Chapter 3 - WHAT DAMIAN STOLE
Ava changed upstairs.
The dress Elias had arranged was simple.
Dark navy.
Long sleeves.
Elegant without being flashy.
She expected a designer label.
Instead, there wasn’t one.
Clara smiled when Ava noticed.
“Mr. Vane asked for something that wouldn’t make you feel like you were wearing somebody else’s costume.”
Ava looked at her.
“He said that?”
“Pretty much.”
That bothered her more than expensive jewelry would have.
It meant Elias had noticed things.
When she returned downstairs, he was waiting in a quiet conference room beside the ballroom.
His silver-haired companion sat at the table.
“Ava Knox,” Elias said. “This is Martin Shaw. General counsel for Vane Global.”
Martin stood.
“Nice to meet you.”
Ava sat slowly.
“This is starting to feel less like a gala and more like an interrogation.”
“Then let me make it simple,” Elias said. “Did Damian ever have access to your files?”
“What files?”
“Employment records. Bank records. Personal documents.”
Ava laughed in disbelief.
“We lived together for four years. He had access to everything.”
Martin leaned forward.
“What about work?”
“At Bellmere?”
“Before that.”
Ava hesitated.
“I freelanced.”
“Doing what?”
“Research. Data cleanup. Property records. Financial spreadsheets.”
Elias and Martin exchanged a look.
Ava caught it.
“What?”
Martin asked, “Did you ever work on a project involving condemned waterfront properties?”
Ava’s stomach dropped.
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Almost two years ago.”
“For whom?”
“A consulting firm. I never met the real client.”
“What did you find?”
Ava stared at them.
The memory came back.
Late nights in their Brooklyn apartment.
Hundreds of property records.
Shell companies.
Suspicious sales.
City parcels purchased at low prices shortly before redevelopment announcements.
“I found a pattern,” she said slowly. “A group of companies were buying properties from distressed owners through different LLCs. The names looked unrelated, but the mailing addresses, accountants, and loan guarantees overlapped.”
Martin’s expression hardened.
“What did you do?”
“I wrote a report.”
“Do you still have it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Ava looked at the table.
“Damian’s laptop died during finals. He started using mine.”
Elias’s voice went very quiet.
“And?”
“A week later, the project folder disappeared.”
Martin swore under his breath.
Ava continued.
“I had a cloud backup, but the account password had been changed. Damian said I must have forgotten it.”
“You believed him?”
“I loved him.”
The words came out harsher than she intended.
The room went silent.
Ava folded her arms.
“What does any of this have to do with tonight?”
Elias sat opposite her.
“Langford Development is trying to acquire seventy percent of the East Harbor redevelopment zone.”
Victoria’s family.
Ava’s pulse increased.
Elias continued.
“My company has opposed the deal for eighteen months.”
“Why?”
“Because the numbers don’t make sense.”
Martin added, “And because someone appears to have manipulated property values before the city rezoned the district.”
Ava felt sick.
“My report.”
“Possibly.”
“No.”
She stood.
“No. Damian wouldn’t—”
She stopped.
Wouldn’t he?
The man she remembered wouldn’t.
The man holding the champagne glass might.
Elias watched her carefully.
“Why did he need $4,800?”
Ava stared.
“What?”
“During business school.”
Her blood ran cold.
“How do you know that?”
Elias didn’t answer.
She stepped closer.
“How long have you been investigating me?”
Martin quietly stood.
“I’ll give you two a minute.”
He left.
Ava looked at Elias.
“You knew who I was before tonight.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about Damian.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the money.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Elias’s jaw tightened.
“Because three months ago, an encrypted file was delivered to my office.”
Ava stopped breathing.
“What file?”
“Your missing report.”
He reached into a folder on the table and pulled out a printed page.
At the bottom was her name.
AVA KNOX.
But beneath it, another line had been added.
PREPARED FOR DAMIAN CROSS.
Ava stared at the paper.
“I never wrote that.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because whoever changed your report made one mistake.”
Elias pushed another document toward her.
A wire transfer receipt.
$4,800.
From a company Ava had never seen.
To Damian Cross.
Dated three days before he told Ava he had lost his financial aid.
Ava’s knees nearly gave out.
Damian hadn’t borrowed her emergency fund because he was desperate.
He had taken her money while being paid by someone else.
May you like
And suddenly the stolen years of her life looked much darker.
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