Victoria closed the folder and tucked it beneath her arm.
"I'll dig deeper," she said. "I'll start with the shell companies and trace the payments backward. If someone else is funding Angela, I'll find them."
Elara nodded. "Be careful. We don't know what we're looking at yet."
Victoria gave a brief nod before leaving the office.
The days that followed were quiet, almost deceptively so.
Alina arrived at Blake Technologies on Monday morning dressed in a modest blazer and a pair of slacks that still looked new. She reported to Victoria's desk with a tentative smile, and Victoria—professional as ever—walked her through the responsibilities of the junior executive assistant position.
Alina learned quickly.
She took notes during meetings, organized files with meticulous care, and volunteered for tasks that no one had asked her to take. She stayed late to review schedules and familiarize herself with company procedures, as though she could make up for eight months of unemployment through sheer determination.
Victoria noticed.
So did Elara.
But neither woman said much about it.
Elara kept her distance, acknowledging Alina with a quiet nod whenever their paths crossed. There was no warmth between them, but there was no open hostility either. Elara had given Alina a chance, and for now, she intended to let the woman prove whether she deserved it.
Meanwhile, Victoria continued investigating.
The shell companies led her through layers of offshore accounts, nominee directors, and holding firms registered under names that appeared unrelated to the Williams family.
Every time she thought she had reached the end of the trail, another connection appeared.
Then, late one evening, she found it.
Victoria stared at the screen for several seconds before reaching for the printed records beside her.
The shell companies were connected to a holding firm registered in Switzerland.
And the holding firm had an owner.
Evelyn Edwards.
Victoria leaned back slowly.
"Richard's wife..."
She pulled up everything she could find about Evelyn.
Founding partner of Edwards & Carter Law Firm.
Highly respected.
Extremely private.
Known for handling sensitive corporate disputes and reputation-management cases.
Victoria returned to the financial records.
The connection was real.
But it raised more questions than answers.
Why would Evelyn Edwards have any connection to Angela Williams?
And why would money connected to Evelyn appear in the same trail Victoria had been following back to Angela?
Victoria opened the timeline again.
The dates made her pause.
The holding company had been active before the scandal.
The investigator connected to Alina's downfall had been hired months before the affair became public.
The law firm had also been involved before Richard's wife officially discovered the affair.
There was clearly a connection.
But Victoria wasn't ready to call it a conspiracy.
Not yet.
She added another note to her file.
Possible connection: Angela Williams / Evelyn Edwards.
Then, beneath it:
Purpose unknown.
Victoria stared at the words.
That was the problem.
She had expected to find a motive.
Instead, she had found another question.
The following evening, Victoria entered Elara's office with the new file tucked beneath her arm.
Elara looked up from her computer.
"You found something."
Victoria placed the folder on the desk.
"I found a connection."
Elara opened it.
Victoria pointed to the ownership documents.
"The Swiss holding company we traced the payments through belongs to Evelyn Edwards."
Elara's expression changed.
"Richard's wife?"
Victoria nodded.
"The same woman."
Elara studied the documents carefully.
"How does she connect to Angela?"
"I don't know yet."
Victoria pulled out another page.
"There are several transactions between entities connected to the Williams family and firms associated with Edwards & Carter. Some of them predate the scandal."
Elara's eyes narrowed.
"So Evelyn was involved before the affair became public."
"Possibly."
"Possibly?"
Victoria met her gaze.
"I have financial connections. I have overlapping dates. I have Angela somewhere in the middle of it."
She paused.
"But I don't have proof that Angela was trying to destroy Alina."
Elara looked at her.
Victoria continued.
"The inheritance is the obvious explanation. Alina is the eldest daughter, and the family trust favors her. If Alina loses her position, Angela could benefit."
"Could," Elara repeated.
"Exactly."
Elara leaned back in her chair.
"Then don't turn a possibility into a conclusion."
Victoria nodded.
"I won't."
Elara looked down at the documents again.
"If Angela wanted the inheritance, destroying Alina would certainly give her a reason. But it doesn't explain everything."
"What doesn't it explain?"
"The timing."
Victoria waited.
"The affair could have been exposed without destroying Alina's entire life," Elara said. "Richard could have been exposed. Alina could have lost her job. Her reputation could have suffered."
Her gaze hardened.
"But someone went further."
Victoria's expression changed.
"The blacklist."
"Exactly."
Elara tapped the table once.
"Someone made sure Alina couldn't simply recover somewhere else. Someone made sure doors closed before she could reach them."
Victoria glanced at the documents.
"So you're saying Angela may have been involved, but we don't know whether she was trying to hurt Alina."
"Or help her," Elara said quietly.
Victoria looked up.
The possibility hung between them.
"Help her?"
"I'm not saying that's what happened," Elara replied. "I'm saying we don't know enough to decide what Angela's role was."
Victoria was silent for a moment.
Then she looked down at the name on the document.
"Evelyn Edwards."
Elara nodded.
"Find out why she was connected to Angela before the scandal."
"And if she's the one funding everything?"
"Then we find out why."
Victoria closed the folder.
She had entered the investigation believing she was looking for the person responsible for Alina's downfall.
Now she wasn't so sure.
Maybe Angela Williams wasn't the person pulling the strings.
Maybe she had been pulling strings of her own for a reason Victoria hadn't yet understood.
And somewhere behind all of it stood Evelyn Edwards.
A woman who had every reason to hate Richard.
A woman with the resources to move money without attracting attention.
And a connection to Angela that had begun long before Alina's life fell apart.
Victoria looked at Elara.
"I'll keep digging."
Elara nodded.
"Quietly."
Victoria left the office.
Neither woman noticed the figure standing several floors below, watching the lights of Blake Technologies from across the street.
The investigation had begun.
And for the first time, someone was getting close to the truth.