Chapter 16 - The Salon Begins to Choose Sides
Adrian tried to keep Mercer Nail Lounge open as if nothing had happened.
Clients still booked appointments.
Polish bottles still gleamed beneath the lights.
But businesses were made of people, and people noticed fear.
Paige noticed Adrian checking the security cameras every hour.
A technician noticed him carrying boxes from the private room.
The salon manager noticed that vendors were calling about late invoices even though monthly sales remained strong.
Then payroll was delayed by six hours because the bank required additional verification.
That was enough.
Paige called a staff meeting without Adrian.
By lunch, fourteen employees had signed a letter requesting independent financial oversight.
They did not accuse Adrian of fraud.
They said they feared their jobs were at risk.
Kendra read the letter twice.
She did not celebrate.
“These people could lose their income because of us,” she told Jonah.
“Because of Adrian.”
“I own forty-nine percent.”
“You did not authorize the transfers.”
“I still benefited from not looking closely.”
Jonah considered that.
“That is different from causing it.”
“It doesn’t feel different to them.”
Kendra went to the salon after closing.
It was the first time she had returned since opening the private-room door.
Paige met her at reception.
“You okay?”
“No.”
“Good answer.”
Kendra almost smiled.
They walked through the silent salon.
At the end of the hallway stood the door.
PRIVATE — ADRIAN.
Kendra stopped.
Paige looked at her.
“You don’t have to go in.”
“Yes, I do.”
She opened it.
The chair remained.
The desk remained.
But Brielle was gone.
Adrian was gone.
The room looked smaller now.
Less powerful.
Kendra walked to the desk.
A faint rectangular mark showed where the blue trust folder had rested.
Paige leaned against the doorway.
“I feel stupid.”
Kendra looked at her.
“Why?”
“I believed him.”
“You had no reason not to.”
“He was my boss.”
“That is a reason to believe ordinary things.”
Paige looked around.
“When he introduced Brielle as his wife, nobody questioned it.”
“Why would you?”
“Because she never wore a ring.”
Kendra felt a small sting.
“Neither do many married women.”
“I know.”
Paige sighed.
“I keep replaying the moment you said, ‘I’m Adrian’s wife.’”
“So do I.”
“I thought you were going to scream.”
“I thought I was too.”
Kendra touched the back of the large chair.
“You know what actually scared me?”
“What?”
“How normal they looked.”
Paige said nothing.
“They weren’t hiding in here like people doing something forbidden. They were laughing.”
“That must have hurt.”
“It told me they had done it often enough for shame to become routine.”
Paige lowered her eyes.
Kendra turned toward the hallway.
“Adrian used all of you.”
“To lie about Brielle?”
“To build a version of his life where I had already disappeared.”
Paige’s jaw tightened.
“He asked me yesterday whether I remembered you visiting the salon last winter.”
“What did you say?”
“That I had never met you before this week.”
“What did he say?”
“That I should think carefully.”
Kendra went still.
“Those exact words?”
“Yes.”
“Write them down.”
“I already did.”
Good.
Paige had learned quickly.
The next morning, Kendra’s attorneys filed for emergency business relief.
They requested an order preventing extraordinary transfers, destruction of records, or changes in ownership while the dispute was pending.
Adrian opposed it.
His attorneys argued that Kendra was using marital anger to interfere with normal business operations.
Then Lena produced the deletion logs.
The forged operating amendment.
The questionable consent.
And Paige’s saved security footage.
The judge did not decide the entire case.
He did something narrower.
He prohibited both Kendra and Adrian from transferring major assets outside ordinary business without written agreement or court approval.
He ordered preservation of electronic records.
And he appointed an independent financial monitor for Mercer Beauty.
Adrian left the courthouse furious.
Kendra left exhausted.
Outside, he caught up with her.
“You’re killing the salon.”
She turned.
“No.”
“Every vendor knows something is wrong.”
“They know because invoices weren’t paid while you bought a condo.”
His face hardened.
“That property was an investment.”
“With company money.”
“That is disputed.”
“Not for long.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“You think Brielle is going to save you?”
Kendra stared at him.
“No.”
“She’ll fold.”
“This isn’t about saving me.”
“She’s terrified.”
“She should be.”
Adrian smiled faintly.
“You still don’t understand her.”
Kendra’s eyes narrowed.
“What does that mean?”
“She wanted everything you had long before I touched her.”
The cruelty was deliberate.
Kendra refused to react.
Adrian leaned closer.
“And you know the saddest part?”
She waited.
“She wasn’t the first person in your family who wanted you removed as trustee.”
Kendra’s heartbeat changed.
Adrian walked away.
For the first time all day, Kendra felt afraid.
May you like
Because he had not said Brielle.
He had said family.
