. If you cooperate with Pierce, he'll remove you anyway.”
“I'm already removed.”
“Then we need to protect ourselves.”
Ethan heard the plural.
Ourselves.
Not the company. Not the employees. Not the child he had left at home.
He looked at the necklace on her throat.
“Take that off.”
Vanessa frowned.
“What?”
“The necklace. It was paid for by the company.”
“It was a gift.”
“It was bought with company funds.”
She reached for the clasp but stopped.
“You gave it to me.”
“And I shouldn't have.”
Vanessa removed it and placed it on the table.
“You're going to regret this, Ethan.”
He picked up the necklace and put it in his pocket.
“No. I think I've been regretting it for months.”
When he left the lounge, he did not look back.
Vanessa waited until the door closed. Then she opened her phone and sent a message to her brother.
Delete the Vantage files. All of them. Now.
She did not know that the audit team had already secured the company's servers and copied the records to an independent evidence repository.
Her message was not the first attempt to interfere with the investigation.
It would not be the last.
Vanessa had joined Calloway Group two years earlier, after a public-relations campaign for a regional shipping association brought her into Ethan's orbit. She was smart, ambitious, and excellent at reading what powerful people wanted to hear.
At first, she had made Ethan feel understood.
When Grace challenged a forecast, Vanessa told him he was visionary. When the board questioned a marketing budget, Vanessa said the directors were afraid of change. When he missed a family dinner, she described his absence as the cost of leadership.
Ethan had mistaken flattery for loyalty.
Now, in the private lounge, he asked her to explain the vendor relationship from the beginning.
Vanessa said her brother, Peter, had created Vantage Strategies to handle brand research. She claimed the company had hired freelancers and paid for outside services, but she could not produce names, reports, or completed work.
“Where are the deliverables?” Ethan asked.
“On the server.”
“Which server?”
“I'll have to check.”
“You approved the invoices.”
“I was told to approve them.”
“By whom?”
She looked at him.
“You.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I told you to manage communications, not invent services.”
“You told me to make the campaign happen. You said the budget could be flexible.”
“Flexible isn't fraudulent.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“Don't put all of this on me. You signed the approvals. You took the trips. You gave me the necklace. You knew we were using the resort.”
He had no answer.
She was right about one thing: he had not been an innocent bystander. He had wanted the comfort, the attention, and the freedom. He had not asked where the money came from because he preferred not to know.
But Vanessa had also built a system around that preference.
She had chosen the vendors, prepared the invoices, and routed payments through companies linked to her family. She had made it easy for him to approve expenses without seeing the underlying records.
“Did you use my login?” he asked.
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Some approvals came through my account when I was traveling. Did you use my credentials?”
“I don't remember.”
“That's not an answer.”
She picked up her handbag.
“I need to speak to Peter.”
“Don't contact him about the audit.”
“You can't tell me who I can speak to.”
“I can tell you not to interfere with an investigation involving our company.”
“Our company?” she repeated. “You don't control it anymore.”
The sentence struck him because it was true.
Vanessa walked out.
Ethan remained in the lounge, looking at the necklace he had taken from her. He had bought it with money that should have gone to the company. He had given it to her as if generosity could turn betrayal into romance.
He put it back in his pocket.
For the first time, he wondered whether Vanessa had ever seen him as anything more than a way to reach the life she wanted.
Vanessa had joined Calloway Group two years earlier, after a public-relations campaign for a regional shipping association brought her into Ethan's orbit. She was smart, ambitious, and excellent at reading what powerful people wanted to hear.
At first, she had made Ethan feel understood.
When Grace challenged a forecast, Vanessa told him he was visionary. When the board questioned a marketing budget, Vanessa said the directors were afraid of change. When he missed a family dinner, she described his absence as the cost of leadership.
Ethan had mistaken flattery for loyalty.
Now, in the private lounge, he asked her to explain the vendor relationship from the beginning.
Vanessa said her brother, Peter, had created Vantage Strategies to handle brand research. She claimed the company had hired freelancers and paid for outside services, but she could not produce names, reports, or completed work.
“Where are the deliverables?” Ethan asked.
“On the server.”
“Which server?”
“I'll have to check.”
“You approved the invoices.”
“I was told to approve them.”
“By whom?”
She looked at him.
“You.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I told you to manage communications, not invent services.”
“You told me to make the campaign happen. You said the budget could be flexible.”
“Flexible isn't fraudulent.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“Don't put all of this on me. You signed the approvals. You took the trips. You gave me the necklace. You knew we were using the resort.”
He had no answer.
She was right about one thing: he had not been an innocent bystander. He had wanted the comfort, the attention, and the freedom. He had not asked where the money came from because he preferred not to know.
But Vanessa had also built a system around that preference.
She had chosen the vendors, prepared the invoices, and routed payments through companies linked to her family. She had made it easy for him to approve expenses without seeing the underlying records.
“Did you use my login?” he asked.
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“Some approvals came through my account when I was traveling. Did you use my credentials?”
“I don't remember.”
“That's not an answer.”
She picked up her handbag.
“I need to speak to Peter.”
“Don't contact him about the audit.”
“You can't tell me who I can speak to.”
“I can tell you not to interfere with an investigation involving our company.”
“Our company?” she repeated. “You don't control it anymore.”
The sentence struck him because it was true.
Vanessa walked out.
Ethan remained in the lounge, looking at the necklace he had taken from her. He had bought it with money that should have gone to the company. He had given it to her as if generosity could turn betrayal into romance.
May you like
He put it back in his pocket.
For the first time, he wondered whether Vanessa had ever seen him as anything more than a way to reach the life she wanted.
