After lunch, I headed back to the filing room. There were a handful of files left from the ones he gave me. We had an interesting conversation about the ones I had finished. Kolya appeared pleased with the solutions I offered. It was strange, but I felt good about helping, even happy.
Opening the door, I stepped inside the filing room and switched on the light. Before I could even sit down, my phone beeped. It was a text from Melody. “Update, now! Send me the dirt!”
Taking my seat, I glanced at the cabinets and drawers. There were so many. Where would I even start? Then I wondered if it was a good idea. I had gone through most of the files he handed me, and there was nothing shady in them. Some differences, which brought up questions, but nothing that one could use against him.
Breathing out heavily, I sent a quick reply, “Hi, Melody. Nothing solid yet. Still looking. I’ve been a bit busy, will get to it.” After sending the text, I wondered if I should dig into the other files. What would I find? Before I could make up my mind, I received a message back.
A grin formed on my lips as I imagined her standing before me. I could already hear her screaming in her own soft voice, stomping her foot on the ground. “You need to movequicker! We need concrete proof of his dealings. Please, don’t delay any longer. What else can you be busy with?”
I replied by sending her a thumbs-up emoji. Getting up, I moved to the filing cabinet. Gently, I tugged at the drawers, feeling if any of them were accessible. There were quite a lot of them locked. But there were open ones as well. Scanning the content of the files, I noticed some appeared incorrectly labeled.
Moving to the door, I peeked outside and scanned the hallway. It was quiet. There was no one in sight. Moving back in, I softly closed the door. After extracting the files from the drawers, I sat down at the table. I couldn’t believe my luck as I read through them. I found it. All the illegal dealings.
But that wasn’t all I found. There were many errors. I felt sure they had to be errors. Opening some more, I found similar errors. The more I read, the more I learned.
It made me doubt whether he actually was a criminal. Maybe he wasn’t. I didn’t want to place an innocent man in jail. I had discovered that a lot, like more than half, of his under-the-table dealings' profits go to assisting orphans, women’s shelters, and more. I found this odd but interesting.
I decided not to give Melody anything yet. This new information I found made me wonder. I wanted to do some more digging. I had to see what was happening, assure her innocence before moving ahead. I had developed doubts, but wasn’t going to tell Kolya that. I had to know what was happening around me first.
As the workday came to an end, Melody sent me another text. I ignored this one. I just wanted a peaceful, calm evening. Which was what I got. There was no work talk, just dinner, a bath, and then bed.
Chapter 13 - Kolya
Sophia’s work has been spectacular. With each passing day, I felt better about grabbing the wrong woman. She amazed me constantly and had so much to offer. Walking into my office, I smiled as I sat down and opened my emails.
My smile vanished instantly as another lawsuit appeared in my inbox. Staring at the email, I couldn’t believe what I saw. I opened it and leaned back in my chair.
“Another lawsuit?” I exclaimed. It had the same alias—Sophia Camden. I wondered if Melody was messing with me. Maybe she still didn’t realize that I knew the truth or that Sophia and I had reached an agreement.
I was still convinced that all of this was Melody’s doing. But I had no proof. Plus, I had promised Sophia that I’d hold back from taking action until there was proof. I knew I had to find it. Sophia wouldn’t look that hard into Melody, believing she’s innocent.
The rest of my day was spent scouring the internet. I made some calls and reached out to my contacts. Yet, no one knew anything. The time spent delivered no results. This was all very hush.
At supper time, I was very quiet. My mind was preoccupied. I couldn’t discuss my feelings with Sophia and had no one else I could confide in. I have my sister and cousins. But I didn’t want to drag them into this mess yet.
I had to find something to show her. Sophia deserved to know what was happening.
“You seem in another world,” she said, pulling me back.
“I’m sorry, I have a lot on my mind,” I replied.
She smiled as she spoke. “You know you can share.”
“I know, thank you, but this load is mine to bear,” I commented as I got up. “Excuse me. I’m feeling tired. I think I’ll turn in now.”
Sophia nodded but didn’t push further. I took a quick hot shower, hoping to relax the tension in my neck. But it didn’t help, and sleep evaded me. I had a restless night, feeling more tired when I got up than when I went to lie down.
I was up and having coffee before the sun. Sophia was still sleeping, so I left her. With my morning coffee came the paper. Opening it, I was shocked to find my latest lawsuit had made the news.
The article wasn’t big, but it was noticeable. Getting up, I stormed outside. There were people I had to call. After the first three, I knew I was in trouble. Many of my allies and business associates have withdrawn from deals that were practically done.
All of this is because of one article. This had to be fixed with an urgency like none before. Getting up, I went to see if Sopia was up yet. Oddly enough, I needed her arguments to calm me down. I enjoyed her company, but I noticed arguing with her was calming. It offered a strange peace which I desperately needed.
She wasn’t in bed anymore, and I didn’t see her in the dining room. I was halfway back down to see if she was outside when it struck me. Sophia had said last night she wanted to go into the office early. She spoke about the cases I had given her to review.
Grabbing my keys, I headed out. I still felt agitated and angry when I got to the office. Heading to the filling room, I entered without knocking. There she was. Her head was buriedin files. But I recognized the files. They weren’t the ones I gave her. She had my personal files open on the table before her.
“What the hell are you doing, Sophia?” I asked. My tone was not friendly at all. She looked up, her expression one of guilt.
