Chapter 5 - Someone Else Knew About Adrian and SiennaRosalie stared at the photograph until Maren took the phone from her hand.
"Who sent this?"
"I don't know."
Maren zoomed in.
The image looked real.
Outdoor hotel furniture.
Ocean behind them.
Adrian laughing.
Sienna leaning into him.
Rosalie recognized his watch.
She remembered buying it for their tenth anniversary.
Except their tenth anniversary hadn't happened yet when the photograph was taken.
She had given it to him early after he complained his old one was broken.
May 9, 2024.
Rosalie opened the family calendar.
Adrian had been in Miami.
"Client conference," she whispered.
Maren said nothing.
"Three days."
"Was Sienna supposed to be there?"
"I don't know."
She searched Adrian's emails.
Not work emails.
Those weren't accessible.
But travel confirmations sometimes forwarded to their shared household account.
Miami.
Two rooms booked originally.
One room canceled the first afternoon.
Rosalie felt physically ill.
"They canceled one room."
Maren looked at her.
"Rosie, stop."
"No."
"You know enough."
"No."
Rosalie shook her head.
"I know he's cheating. I don't know what else I don't know."
The unknown number texted again.
Check who paid for Suite 1804.
Rosalie typed:
Who is this?
No response.
How did you get my number?
Nothing.
Maren said:
"Could be Sienna."
"No."
"Why not?"
Rosalie studied the photograph.
Sienna looked happy.
Not frightened.
Not trapped.
At least then.
"Why expose herself?"
"Maybe Adrian ended it."
"He was hiding her in my closet tonight."
"Fair."
Rosalie searched the hotel transaction.
The regular company card showed room charges.
But Suite 1804 had been billed differently.
A company she'd never heard of.
Aster Ridge Consulting.
Rosalie copied the name.
A quick state-business search showed it had been formed in Delaware eight months before the Miami trip.
Registered agent.
Generic corporate-service address.
No obvious owner.
Maren sat across from her.
"What does this have to do with the affair?"
"I don't know."
"Could be normal business."
"Maybe."
But the stranger had told her where to look.
Which meant it mattered.
Rosalie typed the company name into Adrian's old forwarded invoices.
One result.
Aster Ridge Consulting had billed Blackwell Development $92,000 for "strategic market analysis."
Rosalie stared.
"That's ridiculous."
"What?"
"Adrian's company has an internal strategy team."
Maren leaned over.
"So?"
"So why pay an outside company ninety-two thousand?"
She searched again.
Another invoice.
$145,000.
Then $78,000.
Then $210,000.
All within eighteen months.
More than half a million dollars.
Maren's expression changed.
"Is that his money?"
"Company money."
"His company?"
"Partly."
That word mattered.
Blackwell Development had been founded by Adrian and his college friend Connor Blackwell twelve years earlier.
Connor left after a dispute five years ago.
Adrian became controlling partner.
But eight years earlier, when the firm nearly collapsed during a financing crisis, Rosalie had invested $900,000 from an inheritance left by her grandmother.
Not a loan.
Equity.
Adrian had resisted giving her shares.
Her father insisted.
Rosalie ended up with twenty-two percent of a holding company connected to Blackwell's original assets.
She rarely thought about it.
Adrian handled everything.
Suddenly, that felt reckless.
Her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Maren looked at her.
"Answer."
Rosalie did.
"Hello?"
A man's voice.
Quiet.
Nervous.
"Mrs. Mercer?"
"Who is this?"
"Daniel Cho."
The name was familiar.
Blackwell Development's former controller.
He had resigned six months earlier.
Adrian said Daniel wanted to relocate to California.
Rosalie had met him twice.
"Why are you sending me photographs?"
"Because I should've done it a year ago."
Rosalie stood.
"What do you know?"
"More than you should hear over the phone."
"Try me."
Daniel hesitated.
"Your husband's affair isn't the biggest problem."
Rosalie looked at Maren.
Her sister understood from her expression.
"What is?"
"Aster Ridge."
"What about it?"
"You found the invoices."
"Yes."
"They aren't for consulting."
"What are they for?"
Daniel lowered his voice.
"I don't know where all the money went."
"All?"
"Mrs. Mercer, Aster Ridge received almost three million dollars from Blackwell-related entities."
Rosalie couldn't speak.
Daniel continued.
"And Adrian didn't create it alone."
"Sienna?"
Silence.
Then:
"Her name isn't on the public filings."
"That isn't what I asked."
"No."
Daniel breathed out.
"She helped run it."
Rosalie gripped the phone.
"Why?"
"I think Adrian was moving money before filing for divorce."
The room tilted.
Maren grabbed Rosalie's arm.
Daniel continued:
"There's something else."
"What?"
"He asked legal counsel last year what would happen to your equity if the marriage ended."
Rosalie closed her eyes.
This wasn't an affair discovered by accident.
Adrian had been planning an exit.
Possibly for more than a year.
"Why are you telling me now?"
Daniel's answer came quietly.
"Because I thought he was cheating on you."
May you like
Pause.
"I didn't realize until tonight that he might be stealing from you too."
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