Chapter 9 - The Mistress Turns Traitor
By 3:00 p.m. that afternoon, news of Daniel’s eviction and the federal investigation had spread through his corporate office like wildfire.
Victoria and I were reviewing the recovered company files in my study when Victoria’s assistant buzzed her cell phone.
“Victoria, there is a young woman named Chloe Montgomery waiting in our lobby. She claims she has urgent documents regarding Daniel Vance and wants to make a deal before federal prosecutors contact her.”
Victoria and I exchanged a knowing glance.
“Bring her to the conference room,” Victoria ordered. “Elena and I will be there in twenty minutes.”
When we walked into the glass-walled conference room at Victoria’s firm, Chloe Montgomery looked like a deer caught in high-beam headlights. Gone was the glamorous, arrogant executive assistant from Daniel’s social media posts. She sat trembling in an oversized sweater, clutching a heavy, encrypted external hard drive to her chest.
“Mrs. Vance... Miss Ramos,” Chloe stammered, standing up nervously. “I... I swear I didn't know the full extent of what Daniel was doing. He told me you were completely incapacitated, that you had signed over power of attorney, and that you were draining the business accounts out of spite.”
“Miss Montgomery,” Victoria said sharply, taking a seat at the head of the table. “Ignorance is not a legal defense against federal conspiracy and receiving stolen corporate funds. The Cayman Islands account has your name on the signature card.”
Chloe burst into tears, dropping the hard drive onto the table. “I don’t want to go to prison! Daniel lied to me about everything! He told me he was worth millions, but when the feds showed up at his house last night, he called me in a panic, telling me to wipe the secondary corporate server and transfer the remaining $300,000 into his personal shell account!”
“Did you wipe the server?” I asked calmly.
“No!” Chloe gasped, shaking her head vigorously. “I downloaded the entire backup onto this encrypted drive! It contains Daniel’s private communication logs, his fake invoices, his off-the-books kickback agreements, and the voice memos where he explicitly brags about forging your signature on the second mortgage!”
Victoria slid the hard drive across the table and plugged it into her laptop. Within seconds, folders labeled ‘Offshore_Shelter’, ‘Vance_Personal_Stash’, and ‘Elena_Forgeries’ appeared on the screen.
“Miss Montgomery,” Victoria said, her voice dropping into a stern, measured tone. “If you hand this drive over voluntarily, sign a sworn affidavit detailing Daniel’s embezzlement, and immediately surrender the keys to the Mercedes purchased with corporate funds, I will recommend to the District Attorney that you receive full immunity as a cooperating witness.”
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Chloe didn’t hesitate for a single second. She grabbed a pen from her purse. “Where do I sign?”
Daniel had believed his charm and deceit made him invincible. But he had forgotten one fundamental truth: when a ship built on lies begins to sink, the rats are always the first to jump.
