He never realized the backups never stopped.
Every deleted message.
Every photograph.
Every reservation.
Every “Miss you already.”
Every “She suspects nothing.”
Everything.
Rebecca slid another folder toward me.
“I think you’ll enjoy this.”
Inside were financial records.
Julian hadn’t only been cheating.
He had been stealing.
He secretly billed personal vacations as corporate travel.
Bought gifts for Sienna using company accounts.
Submitted fake client expenses.
Transferred money between vendors he secretly controlled.
I looked up.
“Does his employer know?”
Rebecca smiled.
“They do now.”
Back in Maui…
Julian finally managed to reach his bank.
“My cards aren’t working!”
The representative answered politely.
“Sir, your wife contacted us yesterday.”
“My wife can’t freeze my accounts!”
“Actually, the joint accounts required signatures from both account holders. She removed her funds before the marriage became legally commingled and reported several suspicious transactions.”
Julian’s stomach dropped.
“What suspicious transactions?”
“The ones currently under investigation.”
He slowly looked toward Sienna.
She looked just as frightened.
The next morning…
Julian’s phone exploded with calls.
His boss.
Human Resources.
Corporate Security.
Finally he answered.
“Julian.”
“This is Richard.”
His CEO sounded exhausted.
“Where are you?”
“Maui.”
“Come home.”
“I can explain.”
“No.”
Silence.
“Your company laptop has been seized.”
Julian blinked.
“What?”
“We’ve received evidence of expense fraud.”
“I didn’t—”
“We also received hundreds of pages of emails.”
Another pause.
“And your secretary has been terminated.”
Sienna gasped.
“What?”
Richard continued.
“As for you…”
“We’re referring everything to investigators.”
The line went dead.
Back in Manhattan…
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Julian didn’t even say hello.
“Clara…”
For the first time in years…
He sounded afraid.
“You ruined my life.”
I smiled.
“No.”
“You invited your secretary on our honeymoon.”
“You ruined your own.”
“It was only business.”
“Really?”
“So why was there only one bed booked?”