Chapter 3
I yelped, grabbing a tissue to clean up the mess.
In the chaos, I balled up one of the soaked reports and tossed it into the trash.
At the same time, I whipped out a nearly identical sheet from my bag and slid it under the stack of documents.
The whole thing went off like clockwork. I'd drilled this move countless times.
Richard didn't even notice. He was too busy fussing over his custom shirt.
"Alright, stop it. You're just making it worse," he snapped.
He shoved me aside with a look of pure annoyance.
I stood off to the side, head down like a kid who'd been scolded. But a tiny smirk crept onto my lips.
The report I'd swapped in had its numbers subtly tweaked.
It would make him think my account had 15 million more in cash than it actually did.
Once someone thought they were loaded, their confidence skyrocketed.
And when they were feeling bold, that was when they were most likely to stumble right into a trap.
When I got home that night, Richard didn't head straight for his study like he usually did.
Instead, he was sitting on the living room couch, completely absorbed in his tablet.
There was a cup of milk on the coffee table. He'd poured it for me.
Something was definitely off. He was up to something.
"Grace, come here," he called.
He waved me over with that deceptively gentle smile.
I walked over and sat down next to him.
"Check this out," Richard said, handing me the tablet.
The screen was filled with a project prospectus, all in a foreign language.
The title read: [Southinia Rare Minerals Development Plan].
The PowerPoint was polished, loaded with so much technical jargon that it made my head spin.
But the gist was clear: a 300% return on investment, no way to lose.
This was a classic Ponzi scheme. And I'd had someone cook it up just for Richard.
But I played dumb.
I said, "What's this? All that foreign language is making my head spin."
I pushed the tablet back to him, picked up the milk and took a sip.
A smug satisfaction flashed in Richard's eyes.
"This is an inside scoop. A big player is heading up the project. I was going to invest through the company, but their process is way too slow, and I don't want to miss the window," he said.
He paused, and then took my hand.
"Grace, let's invest using your account. If we make money, all the profits will be yours," he said.
My fingers trembled.
It wasn't excitement. It was pure revulsion.
He wasn't just after my money. He also wanted me to take the blame if things went south with this shady deal.
"But... That's a lot of money, isn't it?" I asked, feigning uncertainty.
"Not really, just 25 million. If you scrape together everything in your account, it'll be just enough," he replied.
He'd already crunched the numbers.
That was exactly every last cent my parents had left me.
I bit my lip, staying silent.
Richard got anxious. "Don't you trust me? Have I ever treated you badly these past few years? Grace, trust is the most important thing in a marriage."
He was already trying to guilt-trip me.
I looked up, my eyes rimmed with tears.
"I trust you, of course I do. It's just that... this money is what Dad left me for my future," I said.
"Future? Come on, with me around, you'll never have to worry about anything," Richard said.
He drew me into his arms, gently patting my back.
"Alright, sign it tomorrow, okay? Once we make the money, we'll travel the world and have a baby," he coaxed.
Having a baby used to be all I ever dreamed of.
Now, hearing them just felt like a cruel joke.
"Okay," I mumbled, burying my face in his chest. "I'll do whatever you say."
Out of his sight, my gaze was colder than the darkness outside the window.
Friday afternoon, at the law firm. Three documents were spread out on the long conference table.
Richard sat across from me, his leg jittering under the table. He was a bundle of nerves.
He tried to play it cool, but the way he kept sipping his water totally gave him away.
Nina was desperate for cash.
That so-called "mining project" was just a slick way to move money around.
Once I signed, the cash would get sent to some offshore account, run through a bunch of dummy companies, and finally land right in Nina's hands.
And all I'd get would be a pile of useless paperwork.
"Mrs. Payne, please sign here, here, and here," the lawyer, Richard's guy, urged, pointing to the blanks.
I picked up the pen.
Richard leaned forward, his eyes glued to my hand holding the pen.
His gaze was like a wolf eyeing its prey caught in the net.
"Oh, no," I exclaimed. My hand shook and the pen dropped to the floor. "Sorry, I'm just a little nervous."
I bent down to pick it up.
Hidden by the table, I palmed a company stamp from my pocket.
It was my dad's company's financial stamp. It had the same size and color as my personal one.
The only catch? Using this stamp meant any money transfer needed board approval, and it'd trigger all the risk controls.
I quickly swapped the personal stamp on the table for the company stamp I'd brought with me.
Then I straightened up and settled back into my seat.
"It's fine. I'll sign them," I said.
I took a deep breath and scrawled my signature across the documents.
Then I grabbed the company stamp I'd switched in and pressed it down with force.
Smack! The vivid red seal popped against the stark white paper, almost blinding.
Richard's greed was almost overflowing from his eyes.
He grabbed the documents and checked over my signature and the stamp, making sure everything was legit.
"Good! Wonderful!" he said, barely able to contain his excitement.
He stood up and squeezed my hand hard. "Trust me, Grace. Just give it a month, and this money will double."
His grin was so big that the lines at the corners of his eyes stood out.
I smiled back. "Yeah, a month."
In a month, he'd find out that the money couldn't be transferred at all.
And since the risk controls were triggered, his company's accounts would be frozen as well.
Then what would he use to support his precious first love?