Chapter 3 - The Proxy
The ballroom doors were closed—not locked, just shut enough to keep the truth from leaking out before Daniel understood it.
He stood at the center of the marble floor, wet tuxedo clinging to his chest, while Claire faced him in white lace and pearls like a bride standing inside the ruins of her own plan.
“What proxy?” he asked again.
Claire exhaled once, carefully. “A routine authorization.”
Maya shook her head. “No. She said if you signed tonight, the family board could act without your review.”
Daniel frowned. “Act on what?”
This time Maya answered before Claire could stop her.
“The employee reserve.”
Several hotel guests from Daniel’s company looked up sharply. A reserve fund had been whispered about for years among service staff—bonuses withheld, equity promised, paperwork delayed. Always delayed.
Claire’s jaw tightened. “She has no idea what she’s talking about.”
Maya reached into her apron again, this time pulling out a folded slip of paper. “I wrote down what I heard after she locked me in the service corridor.”
Daniel’s eyes flashed. “Locked you in?”
The scratches on Maya’s cheek suddenly made sense.
Claire took one step forward. “She was trespassing.”
Maya’s voice cracked. “You told the event manager I stole your bracelet.”
That landed. Even the guests seemed ashamed now.
Daniel looked at Claire in disbelief. “You accused her of theft?”
“She was interfering.”
“No,” Maya said. “I was listening.”
She unfolded the paper with trembling hands.
“‘After he signs, the employee reserve disappears into the merger.’ Those were your words.”
Daniel’s face drained of color.
Because the employee reserve was not a wedding detail.
May you like
It was a scandal.
And Maya knew enough to destroy them both.
