“Really? How do you know this? You just promoted her.”
“We received an anonymous tip right after her promotion. We had our head of finance do some digging. He found many questionable transactions, so we contacted the authorities who quickly linked the stolen funds to Mia.”
I swallowed hard, feeling the heat rise in my chest. “I didn’t know. I swear, I had no idea.”
Alfred leaned forward slightly. “Are you sure about that, Aviana? Because you were pretty close to her.”
I tried to force down the lump in my throat, which was suddenly so dry. “Yes, she’s my best friend, but I didn’t know she was stealing anything. I don’t have anything to do with what Mia did. I’ve worked hard here. I love this job. I enjoy working with my clients. I can’t lose this.”
Alfred’s eyes softened a bit, but he still didn’t break his gaze. “You understand how serious this is, right? We need to be able to trust the people who work here.”
I nodded quickly. “I understand. I swear I had no idea what Mia was doing. This job has been a blessing to me, and I’d never do anything to risk that.”
Antonio and Alfred exchanged an unreadable look that made my heart race even more. They both stared at me for what felt like an eternity, like they were waiting for me to crack.
Finally, Antonio nodded toward the door. “Get back to work.”
His voice was still so tense that it sent chills down my spine. However, I was so relieved.
Yet, it was short-lived.
“But understand this,” Alfred added with his eyes locked on mine: “Mia is still under investigation. If anything comes up that connects you to what she was doing, you’ll be facing charges too. Do you understand?”
I nodded swiftly. “Yes. I understand.”
“Good,” Antonio clipped. “Now get back to work.”
I stood up with legs that were still shaky. I quickly made my way out of the office, hoping that Mia’s bullshit hadn’t rubbed off on me.
CHAPTER 5
AVIANA SCOTT
AFTER BEING CHARGED,Mia was released on bond until her court date. Since, she had been accusing me of telling either the twins or the authorities about her embezzling money from the company.
“I’m fighting federal charges because of you! I’m going to prison!”
As I paced the carpet in my bedroom, my stomach began to turn. “Why do you keep saying that it’s because of me?”
“I know you told on me, Aviana,” Mia spewed through the phone.
“Why are you so insistent that it was me? Maybe they just figured it out.”
This was beyond bizarre. Mia had been my best friend for fifteen years. We had never had as much of a disagreement. Now, suddenly, she was so sure that I was deceiving her in such a heinous way.
“There was no way that they could have figured it out,” she growled. “I’ve been meticulous for a year. You snitched because you were jealous that I got that promotion instead of you.”
“Mia, I promise—”
“I swear to God,” she gritted threateningly, “you’re going to feel this, Aviana. I just lost everything, and I’m going to make sure that you do too.”
“Mia…” I paused when I heard the end of her line go completely dead. “Mia?”
I pulled the phone away from my ear, staring at it. Blinking slowly, I felt tears coming to my eyes. As I began to sniffle, Damar left his spot at the foot of our bed.
“It’s okay, baby,” he tried to assure me as he slipped his arms around my waist.
“No, it’s not.” My voice cracked. A rush of overwhelming confusion and grief caused me to rest my head on his chest. “We’ve been best friends for nearly twenty years. Why would she assume that I would do something so devious to her over a job? She won’t even give me the benefit of the doubt.”
