Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN BEFORE SARAH
The lawsuit was sealed after settlement, but Megan found the former fiancé’s name through old business filings.
Evan Cole.
Sarah called him from Elena’s office.
At first, Evan refused to speak.
Then Sarah said Daniel’s name.
Silence.
Finally Evan asked, “She’s doing it again?”
Sarah gripped the phone.
“What did she do to you?”
Evan’s story was painfully familiar.
Ashley had joined his interior design company as a consultant. She became indispensable. She managed invoices, vendors, and client accounts. When the business hit a cash-flow problem, she convinced Evan to open a credit line.
Then she moved money.
Not enough to trigger immediate alarm.
Just enough to keep him dependent on her explanations.
When he confronted her, she produced emails showing he had approved everything.
Some were real.
Some were altered.
“She didn’t steal by smashing the door,” Evan said. “She made me hand her the key.”
Sarah asked the question she feared.
“Were you romantically involved?”
“Briefly.”
Her stomach turned.
“Did she do this alone?”
Evan hesitated.
“No.”
Sarah sat straighter.
“She always needs someone inside the target’s life. Someone insecure. Someone who wants to feel smarter than the person they’re betraying.”
Daniel’s face flashed in Sarah’s mind.
Elena leaned toward the phone.
“Do you still have evidence?”
“I kept everything.”
By evening, Evan had sent hundreds of pages.
Invoices.
Bank records.
Emails.
One detail stood out.
Ashley’s old company had transferred money through a vendor called Northline Strategy Group.
The same vendor appeared in Daniel’s new investment projections.
Sarah searched their shared household drive.
Northline appeared again.
A consulting agreement had been saved there four months earlier.
Before Ashley’s apartment had supposedly flooded.
Before she moved in.
Before Sarah knew Ashley needed help.
The agreement was between Northline and Daniel Bennett.
Sarah stared at the date.
Daniel had been working with Ashley long before he told Sarah anything.
Then she opened the document metadata.
Author: DANIEL BENNETT.
Created at 1:47 a.m.
Modified by: ASHLEY MONROE.
Sarah scrolled to the payment terms.
A performance bonus was listed.
If the project secured more than $100,000 in outside financing, Daniel would receive a twenty-percent ownership stake.
Sarah whispered, “He wasn’t helping her.”
Elena looked at her.
“No.”
Sarah’s phone buzzed.
A message from Daniel.
WE NEED TO TALK BEFORE YOU COME HOME.
May you like
Then another.
ASHLEY TOLD ME EVERYTHING.
